Tommy Emmanuel

Tommy Emmanuel

From Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond by Pushkin Industries

March 10, 2026 · 1h 16m · Season 6 · Episode 200

About this episode

Tommy Emmanuel discusses his fingerstyle guitar technique and experiences in the music industry.

Tommy Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist who has spent over six decades mastering the art of fingerstyle acoustic guitar. He's now widely regarded as one of the best acoustic players in the world. Born in 1955, he received his first guitar at age four and he recalls that not long after he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to playing music. He left home to pursue his dream as a teenager and eventually became known for his remarkable ability to make a single guitar sound like an entire band—simultaneously playing bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion. In 1980, Tommy toured with Stevie Wonder as part of the opening act, an experience he's described as enlightening. He's since played hundreds of shows a year and collaborated with artists including Eric Clapton, Chet Atkins, and Tina Turner. On today's episode, Justin Richmond talks to Tommy Emmanuel about his unique fingerstyle technique and how he developed the ability to make one guitar sound like multiple instruments. He tells the story of opening for Stevie Wonder in 1980 and walking in on him jamming with an early LinnDrum machine. And Tommy plays examples of his songs throughout the years, demonstrating the evolution of…

People in this episode

Host: Justin Richmond

Guest: Tommy Emmanuel

Topics covered

  • guitar
  • fingerstyle
  • music history

Keywords

  • acoustic guitar
  • Stevie Wonder
  • collaboration
  • music technique

Mentioned in this episode

Products: LinnDrum

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