WEBVTT - Tommy Emmanuel 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:15.956 Pushkin. 0:00:20.236 --> 0:00:22.556 The first time I saw Tommy Emmanuel play, it was 0:00:22.596 --> 0:00:26.356 like rediscovering guitar all over again. I was sixteen visiting 0:00:26.436 --> 0:00:28.716 Salt Lake City when I stopped into a store called 0:00:28.756 --> 0:00:31.876 Acoustic Music. At the time, I was listening heavily to 0:00:31.916 --> 0:00:35.516 guitarists like Lenny Brow and Chad Atkins. After sharing this 0:00:35.556 --> 0:00:37.556 with the guys who worked at the store, they told me. 0:00:37.476 --> 0:00:39.036 They had a DVD I needed to watch. 0:00:39.516 --> 0:00:41.956 They popped in a live performance of Tommy Emmanuel and 0:00:41.996 --> 0:00:45.076 I was floored. It's a key formative moment along my 0:00:45.156 --> 0:00:47.676 journey as a player and a fan, so having an 0:00:47.716 --> 0:00:50.196 opportunity to sit down and have an hour long conversation 0:00:50.276 --> 0:00:54.196 with Tommy Emmanuel was huge for me. On today's episode, 0:00:54.196 --> 0:00:57.236 we discussed Tommy Emmanuel's insane technique and how he developed 0:00:57.276 --> 0:01:00.076 the ability to play multiple parts on the guitar at once. 0:01:00.796 --> 0:01:02.716 He tells the story of opening for Stevie Wonder in 0:01:02.796 --> 0:01:04.876 nineteen eighty and walking in on him jamming with an 0:01:04.876 --> 0:01:07.916 early Lin drum machine and performing on the same bill 0:01:08.116 --> 0:01:11.236 as the Beg's in Australia during the sixties when he 0:01:11.356 --> 0:01:12.116 was just a kid. 0:01:14.996 --> 0:01:16.276 This is broken record. 0:01:16.756 --> 0:01:25.916 Real musicians, real conversations. Here's my conversation with Tommy Emmanuel 0:01:25.956 --> 0:01:31.676 from Amazon Music Studio one twenty six. You mentioned from 0:01:31.716 --> 0:01:33.996 six am to seven am this morning you were you 0:01:33.996 --> 0:01:34.716 were playing guitar. 0:01:35.116 --> 0:01:39.516 Yeah, I got up. I got up and to play. Yeah. 0:01:39.876 --> 0:01:41.956 And is that an everyday occurrence? 0:01:42.676 --> 0:01:48.236 Not always? Sometimes if I'm touring a lot, sometimes I 0:01:48.356 --> 0:01:51.316 need that time to sleep, you know, and I can 0:01:51.356 --> 0:01:55.516 play later. But I wanted to be I knew I 0:01:55.556 --> 0:01:59.196 had an early start here today, so I wanted to 0:01:59.236 --> 0:02:00.236 be already playing. 0:02:00.516 --> 0:02:00.756 Wow. 0:02:00.836 --> 0:02:04.916 You know, it's like you start your motor you know. 0:02:05.276 --> 0:02:05.556 Yeah. 0:02:05.636 --> 0:02:08.876 I mean I don't. I don't try to push my 0:02:09.676 --> 0:02:14.196 first thing in the morning. I usually play songs that 0:02:14.356 --> 0:02:18.156 I really enjoy playing that I can play quietly because 0:02:18.156 --> 0:02:20.676 I don't want to wake up the person in the 0:02:20.876 --> 0:02:23.476 room next to me in the hotel, you know. 0:02:23.756 --> 0:02:25.796 Right it's going to I mean, yeah. Do you do 0:02:25.596 --> 0:02:27.316 you do you get complaints in the hotels? 0:02:28.156 --> 0:02:32.316 One time, a friend of mine and I we were 0:02:32.556 --> 0:02:37.196 rehearsing for a show and there was a knock at 0:02:37.236 --> 0:02:39.676 the door, and there it was a reception lady, and 0:02:39.716 --> 0:02:42.516 she said, or the guy next door said, you're making 0:02:42.716 --> 0:02:46.636 a terrible noise in here. And I said, you tell 0:02:46.716 --> 0:02:47.596 him it's music. 0:02:48.996 --> 0:02:52.316 Yeah, and people are paying money to see that he's 0:02:52.356 --> 0:02:53.036 going to preciate. 0:02:53.236 --> 0:02:55.556 Well, these things happen. You've got to be You've got 0:02:55.596 --> 0:02:57.636 to be thinking of others in that situation. 