The CGP & The Dawg are reuniting in Colorado. Tommy Emmanuel will be returning to the road with mandolin legend, David “Dawg” Grisman. They will be performing in Ft. Collins, Boulder, and Steamboat Springs. Logan Ledger will be opening the shows on select dates. Check out this video of Tommy and David performing “Zorro’s Last Ride” from their collaboration album, Pickin’.

The album of the month on my web-store is Accomplice One. This album of duets features some of my musical heroes like Mark Knopfler and Jorma Kaukonen. It also features some of my long time pickin’ partners such as Jerry Douglas, Jack Pearson, Frank Vignola, and Clive Carroll. Here’s a video of Clive Carroll and I performing a medley of Celtic songs that I called “Keepin’ It Reel”, which is on Accomplice One. The CD is on-sale now for $8.50 and the vinyl is on-sale for $17.50. https://store.tommyemmanuel.com

Here’s a video of Andy McKee and I performing the Toto classic, “Africa”. I am thrilled that Andy will be joining me to tour across Asia this May. We’ll be performing in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. Tickets are on-sale now.

A full list of tour dates can be found here: https://tommyemmanuel.com/site-2020-old/tours/ 

Check out the new video of John Knowles and I playing the Billy Joel classic “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” from our album, Heart Songs. Billy Joel is one of my all-time favorite artists and composers. This beautiful lullaby is for his daughter, Alexa, and it’s a timeless masterpiece! It’s so intimate that I don’t switch octaves to play out the melody, because it doesn’t need a change. It just needs to be poured out in one voice. John plays Billy’s piano part so faithfully that my single line melody remains just that… single. There’s no razzmatazz… just serve the song.

I very excited to announce that pre-orders are open for a TrueFire course that John Knowles and I made called “Certified Guitar Duets”. We did a course all about playing together in hopes that it can better inspire you to play alongside your friends. We broke this course into 2 sections. The first section covers arrangements with specific details on song keys, dynamics, and learning how to listen. The second section we break down songs we play together such as “Danny Boy”, “Amazing Grace”, “After Paris”, “Eva Waits”, and more. With TrueFire’s technology you can slow things down or even loop each section to best fit your learning style. All songs come with the proper tab and notation. For this month only, we are running a 15% off sale on all my TrueFire courses. At check out, just enter the promo code: NEWYEAR15. You can order all my TrueFire courses here: https://store.tommyemmanuel.com/collections/video-instruction

The Heart Songs album is out tomorrow….YEAH! Here’s a sneak peak of John Knowles and I performing “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” from the album. John opens this arrangement with a touching intro and first verse that allows the melody to pierce straight to my heart. Then, I weave in and around his melody and eventually take the melody up higher. Towards the last verse, we are in perfect harmony just like brothers! Enjoy!

Tommy Emmanuel will perform a special concert on Jan. 28, 2019, at Elmhurst College to benefit a scholarship fund named for his family. The Emmanuel Family Guitar Endowed Scholarship at Elmhurst College was established earlier this fall in memory of Tommy’s sister, Virginia; and brother, Phil. The scholarship was created through the generosity of Fred and Dinah Gretsch, owners of the Gretsch Company, and will benefit guitar students at Elmhurst College. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the concert will be donated to this scholarship. The first recipients will be selected in the spring of 2019. “We’re overwhelmed by the generosity of Tommy Emmanuel and the Gretsch family,” said PeterGriffin, chair of the Department of Music. “It’s an honor for us to house this scholarship, which will support guitar students at Elmhurst College well into the future.” The Elmhurst College Gretsch Guitar Ensemble will open the concert. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 28, in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel (190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst, elmhurst.edu/campusmap). General admission is $50 per person. Tickets go on sale beginning Dec. 15 at Elmhurst.edu/guitarbenefit

This video of John Knowles and I performing “How Deep Is Your Love” was shot live in Chico, CA on December 8, 2016. We were really in the zone that night! This live recording is a bonus track on our soon to be released album Heart Songs, and it contains a studio version of this song as well. This Bee Gees masterpiece is another of my favorite melodies and just the right type of song for John and I to express our love of real pop music composed with integrity. “How Deep Is Your Love” is also what really inspired John and I to start make this Heart Songs album. 

You can also stream “Cold, Cold Heart”, “Walking My Baby Back Home”, and now “How Deep Is Your Love” from the Heart Songs album on Spotify and Apple Music. Enjoy!

