Tenacity is a huge component in Tommy Emmanuel’s virtuosity. I’ve interviewed him a few times, and been backstage when he’s performed at our monthly Guitar Player Presents events, where I’ve watched the acoustic guitar virtuoso in action. I’ve found that he always seems to have purpose in the things he says and does.
For Emmanuel — who spoke with Guitar Player about his new album, Live at the Sydney Opera House — time is of the essence, both literally and figuratively. After witnessing Emmanuel put on his high-octane performance, I couldn’t help but wonder what a cat who’s about to turn 70 does to keep himself gig ready. So I asked him.
What’s a typical show day like for you?
I’m a morning person, and on a normal road day I wake up around 7 a.m., get out of bed and play my guitar for a little while. I’ll play some tunes for maybe 15 to 20 minutes and see how I feel. My brain is a lot clearer. Sometimes I play things in a more gentle way. I’m almost serenading myself first thing in the morning. Then I go get breakfast.
What’s the breakfast of guitar champions?
The breakfast of champions is all bran with full cream milk and proper yogurt with honey. That’s what I have every morning. And I have a good cup of coffee if I can get one.
On a normal day I would probably do a bunch of interviews. I’ll go to the stations that are lined up for radio or television or whatever, take a bite of lunch and then have a sleep around 2:30 p.m. I usually sleep for about 20 minutes to half an hour. I wake up feeling fresh, jump in the shower, shave, get my clothes ready and grab my guitars. I go the venue around 4:30 p.m. if the show is at 8 o’clock. If it’s a 7:30 p.m. show, I’m there at 4.
What happens then?
That’s when I hit the switch. I kind of turn myself on as soon as I get to the venue, I’m in show mode. I go to my dressing room and get out all the things I need from my tuner and string changing stuff to my clothes. Once I get my dressing room ready, then I get my guitar out and start playing while the crew sets up everything. My tour manager sets up my gear, and when it’s ready he says, “Let’s make a noise.”
How much time do you spend sound checking?
I never waste time at sound check. I go out and play as if the room is already full of people. So I don’t dilly dally — I play the songs, but I don’t always play the songs that I’m going to play in the show. Sometimes I’ll have a Chet day where I’ll play, like, four Chet Atkins tunes in a row, just to run through them and do something different. And then maybe I’ll do a Merle Haggard song, just to have a sing and get my little motor running.
And then I’ll play all three guitars that I’m going to use so that we can get the monitors and the front of house set right. I don’t have to tell my sound man much. He knows what I like, and I know what he needs in the P.A. We use a very simple setup, and he just brings the sound up. When we’re both happy, that’s it.
Sometimes I’ll sit and play a bit longer. I’ll invite students from a guitar school or a music college to the sound check so they can see what we do. Some of them may be interested in what my sound man is doing and how do we get the guitar tones, and I’ll talk with them about it. But I play like I’m playing the show, and that’s important as we get our levels set. Then I eat dinner at 6 p.m.
What’s your pre-gig meal strategy?
I don’t have a big meal. I’ll eat a fairly small meal, like fish or steak or something like that, with vegetables. And a little dessert of some sort. Then I change my strings on my main guitar and do a bit of tuning and stretching and tuning and stretching. Then I do an official meet and greet where I meet people who have written in. I do like a private meet and greet with the public.
What’s your approach to the meet and greet?
That’s usually around half an hour of meeting people, taking photos and signing stuff. My strategy is to walk into the room and zap them of all their enthusiasm because they’re all excited to meet you.
This is a wonderful time of the night for me because I’m trying to take in the mojo of their enthusiasm and let it sink in so that I can then give it back to them during the performance. That’s part of my routine.
I usually tell them, “Thank you very much and I hope you’ve had a good time. It’s great to meet you all, and now that I’ve zapped you of all your enthusiasm, I’m going to give it back to you when I walk out onstage.”
Interesting. It’s already been a long day and you could practically be ready to go take another nap, but if you can capture all that energy, now you’re really ready to go.
That’s exactly right. It’s all been building up to 8 p.m. when the lights go down and the crowd roars. I walk out there, and my first decision is what song to play. That’s very important to me. I only work to a set list when playing with a band or an orchestra because everybody else needs to know what’s going on. I don’t work to a setlist when I’m playing solo. What song to start with is a big decision.
And once I come out of the gate with what I feel is going to be a good strong statement to start, then I’m off. It’s like the train has left the station, away we go, and we don’t stop until I’m ready.
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