0:02:57.876 --> 0:02:58.076 Yeah. 0:02:58.636 --> 0:03:04.156 And if there's something in my practice that that I 0:03:04.356 --> 0:03:08.116 that I need to work on, say, if I'm I'm 0:03:08.156 --> 0:03:10.076 going to try this song I'm I haven't played in 0:03:10.116 --> 0:03:12.436 a while in the show tonight. I need to run 0:03:12.476 --> 0:03:15.956 it down. I need my brain to know where my 0:03:16.076 --> 0:03:16.996 hands have to go. 0:03:17.396 --> 0:03:21.236 But you don't do settlers, right, You don't improvise on 0:03:21.276 --> 0:03:23.196 stage in terms of what you're going to do. 0:03:23.356 --> 0:03:27.516 Yeah. Well, you know, at the moment, I've got a 0:03:27.556 --> 0:03:30.156 new album out called Living in the Light, and so 0:03:30.836 --> 0:03:35.516 I generally opened the show with like four brand new songs. Wow, 0:03:35.756 --> 0:03:40.236 you know, just to do something different, you know, And 0:03:40.876 --> 0:03:46.996 that always is Sometimes it works really great. Other times 0:03:47.036 --> 0:03:50.236 I think I should have done this earlier, or I 0:03:50.316 --> 0:03:53.076 you know, maybe I should have started with something slower. 0:03:53.156 --> 0:03:56.596 And you know, but I've been coming out, like, you know, 0:03:56.916 --> 0:03:59.316 one song after the other, bang bang bang in the 0:03:59.876 --> 0:04:02.276 in the first part of the show, and it always 0:04:02.356 --> 0:04:07.996 gets me into a good spiritually, physically, in a good 0:04:08.036 --> 0:04:11.356 place because I'm I'm already pushing myself amazing. 0:04:11.716 --> 0:04:14.796 Would you mind just doing something you might open a 0:04:14.796 --> 0:04:15.116 show with? 0:04:16.076 --> 0:04:19.156 Sure? You want to hear it now? Yeah, I'll play 0:04:19.196 --> 0:04:21.996 it for you and you'll hear where it goes to color. 0:04:22.396 --> 0:05:48.796 So it starts out with rock plus roll, it comes 0:05:48.796 --> 0:07:24.676 to color ready keep Yeah, that's black and white to color. 0:07:24.836 --> 0:07:28.036 Oh that is beautiful. It's a good opener because it's 0:07:28.036 --> 0:07:31.236 got everything. It's got a groove, it's got a message, 0:07:31.596 --> 0:07:34.996 it's got a breakdown section, it takes, it goes somewhere 0:07:34.996 --> 0:07:37.156 else and then it comes back in. You know. 0:07:37.436 --> 0:07:40.796 Yeah, there's so much happening when you like, when you play, 0:07:41.076 --> 0:07:44.716 there's so much your body's moving, your vocal. 0:07:44.436 --> 0:07:48.196 Eye already too hot in my coat in halfway through 0:07:48.236 --> 0:07:50.116 that song and I was like, shouldn't have put my 0:07:50.156 --> 0:07:50.516 coat on? 0:07:52.356 --> 0:07:53.156 It's incredible. 0:07:53.916 --> 0:07:55.796 Well, I didn't expect you to ask me to play, 0:07:55.996 --> 0:07:58.676 so so this is this is fun. 0:07:58.796 --> 0:08:03.196 I'm sorry I jammed you up. I set you up man. Yeah, 0:08:03.236 --> 0:08:05.276 but are you are you here? Because like and there's 0:08:05.316 --> 0:08:07.756 there's like a rhythm, there's uh I mean, there's those 0:08:07.796 --> 0:08:11.716 wonderful court changes. There's a mellow there's so much do 0:08:11.796 --> 0:08:14.476 you hear? Are you hearing other instruments in your head? 0:08:14.676 --> 0:08:17.596 Of course, this is a band, you know. This is 0:08:17.596 --> 0:08:24.556 the piano players. It's Ray Charlds, you know. And this 0:08:24.716 --> 0:08:38.556 is so there's the drama, right, and then the bass right, 0:08:38.636 --> 0:08:50.356 and then the rhythm. This is only you're just hearing 0:08:50.436 --> 0:08:53.876 this little guitar which is thin and everything about it. It's 0:08:53.876 --> 0:08:57.076 a great sounding little axe. But you plug this thing 