Considering his technical virtuosity, one would be forgiven for thinking Australian acoustic guitarist Tommy Emmanuel was thoroughly schooled in music theory.
“This generation thinks that I went to a place like Berklee [College of Music] or that I was taught by some brilliant teachers, and nothing could be further from the truth,” Emmanuel said during a recent Zoom call from his home of 23 years in Nashville.
Instead, at age 4, his mother showed him how to play chords and “how to understand how a song works.” After that, he and his brothers—who went on to have a family band together when they were quite young—were largely self-taught.
“We really learned how to play music through emulating the sound that we heard on the radio and the sounds that we heard on records,” he explained. “We just tried to make that sound, so we just kept looking for it until we found it. It was trial and error. Of course, every now and again, we would run into someone who was better than us at it, and we would ask them a million questions, and they’d show me, ‘Oh, you can play this chord like this, and you can also play it up here like this,’ you know? It was really, really great.”
He and his brothers all admired an English instrumental band called The Shadows, who were on the radio at the time.
“Their records were just instantly recognizable, and so that was my first big influence, apart from Jimmy Rogers and Hank Williams and Jim Reeves and Marty Robbins. That’s the kind of American country music that we listen to. And then along came Chet Atkins, and it changed my whole world, you know? I was 7 when I heard Chet, and I didn’t have a clue what he was doing, but I knew that that’s what I have to do. Whatever that is, that’s the sound I wanna make, so I just pursued it. I tried everything I could, and I worked out how to do it with a straight pick, playing the bass part with the pick, and then the other parts with my fingers. Then, a couple of years later, I saw one of his albums and I bought it, and he had a thumb pick, and I said, ‘Oh, that’s it!’ So I kind of got close to it already, but once I got the thumb pick, I was off and running.”
At 70 years old, has Emmanuel peaked as a guitar player?
“No,” he was quick to answer. “No, I haven’t, although I’m led to live a rigorous, honest life, so if I saw or heard myself playing, like, 20 years ago, I could tell that I had much more technical ability back then. I don’t have as much technical ability as I did then, but I like what I’m doing, and I like what I’m writing, and even though I can’t do some of the things that I used to, I can do other things.”
‘And then along came Chet Atkins, and it changed my whole world, you know? I was 7 when I heard Chet, and I didn’t have a clue what he was doing, but I knew that that’s what I have to do. Whatever that is, that’s the sound I wanna make, so I just pursued it.’
—Tommy Emmanuel
His music is imbued with deep emotion, and he takes listeners on a journey. That comes not from technical ability but from soulful execution.
“It’s about being the storyteller. It’s all about finding the right songs and piecing it together. I’m a songwriter, but I don’t write lyrics, but I do tell stories with my songs somehow. It’s hard to explain that to people.”
If you ask people who know music, ‘Who’s the best acoustic guitar player in the world?’ Many would say Emmanuel. How’s that for pressure?
“My answer is, ‘What the hell would they know?’” he laughed. “I don’t think anyone’s the best. I think we’re all different. I’ve never once had an argument with somebody about who was the best about anything. The truth is, I don’t sit around only listening to guitar music and only listening to guitar players. I could care less. I’m interested in good songs. If I got in my car now and drove away, what you would hear would be Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly album because I’m revisiting it for about the 10th time this week. That’s a songwriting production masterpiece. And you need to hear something that good. And then sometimes I’ll play Gordon Lightfoot’s Don Quixote album or Sundown. Or maybe I’ll listen to [Don McLean’s] American Pie again. What an incredible album. And that’s what interests me.”
Good Vibez presents Tommy Emmanuel at the Fremont Theater on Sunday, April 26 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $50.96 to $180.48 at prekindle.com), in support of his new album, Living in the Light.
“I have a young man named Jack Schneider who’s opening,” he added. “He’s a great singer-songwriter, plays guitar real well, and him and I were sitting running through stuff yesterday, and we just both know all the same songs. I’m 70 and he’s 23 or something, but he’s grown up [listening to] the same people I listen to: Gordon Lightfoot, Merle Haggard, James Taylor, Carole King.”
Also this week at the Fremont, #IMOMSOHARD: The Flashback Tour was rescheduled from Thursday, Feb. 19, to Thursday, April 30 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $26.24 to $71.04 at prekindle.com). What began as a web series by real-life best friends, comedians, and moms Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley has become a comedy cottage industry with their videos garnering nearly 300 million views as they discuss “hemorrhoids, nipple hair, sex after marriage, mom bods, Spanx, wedding dresses, and swimsuits,” their bio explains.
Surf’s up
When I caught up with Surfer Girl frontman Carter Reeves (Schultz), he was “just sitting in a parking lot in Houston, Texas.”
“We’re shaking the rust off,” he said via phone. “We had our first show of the tour last night, so we’re just kind of getting warmed up. The tour’s only three weeks. I think you guys are the second to last show.”
Good Vibez presents Surfer Girl at Rod & Hammer Rock on Friday, May 1 (doors at 8 p.m.; 18-and-older; $29.27 at ticketweb.com).
The band’s home base is currently LA, but Carter is from Boston, there’s “some New Yorkers, a guy from Detroit, and a kid from up in the Bay Area,” he explained.
His previous band, Aer, was more of a hip-hop pop thing. Surfer Girl is more of a reggae and beach vibe thing, and his youthful musical tastes informed the band name.
