Chet Atkins, world famous for his country music and guitar excellence, designed a special suffix for guitarists he found superlative. He named the award CGP for certified guitar player. He doled it out sparingly. There won’t be any more than already exist, because Atkins died in 2001 at age 77. Atkins also arranged music and produced it. He and Bob Ferguson and Owen Bradley spread country music’s appeal through the pop music industry, bringing it to unlikely, and admiring, ears.
Tommy Emmanuel CGP proudly holds one of Atkins’ awards. Emmanuel comes to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater August 20.
“What’s written on the (CGP) award,” Emmanuel said, “is ‘Life time contribution to the art of fingerpicking’ In other words I’ve spent my life being dedicated to this guitar and style of playing. I’ve spent my life showing others how to do it.”
Emmanuel is not only a highly accomplished musician, he often regales his audiences with banter and effects. But his onstage cheer—one might, for example, witness him grabbing a brush to riotously percuss his guitar– isn’t what won him Atkins’ “CGP.”
NPR’s World Café: “one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world.” New York Times: “prodigy.”
NPR’s World Café called Emmanuel “one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world,” while the New York Times has called him a “prodigy.”
For an example of Emmanuel’s work, go online to this recently released video for “You Needed Me”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJjJpAg6Yo .
“Certified Guitar Player doesn’t necessarily mean good showman or any of that stuff,” Emmanuel said. That’s got nothing to do with it. Me being entertaining and a showman . . . is something I’ve always done. I’ve known since I was a little boy that when I walk on stage my job is to entertain people. And I will do whatever I can to give them a good time.”
Live performers feel pushed to be “on” around their audiences, which seems emotionally expensive. Although connecting with patrons delights Emmanuel, he’s learned to be vulnerable on stage. “There are nights I might feel quiet or just don’t feel the spark of telling stories or jokes or whatever.” That’s when he simply announces “I’m just quiet tonight. I will just play for a while and see what happens.” And what happens, at least, is always a bounty of highest-quality-anywhere fingerpicking guitar.
Emmanuel, Richard Smith paid tribute to Chet Atkins
Emmanuel and English Hall of Famer guitarist Richard Smith, both of whom revere Atkins, paid tribute to Atkins and Jerry Reed with a performance. They share a love of Atkins, having bonded almost immediately over his music. Stage chemistry matters to Emmanuel. “It doesn’t take long for me to realize that I click with somebody. All we have to do is play one song together. Really, it’s all about how we interpret a song together. It’s about what the other player brings to the song and allows me the room to add my part. It’s really about being sensitive, it’s about knowledge of the song and listening to each other. A musician’s first job is to listen.”
“Well, Chet and Jerry, there are no two musicians more special to Richard and I,” Emmanuel said. “Their chemistry, their songwriting, their arrangements. Everything they do inspires us. For us to try to recreate and pay tribute to Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed is no mean feat. ALL their songs are difficult.” Smith plays Reed’s parts and Emmanuel Atkins’. “And I’m glad,” Emmanuel said, “because Jerry’s parts are usually a lot more difficult.”
Early on, played with Air Supply and Men at Work
Emmanuel started touring at the age of six in his homeland, Australia, as part of a family band. By his early twenties, he was playing on chart-topping hits and performing with some of the biggest names in Australian music, such as Air Supply and Men at Work.
Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, touring with Eric Clapton and John Denver, winning a Grammy
Then Chet Atkins (who became a friend and collaborator) pressed Emmanuel to seek a career as a solo artist. In 1979 Emmanuel released the first of many critically and popularly praised instrumental albums. He went on to headline throughout the world, from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall, to tour with stars such as Eric Clapton and John Denver and to win a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.
Emmanuel performed for a televised audience of more than two billion at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics and worked with talents from Les Paul and Mark Knopfler to Joe Walsh and Richard Thompson.
Emmanuel recently released “Living in the Light,”his first solo album in 10 years. It’s a fusion of acoustic pop, jazz, classical and roots music.
Does a guitarist this experienced and well known use a metronome? Emmanuel often does and in fact has one in his tuner, which he turns on just before showtime so he can “start jiving around to it.”
Something Emmanuel regularly hears from fans is how full his sound is onstage, as though many instruments were playing. When they inquire, he says, “They are all in my head.”
Musicians love chord progressions and often have favorites. Emmanuel has many but mentioned the ones in Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall’s” “Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone” song.
Go online to see Emmanuel’s TEDx Talk, which has 7.6 million views.
If you go
WHAT: Tommy Emmanuel CGP, one of world’s best guitarists, with Trey Hensley
WHEN: 7 p.m. Aug. 20WHERE: Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.TICKETS: $45-$53 at https://buskirkchumley.org/events/tommy-emmanuel-cgp-living-in-the-light-tour-august-20-2026/#buy
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Tommy Emmanuel, one of world’s best guitarists, comes to Bloomington
Reporting by Connie Shakalis, For the Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Connie Shakalis, For the Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