0:08:57.116 --> 0:08:59.676 in into a PA and it is as big as 0:08:59.676 --> 0:09:02.436 a band, and you turn it up and it's got 0:09:02.436 --> 0:09:06.796 everything there. And that's another right reason why people often 0:09:06.836 --> 0:09:09.076 come up and say, I could have sworn there you're 0:09:09.156 --> 0:09:11.796 that you had backing tracks, or I could have sworn 0:09:11.876 --> 0:09:15.356 there was something else in there, you know. Yeah, And 0:09:15.396 --> 0:09:17.836 it's just the way of doing it. 0:09:18.276 --> 0:09:20.316 There's even like a lot implied by the way in 0:09:20.356 --> 0:09:22.676 what you do, Like you can trick yourself into hearing 0:09:22.836 --> 0:09:24.636 things that aren't there because. 0:09:24.236 --> 0:09:27.116 Of you know, that's a good point. You're right. 0:09:28.036 --> 0:09:29.956 That happens a lot when I listened to you, because 0:09:29.996 --> 0:09:33.316 I'll start to hear multiple I mean, you're already doing 0:09:33.316 --> 0:09:35.236 a lot, but I'll hear even more than what's happening 0:09:35.276 --> 0:09:38.276 because I'm just my mind's filling things in, you know. 0:09:38.556 --> 0:09:40.796 Yeah. Well the other thing is is that when you 0:09:40.956 --> 0:09:44.276 leave it hanging, the time is still there. Yeah, because 0:09:44.316 --> 0:09:56.796 the time's internalized inside me. Right, nothing's going you know 0:09:56.836 --> 0:10:13.596 what I mean. Then I so I kind of put 0:10:13.636 --> 0:10:16.076 a bit of pressure on it to say this is 0:10:16.116 --> 0:10:17.476 this is the groove right here? 0:10:17.596 --> 0:10:17.876 You know. 0:10:18.596 --> 0:10:28.796 So the first but I'm implying the time, I'm putting 0:10:28.796 --> 0:10:31.436 it out there, you know, for you to feel it 0:10:31.596 --> 0:10:34.476 and hear how the melody works. But then the second 0:10:34.476 --> 0:10:35.876 time around, I go and here it is. 0:10:36.796 --> 0:10:39.436 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a beautiful trick. 0:10:39.796 --> 0:10:45.196 Well, it's just I need that. All I'm doing is 0:10:45.236 --> 0:10:51.116 satisfying my needs inside, you know, and then I put 0:10:51.156 --> 0:10:54.116 him out there and it makes sense to me, you know. 0:10:56.196 --> 0:10:59.476 And I think most artists do the same thing. They 0:10:59.516 --> 0:11:03.716 have something inside that needs to be satisfied, you know. 0:11:04.636 --> 0:11:08.876 For me, it's it's the melody and how the song. 0:11:08.956 --> 0:11:14.236 Because when I'm writing and when I'm playing, I've got 0:11:14.276 --> 0:11:19.956 several hats on. I'm also the arranger, the producer, the artist, 0:11:20.316 --> 0:11:25.076 the I'm the listener. I'm trying to do everything to 0:11:25.236 --> 0:11:28.076 make sure that when I play this song to you 0:11:28.436 --> 0:11:31.356 and you're you're listening to it for the first time, 0:11:31.636 --> 0:11:35.596 that it does everything. It ticks every box. Yeah, you know, 0:11:36.196 --> 0:11:38.516 that's all I'm trying to do, you know. 0:11:39.076 --> 0:11:41.276 Well, and you're right too. I mean, I think about it. 0:11:41.276 --> 0:11:43.396 It's probably a lot of there's a lot of people 0:11:43.396 --> 0:11:44.836 I could think of, but the first one that comes 0:11:44.876 --> 0:11:45.876 to mind is Stevie Wonder. 