I am VERY excited to announce that John Knowles will be joining our already stellar lineup of guitar instructors at the Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Camp USA in Vail, CO on June 13-17, 2019. In addition to John, we’ve got JD Simo, Joe Robinson, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, and very special guests Tuck & Patti. Colorado is one of my favorite places in the United States. There is nothing quite like the Rocky Mountains in the summer. I love the fresh air, the scenery, the instructors, the music, but most of all I’m thrilled to be learning and growing with you! Register between now and Christmas, and you will get a signed copy of the Heart Songs CD from John and I by the release date on January 11. What are you waiting for? Register here https://tommyemmanuelguitarcampusa.com/

https://youtu.be/61UBwae-zUc

I hope you enjoy the video of John Knowles and I performing “Walking My Baby Back Home” from our soon to be released album, Heart Songs. I’ve known this tune since I was a kid, and I still love it. All web store pre-orders will get a removable tattoo of the album cover. You can preorder Heart Songs by clicking here 

You can also stream “Cold, Cold Heart” and “Walking My Baby Back Home” on Spotify and Apple Music. If you are a Spotify user, please follow me on Spotify. I have a Heart Songs playlist up there now with songs that inspired this record and just some great tunes about love. Follow me on Spotify by clicking here.

There’s a Holiday Sale on Tommy Emmanuel’s web-store. Everything is on-sale from shirts, CDs, vinyl, DVDs, tab books, posters, picks, and more. Some random CD and vinyl orders will be signed by Tommy. Not all orders will be signed, but a few of you will be surprised. You can also pre-order Tommy and John Knowles album, Heart Songs. All web-store pre-orders will get a removable tattoo of the album cover. The sale ends on Friday, December 7. Click here to see all the goodies we have 

I am VERY excited to announce that I will be heading back to Australia in April, and I’ll be bringing along the Dobro master Jerry Douglas with me. I can’t wait to share what Jerry and I do in my homeland. This will be Jerry’s first trip to Australia, so let’s give him a warm welcome! Jerry will play solo, I’ll play solo, and then we’ll tear it up together! We’ll be making stops in Carins City, Townsville, Mackay, Mandurah, Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. I am also looking forward to performing at the 30^th Byron Bay Bluesfest.

Here’s a video of John Knowles and I performing “Cold, Cold Heart” which is the first single from Heart Songs.  John’s beautiful, haunting intro is a tip of his hat to Lenny Breau. It drips with feeling and emotion. It sets up the song in such a beautiful way. I have loved this Hank Williams classic since I first heard it when I was 4 years old sitting in front of our record player, while the tears ran down my mother’s cheeks. Hank sure could write ’em! Pre-Orders for Heart Songs start today, and all pre-orders will get an instant download of “Cold, Cold Heart”.   

Click here to order:  https://ffm.to/heartsongs

Click here to order from my web store https://store.tommyemmanuel.com/

This coming January, John Knowles and I will also be embarking on ‘The Heart Songs Tour’. I will be performing some songs solo, and John and I will be brining some of these new Heart Songs to life together. Since these new songs are so intimate, we decided to take this tour into some smaller listening rooms where we can really connect closer with you. In California, we’re playing in San Francisco, Bakersfield, San Juan Capistrano, and San Diego. We’re performing multiple nights in New York, Boston, Alexandria (DC area), Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Franklin (Nashville area). We’ll also be appearing in Homer, NY and St. Louis, MO. A full list of tour dates and ticket links can be found at https://tommyemmanuel.com/site-2020-old/tours/.

It’s no secret that I owe Chet Atkins a whole lot. Not only did he inspire and enlighten me in so many ways, but he also introduced me to one of my best friends – John Knowles. John is an amazing songwriter, arranger, and guitar player…not to mention a fellow CGP. I’ve worked on many projects with him, and I’ve been lucky enough to tour with him too. After 2 years of recording in our limited spare time, John and I have finally put together an album entitled Heart Songs. About 5 years ago, John and I worked up an arrangement of one of my favorite Bee Gee’s songs, “How Deep Is Your Love”. Whenever we played it live the audiences seemed to love it. We decided to just record a video for it, and we put it up on YouTube. After millions of views and a blessing from the composer Barry Gibb, I thought we may be on to something here. When John and I started diving into arranging some more material, a certain theme started to emerge.

Heart Songs is an album comprised of songs about love and played directly from our hearts. We took some of our favorite classic songs about love and rearranged them into something that we think is really special and challenging. We played country classics such as Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart” and Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You”. On the guitar, I got to emulate some of my favorite singers like Michael McDonald, Billy Joel, and Bonnie Raitt. We even jumped into a little theatre with songs like “Somewhere” from West Side Story and “Where is Love” from Oliver!. We also added in some original songs like “After Paris” by John and my song “Eva Waits”. This album really was a blessing to make with one of my best friends!  I hope you feel the love and the joy oozing out of our hearts, strings, and fingers as you listen!

Pre-orders will start this Friday, and be on the lookout for “Cold, Cold Heart”.

Heart Songs Track List

1.     Cold, Cold Heart 

2.     How Deep Is Your Love 

3.     I Can’t Stop Loving You 

4.     Somewhere 

5.     I Can Let Go Now 

6.     Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) 

7.     After Paris 

8.     Walkin’ My Baby Back Home

9.     I Can’t Make You Love Me 

10.   Where Is Love 

11.   He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother 

12.   Eva Waits