Tommy Emmanuel finger-picking at Sunset Station
Greater Las Vegas has a sudden breakout of guitar fever, if you figure the strange case of Esteban and Tommy Emmanuel set to perform on the same night, although in different places.
Although home-shopping king Esteban surrounds himself with three musicians, Emmanuel plays solo and without a set list, as you have perhaps seen on PBS. The 57-year-old wasn’t quite born with a guitar in his hand, but he was a child prodigy playing by age 4.
A long correspondence with Chet Atkins eventually led to a personal friendship and mentoring from the late Nashville master, as Emmanuel adopted Atkins’ “finger-picking” technique of using his thumb for a bass line. The two eventually recorded the album “The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World.”
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.