0:11:46.596 --> 0:11:46.996 Yeah. 0:11:47.076 --> 0:11:48.876 You know, if he's just sitting just like how you were, 0:11:48.876 --> 0:11:53.076 if he's just playing piano, there is an implied rhythm that. 0:11:53.076 --> 0:11:55.876 Is uniquely Stevie, you know, totally. And so when he 0:11:55.876 --> 0:11:58.876 plays drums, by the way and his records, even like Superstition, 0:11:58.916 --> 0:12:01.236 which is a great drum part, it's bizarre. It's like 0:12:01.276 --> 0:12:02.756 not like a normal feel. 0:12:02.996 --> 0:12:06.156 Yeah, that's right. Well, in nineteen eighty, which was a 0:12:06.196 --> 0:12:09.516 long time ago, I was working with a great in 0:12:09.516 --> 0:12:13.556 Australia named John Farnham and we were opening for Stevie Wonder, 0:12:14.116 --> 0:12:17.636 and that was one of the most incredible tours. I 0:12:17.716 --> 0:12:22.796 got to be there at soundcheck every day and Stevie 0:12:22.876 --> 0:12:26.916 sang and played for like three hours in the afternoon, 0:12:27.156 --> 0:12:30.356 and then they had to literally take him off the stage, 0:12:30.676 --> 0:12:33.596 take him to his dressing room so we could get 0:12:33.636 --> 0:12:36.676 set up and do our sound check because he didn't 0:12:36.716 --> 0:12:40.356 want to stop playing. But he was so wonderful, I mean, 0:12:40.476 --> 0:12:45.396 and his band and everything. And I remember when we 0:12:45.396 --> 0:12:48.516 were in the city of Perth in Australia. I walked 0:12:48.516 --> 0:12:53.116 past his dressing room and I could hear this drum 0:12:53.196 --> 0:12:56.396 machine thing going and I could hear him jamming away 0:12:56.476 --> 0:13:00.276 on it like great. And his bodyguard guy was standing there, 0:13:00.276 --> 0:13:03.796 and I said, can I go in and see what 0:13:03.916 --> 0:13:06.516 he's doing? And he said, and he opened the door 0:13:06.516 --> 0:13:09.636 and let me in. Right, So Steve's got he's back 0:13:09.676 --> 0:13:12.996 to the door and he's jamming away with this machine. 0:13:14.516 --> 0:13:20.436 And he suddenly quoted the guitar solo from Memphis, Tennessee. Dude, 0:13:20.476 --> 0:13:24.196 it do do the original guitar solo. He quoted it. 0:13:24.276 --> 0:13:27.116 He says, hey, guitar player, I'm back there behind him. 0:13:27.156 --> 0:13:31.916 He knew it was me. It was unbelievable. Anyway, what 0:13:31.996 --> 0:13:36.956 he was doing was programming the Linn drum machine before 0:13:36.996 --> 0:13:41.436 it was even completely imbedded kind of thing. He was 0:13:41.516 --> 0:13:46.036 programming this piece of technology. It looked like a homemade computer. 0:13:46.556 --> 0:13:48.836 And he was in there doing stuff, showed me how 0:13:48.876 --> 0:13:52.036 it worked, and played along with it and you try it, 0:13:52.116 --> 0:13:56.436 you know, did you actually try? I mean no, you know, 0:13:56.516 --> 0:14:00.396 he just watched him, you know, yeah. Wow, he's amazing. 0:14:00.476 --> 0:14:04.876 And the best part of this story is fifteen years later, 0:14:05.036 --> 0:14:09.156 nineteen ninety five, I was at Lax Airport about to 0:14:09.196 --> 0:14:10.916 get on a plane. I needed to go into the 0:14:10.956 --> 0:14:13.796 men's room for a minute, and I walked into the 0:14:13.836 --> 0:14:17.556 public toilet and there was this big, tall guy standing 0:14:17.596 --> 0:14:20.716 by the door of one of the cubicles and I 0:14:20.796 --> 0:14:26.036 recognized him and I said, I know you. I met 0:14:26.116 --> 0:14:28.836 you like that, And a voice in the cubicle said, 0:14:28.956 --> 0:14:30.716 that's the guitar player from Australia. 0:14:30.836 --> 0:14:31.796 Was stid out of here. 0:14:31.996 --> 0:14:34.916 Yeah, can you believe that he knew my voice instantly? 0:14:35.076 --> 0:14:38.996 Instantly that level of to be able to recall, yeah, 0:14:39.036 --> 0:14:41.076 something like that, and not only just recall your voice, 0:14:41.076 --> 0:14:43.436 but then also that that anecdote of you entering the room. 0:14:43.476 --> 0:14:44.116 And there's like a. 0:14:44.076 --> 0:14:47.476 Sense that he that has to be tied to hear 0:14:47.516 --> 0:14:48.076 some of his music. 0:14:48.156 --> 0:14:53.076 We don't know what the kind of abilities that a 0:14:53.156 --> 0:14:56.556 man like that has, who's been blind since he was young, 0:14:57.116 --> 0:15:03.476 and his abilities and his senses on a well spiritual 0:15:03.596 --> 0:15:08.876 level that are almost otherworldly, you know, Yeah, so you 0:15:08.876 --> 0:15:11.916 can hear it the moment you hear him sing and play, 0:15:12.276 --> 0:15:16.756 you know, oh boy, look out, there's something going on here. Yeah. Yeah, 0:15:16.796 --> 0:15:19.436 And that's why we all love our Stevie Wonder because 0:15:19.476 --> 0:15:22.796 there's never been anybody like in him and Ray Charles. 0:15:22.956 --> 0:15:26.876 Oh my god, where would we be without them? Yeah? Musically, 0:15:27.156 --> 0:15:30.596 musically yeah, we'd be. There'd be a big hole. 0:15:30.636 --> 0:15:31.996 But black and white to color. 0:15:35.476 --> 0:15:35.676 Yeah. 0:15:37.716 --> 0:15:39.396 Was that the tour? I think in the States on 0:15:39.436 --> 0:15:41.756 that that was a tour where he was lobbying to 0:15:41.796 --> 0:15:43.196 get the. 0:15:43.156 --> 0:15:45.516 Martin Luther King Junior Holiday in the States too, right, 0:15:45.596 --> 0:15:48.676 the nineteen eighty probably was. And I think in at 0:15:48.756 --> 0:15:50.196 least in the States. I don't know if in Australia 0:15:50.196 --> 0:15:56.876 he had. 0:15:54.076 --> 0:15:55.956 In a Square Circle album. 0:15:56.596 --> 0:15:59.836 Well maybe it would have been a master Blaster. 0:15:59.916 --> 0:16:03.276 It was master Blast, master Blast, yeah, because every night 0:16:03.596 --> 0:16:07.036 we got up and played with with with him in 0:16:07.076 --> 0:16:10.316 the band. Because when he heard John Farnum's sing, he said, 0:16:10.516 --> 0:16:11.956 you got to come and you guys have got to 0:16:11.996 --> 0:16:15.116 come and join us and and we'll we'll do something 0:16:15.156 --> 0:16:19.956 together and so and Ben Bridges was was his Steve 0:16:20.156 --> 0:16:23.316 Stevie's guitar player, and he invited me to plug into 0:16:23.356 --> 0:16:27.836 his gear and and we just jammed together on Happy 0:16:27.876 --> 0:16:33.236 Birthday too, and then we were into Master Blaster. It 0:16:33.316 --> 0:16:37.556 was awesome. Dennis Davis was playing drums and h and 0:16:37.596 --> 0:16:40.436 he was so nice to work with. Two and our 0:16:40.956 --> 0:16:44.676 drummer David Jones jumped up on on the kit and 0:16:44.676 --> 0:16:48.476 and Dennis just took off one of the toms and 0:16:48.676 --> 0:16:52.716 just danced around and played the tom while our drama played. 0:16:52.756 --> 0:16:54.836 You know. It was just that's what it was like 0:16:54.916 --> 0:16:58.236 in those days. See, if you found somebody that you 0:16:58.476 --> 0:17:01.956 that you really click with, you got together. You know, 0:17:02.276 --> 0:17:06.676 what a dream, What a dream? It was unbelievable. Well, uh, 0:17:06.716 --> 0:17:10.596 this story could go on because the last show was 0:17:10.596 --> 0:17:15.196 in Perth and the next day was was Billy Joel 0:17:15.356 --> 0:17:20.836 in Australia for the first time, all right, and so 0:17:21.356 --> 0:17:24.236 we were all staying in the same hotel. So I 0:17:24.316 --> 0:17:26.916 got to meet Billy and his band and everything and 0:17:26.996 --> 0:17:30.076 we all hung it. And then after the show, the 0:17:30.156 --> 0:17:34.316 hotel put ropes across the bar area, so the public 0:17:34.356 --> 0:17:38.556 had to stay out and we hang around the piano here. 0:17:38.636 --> 0:17:41.236 So there was me and Ben and David Brown from 0:17:41.516 --> 0:17:46.116 Billy Joel's band. There was Billy Stevie and and John 0:17:46.156 --> 0:17:50.516 Farnum at the piano and just we were just jamming 0:17:50.596 --> 0:17:56.276 tunes and Stevie wonder knew most of Billy Joel's songs 0:17:57.116 --> 0:18:02.556 what he could sing them. Yeah, it was unbelievable. That's 0:18:02.596 --> 0:18:06.196 an amazing It would be a long time ago. 0:18:06.396 --> 0:18:07.196 So we're recorded. 0:18:10.076 --> 0:18:12.476 You know. It's the same thing with the day that 0:18:12.556 --> 0:18:17.276 I met Chet Atkins and and we we played together. 0:18:18.876 --> 0:18:22.236 There was a cassette player with a microphone set up 0:18:22.236 --> 0:18:26.036 on the table, and neither of us thought to record it. 0:18:27.236 --> 0:18:30.916 You know, we played for hours and never recorded it. 0:18:31.516 --> 0:18:34.716 Do you remember what you played? Was it or was 0:18:34.756 --> 0:18:35.076 it just? 0:18:35.236 --> 0:18:40.956 It was? It was? It was tunes that that were popular, 0:18:41.116 --> 0:18:44.396 kind of jazz tunes, you know, like Lover Come Back 0:18:44.436 --> 0:18:47.636 to Me and Caravan and tunes like that. 0:18:48.036 --> 0:18:50.796 You go, a great version of Caravan on you had 0:18:50.836 --> 0:18:54.756 a trio record passing through from a few years ago. 0:18:54.876 --> 0:18:57.236 Oh yeah you know about that. Yeah, yeah, with you 0:18:57.316 --> 0:19:04.196 it's you and Ian Date and and fiddler I Ian Cooper, 0:19:04.556 --> 0:19:05.956 the incredible violin player. 0:19:06.076 --> 0:19:07.876 You guys have great You guys play off each other. 0:19:09.116 --> 0:19:13.676 I was recorded in a heartbeat, that whole album. Yeah, 0:19:13.956 --> 0:19:18.196 just just put it together quickly and it's great album, 0:19:18.196 --> 0:19:20.116 all that stuff. Thanks, But playing with Chack, I mean, 0:19:20.156 --> 0:19:21.276 playing with chet I must have. 0:19:23.276 --> 0:19:23.956 That had to be. 0:19:25.636 --> 0:19:27.676 One of the greatest days of my life. You know, 0:19:28.036 --> 0:19:31.636 I'll just never forget it. And you know, when I 0:19:31.676 --> 0:19:34.996 was a little boy and I'm trying to trying to 0:19:34.996 --> 0:19:37.756 collect ched Atkins records and all that, and I had 0:19:37.756 --> 0:19:41.156 a little portable turntable with the speaker in it that 0:19:41.236 --> 0:19:47.956 my mum had given me, and I said many times, 0:19:48.276 --> 0:19:50.036 I'm going to meet him and we're going to play 0:19:50.116 --> 0:19:53.676 together like that. And I'm just a kid, you know. 0:19:54.196 --> 0:19:56.876 My mother said, I believe you will. You know, you 0:19:57.076 --> 0:20:00.916 just keep at it, you know, and I believe you will. 0:20:01.196 --> 0:20:04.476 And sure enough, I ended up writing him a fan letter. 0:20:04.996 --> 0:20:09.116 I was eleven. I wrote this fan letter telling him 0:20:09.196 --> 0:20:11.996 him that I was listening to his music and trying 0:20:12.036 --> 0:20:14.476 to work it out and all that, and could he 0:20:14.556 --> 0:20:17.036 send me a photograph with an autograph on it. And 0:20:18.236 --> 0:20:21.516 about two months later, I came home from school and 0:20:21.556 --> 0:20:24.836 my mum said, go into your room. There's something on 0:20:24.876 --> 0:20:29.756 your bed, and there was this big brown envelope and 0:20:29.836 --> 0:20:33.716 I had American eagle kind of stamps, and you know, 0:20:33.836 --> 0:20:38.276 my heart started going like this and it was a 0:20:38.356 --> 0:20:42.196 letter from Chet with a black and white photograph signed 0:20:42.196 --> 0:20:45.876 to me. And yeah, I remember when I opened it, 0:20:45.876 --> 0:20:50.436 it was just like pristine. You know. It had RCA Victor, 0:20:50.916 --> 0:20:53.916 you know, from the desk of chet Akers, all written 0:20:53.916 --> 0:20:55.916 in gold at the top of this thing, you know, 0:20:56.076 --> 0:20:59.316 it was all typed out and his signature on the bottom. 0:20:59.556 --> 0:21:01.876 That for all the way from the America, I feel 0:21:01.876 --> 0:21:03.276 like incredible. 0:21:02.676 --> 0:21:05.196 To nowhere in Australia. I was just a kid going 0:21:05.236 --> 0:21:08.476 to school in a little town and park call parks 0:21:08.876 --> 0:21:15.276 in Australia. But I was already dreaming. I'd already seen 0:21:16.356 --> 0:21:18.956 coming over here, you know what I mean. I'd already 0:21:19.396 --> 0:21:24.676 dreamt it and had that vision in my mind. And 0:21:25.036 --> 0:21:29.556 this is what leads me when I'm talking with young 0:21:29.596 --> 0:21:33.076 guys now who you know, they want to be doing 0:21:33.236 --> 0:21:35.796 what I'm doing. They want to be a concert player, 0:21:35.836 --> 0:21:37.796 they want to get out there and tour the world 0:21:37.796 --> 0:21:40.476 and all that. And I always say, you know, where's 0:21:40.516 --> 0:21:44.676 your vision? Where do you see yourself? Where do you belong? 0:21:45.436 --> 0:21:50.876 You know? And because I always knew I was a 0:21:50.916 --> 0:21:53.996 concert player, I just didn't know how I was going 0:21:54.036 --> 0:21:57.316 to get there. And I had to do the hard 0:21:57.436 --> 0:22:01.796 road I had to play every musical situation I could. 0:22:03.436 --> 0:22:06.316 I had to play where people didn't listen to you. 0:22:06.836 --> 0:22:09.076 I had to play in bars where I was under 0:22:09.236 --> 0:22:11.996 rage and all that. I had to play for free 0:22:12.036 --> 0:22:15.796 a lot. I had to play for food and all 0:22:15.796 --> 0:22:19.716 that kind of stuff. And I ran away from school 0:22:19.716 --> 0:22:22.676 when I was fifteen, and because it was a waste 0:22:22.716 --> 0:22:25.676 of time to me, I needed to get to work. Yeah, 0:22:25.876 --> 0:22:28.236 you know, and your mom just did that, No, she 0:22:28.436 --> 0:22:30.916 I broke her heart, Yeah, because she wanted me to 0:22:30.956 --> 0:22:36.076 finish high school and get a higher school certificate. And 0:22:36.956 --> 0:22:39.796 I was more interested in going to Sydney to play 0:22:39.836 --> 0:22:41.076 with the big boys. 0:22:41.196 --> 0:22:43.596 Who were the like and who in Sydney would have 0:22:43.636 --> 0:22:45.476 been the people you were wanted to go play with 0:22:45.516 --> 0:22:46.196 at that time. 0:22:46.036 --> 0:22:50.756 Well, nobody who could really play what I wanted, the 0:22:51.116 --> 0:22:54.756 kind of style that I play, But people who knew 0:22:54.756 --> 0:22:58.316 more about music than I did, that's for sure. And 0:22:58.436 --> 0:23:02.396 so the next best thing to go on to Nashville. 0:23:02.556 --> 0:23:05.236 Well it's what you could do. Yeah, And well I 0:23:05.396 --> 0:23:09.876 just wanted I just wanted to. I was hungry for knowledge. 0:23:10.436 --> 0:23:13.036 I was hungry for it, and I still am, you know, 0:23:13.596 --> 0:23:18.996 And I'm hungry for experience as well, because you can't 0:23:19.036 --> 0:23:25.596 play anything meaningful without experiencing life, you know. And that's 0:23:25.636 --> 0:23:29.836 why when we listened to a teenager like Stevie Wonder 0:23:29.996 --> 0:23:36.116 was playing you Are the Sunshine my Life, you know, 0:23:37.436 --> 0:23:41.476 how does he do that? It's a gift, it's otherworldly, 0:23:41.876 --> 0:23:48.036 you know. So anyway, I wanted to move to Sydney, 0:23:48.116 --> 0:23:52.796 and I got some people to help me get down there, 0:23:53.196 --> 0:23:56.156 and I rented a room, I got a day job, 0:23:56.956 --> 0:24:01.276 and then I auditioned for different artists and stuff, and 0:24:01.356 --> 0:24:06.636 people laughed, They just outwardly laughed when I walked in 0:24:06.676 --> 0:24:09.516 for the audition because I was a fifteen year old kid, 0:24:09.956 --> 0:24:12.796 and you know, who do you think you are? What 0:24:12.836 --> 0:24:14.796 do you think you're going to do? Well, let's just 0:24:14.796 --> 0:24:17.916 play the music, and you know, and I knew all 0:24:17.916 --> 0:24:21.636 the songs. I knew all the vocal harmonies. I knew 0:24:21.676 --> 0:24:23.956 I could quote the record if if it was a 0:24:23.956 --> 0:24:27.636 song I'd learned from a record, and I was ready 0:24:27.716 --> 0:24:32.076 to go, you know, and electric at that point, electric, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:24:32.796 --> 0:24:33.956 did you I mean? 0:24:33.996 --> 0:24:38.476 And it was quite an interesting road to what you're 0:24:38.516 --> 0:24:43.436 doing now. So when you had that vision as a kid, 0:24:43.756 --> 0:24:46.636 the youth of concert Plane, was it more in the 0:24:46.876 --> 0:24:48.476 who was it in the vein of at that time? 0:24:49.116 --> 0:24:52.036 If you had to imagine it, well, when I played tune, 0:24:52.076 --> 0:24:55.396 so I was playing a kind of a Chad Atkins 0:24:55.436 --> 0:25:04.956 type style. But I was listening to Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Diamond, 0:25:05.156 --> 0:25:09.796 Carol King, James Taylor in the seventies, I mean I was, 0:25:09.916 --> 0:25:17.556 and Stevie Wonder, Ray, Charles, Jerry Reid, you know, people 0:25:17.716 --> 0:25:20.156 like that I was listening to. And I was listening 0:25:20.196 --> 0:25:22.276 to what was on the radio, the Beatles, the Rolling 0:25:22.316 --> 0:25:26.596 Stones and all. When I was young, I thought the 0:25:26.676 --> 0:25:29.636 Rolling Stones and the Beatles were so out of tune, 0:25:29.916 --> 0:25:32.556 you know, And I just couldn't understand it because I 0:25:32.596 --> 0:25:35.436 was so used to listening to chedd Atkins, who was 0:25:35.556 --> 0:25:38.436 so in tune it was unbelievable, you know. And you 0:25:38.556 --> 0:25:42.636 listen to a Stevie Wonder record and his vocal is 0:25:42.676 --> 0:25:47.236 so unbelievable, you know. And when you hear guys playing 0:25:47.236 --> 0:25:49.476 in and out and singing in and out of tune, 0:25:49.956 --> 0:25:51.556 it's kind of weird. You know. 0:25:51.796 --> 0:25:52.556 What do you think about it? 0:25:53.156 --> 0:25:56.356 Do how? I totally love everything they've ever done, and 0:25:56.436 --> 0:25:59.516 I totally get it. But when I was young, I mean, 0:26:00.036 --> 0:26:03.276 that's the only filter I had. Yeah, you know, is. 0:26:03.276 --> 0:26:06.596 The difference between when you're a young, kind of hot 0:26:06.596 --> 0:26:10.196 shot player and you're listening to Chad and it's precision 0:26:10.196 --> 0:26:10.916 and it's beautiful, but. 0:26:10.876 --> 0:26:11.996 There's a lot of soul and chat too. 0:26:12.036 --> 0:26:14.076 But yeah, it's clearly there's that other bit of it 0:26:14.076 --> 0:26:18.316 that's just you know, just another level of talent, and 0:26:18.316 --> 0:26:20.036 then you're listening to the Beatles and the Stones and 0:26:20.076 --> 0:26:22.396 it sounds slightly out of tune? Is that the difference 0:26:22.396 --> 0:26:25.076 between learning to be a player and learning to make records? 0:26:25.916 --> 0:26:29.916 Or I think the lesson when I look back on 0:26:29.956 --> 0:26:33.516 it now was how good are the songs? You know 0:26:33.556 --> 0:26:39.876 what I mean? So I could tell you in my 0:26:39.956 --> 0:26:42.916 own recordings where I could have got the tuning a 0:26:42.916 --> 0:26:46.556 bit better, but the feeling on the track was exactly 0:26:46.796 --> 0:26:49.796 the right one, and I was willing to live with it. 0:26:50.196 --> 0:26:53.116 And I think I learned that from, you know, hearing 0:26:53.116 --> 0:26:55.396 the Rolling Stones and going it's a bit out of tune, 0:26:55.596 --> 0:26:58.596