“First and foremost, I grew up in a household of Beach Boys lovers. I grew up on the East Coast, and we listened to the Beach Boys a lot, and I think that molded my affinity for the retro nostalgic golden era 1960s Malibu surf culture. I kind of always idolized it and it was always something I used as an escape from the bitter cold of the East Coast.”
When he met his wife, her favorite song growing up was “Surfer Girl,” and “it didn’t hurt that she herself is a quintessential LA blond surfer girl,” he laughed.
The project started during the pandemic, when the couple were “holed up” with Carter’s family back in Boston.
“I really wanted to return to my musical roots and return to the things that just made me happy regardless of expectations, regardless of what was cool or hip or trending,” he said. “I just wanted to do what I liked, which was this American reggae, modern reggae fusion thing, which is where my heart resides.”
As he and his wife listened to his new band’s first demos, and after going through “stupid silly names” and spinning the Beach Boys Surfer Girl album nearly to death, “she looked at me and said, ‘What about Surfer Girl?’ We toyed around with it, soon it was time to release the music, and Surfer Girl stuck. It’s a nod to the Beach Boys but also a nod to my beautiful wife.”
Aer shared some of Carter’s interest in reggae, but he sees his earlier work as coming from a “beautifully ignorant time.”
“Aer was just a full exploration of sound, of style. I was a part of Aer when I was 18 through 25, so I had zero expectations for myself as an artist, had zero preconceived notions, or even experience, honestly. I think Aer has this youthful spirit and kind of this free flowing, no effs given vibe about it, because we didn’t know what the heck we were doing. We didn’t know who we were yet. We didn’t know what sound really resonated with ourselves as artists.”
It wasn’t until four years after Aer disbanded that he started Surfer Girl at age 29. He thinks the band pulled together all the “different hats and styles and sounds” he’d been playing with as a solo artist to create a style that “felt most like myself.”
Now, Carter feels like his music is more refined, focused, and authentic.
“I’m a married 33-year-old guy with a dog and a wife, looking to start a family at some point. There’s a little more depth to it now.”
If you’re a fan of the recordings, don’t go to his show expecting to hear slavish re-creations.
“I leave a lot of room to grow on the records. Our records sound really great, but our live show just has more of an added element, especially with an added guitarist. We switch up the rhythm, we switch up the parts, sometimes we play faster, sometimes slower, sometimes we jam for a while. So, I think if you’re used to the studio versions, the live show feels like an interesting evolution. If you expect to just see a mellow, chill reggae show, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how hyped up and high energy it is.”
Doublecamp and Dylan Cotrone open.
Also this week at Rod & Hammer Rock, see Boot Juice on Friday, April 24 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $27.21 at ticketweb.com). The Davis-based septet “defies the typical assumption that a big band with horns is sticking to the well-worn path of funk and jazz,” their bio explains. “They certainly infuse those genres into the mix. More than anything though, this is an unabashed cosmic rock band intent on taking audiences into an alternate dimension of pure freedom and dance euphoria where the outside world ceases to exist.”
Stax Johnson and Company open.
Country and/or hard rock?
Good Medicine and Numbskull will absolutely crush Club Car Bar with two killer shows this week, and if you like both country and classic hard rock, you should see both.
Country singer-songwriter Sunny Sweeney is at Club Car Bar on Friday, April 24 (7:30 p.m.; 18-and-older; $26.99 at goodmedicinepresents.com). I love the story behind her song “Poet’s Prayer,” a song praying that performers get home safe from their gigs. After it was written a few years ago, she didn’t play it at a gig, and they got into a car accident on the way home. Then it happened again. Now, she never plays a show without including it in her set list.
“I really do love country music,” she said in press materials. “For me, it’s the stories and hooks.”
Local AC/DC tribute band High Voltage plays Club Car Bar on Saturday, April 25 (8 p.m.; all ages; $19.78 at goodmedicinepresents.com). These guys freakin’ rip, and they clearly revere the music. “Hells Bells,” “Highway to Hell,” “Back in Black,” “Thunderstruck,” “You Shook Me All Night Long”—you’ll rock out to the hits.
The Siren coming in hot!
Morro Bay’s hottest (and only?) night club starts its weekend with Brass Mash playing “A Big Ass Brass Party Bash” on Friday, April 24 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $15 presale at tixr.com or $20 day of show). Voted Best Band in 2024 in New Times’ Best Of SLO County poll, this powerhouse horn band mashes up hits from the 1960s through today.
On Saturday, April 25, catch a free matinee show with Santa Cruz’s Gary Blackburn Band playing high energy roots rock, country, and blues (2 to 5 p.m.; 21-and-older), and later that night, Modern Love—the David Bowie Tribute celebrates the music of the Thin White Duke (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $24-30 at tixr.com). Expect a journey through Bowie’s eclectic catalog, with songs like “Ziggy Stardust,” “Suffragette City,” “Let’s Dance,” “Starman,” “Rebel Rebel,” and more.
You can kick off Morro Bay Car Show weekend on Thursday, April 30, with a free show by ethereal folkgaze act Kettle of Hawks (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older).
Get in on the ground floor
Libretto, Paso’s celebrated jazz club, presents the inaugural Paso Jazz Fest from Friday, April 24, through Sunday, April 26. The multi-day festival culminates in a grand finale concert at Sensorio on Sunday, with pianists Elysia Biro, Gerald Clayton, and Taylor Eigsti performing solo sets. The evening includes a multi-course winemaker dinner. Visit pasoroblesjazzfest.com for a complete listing of events and tickets.
More music …
Local R&B and soul act IMVA presents Michael Jackson: A Night of Tribute at SLO’s Libertine Brewing Co. on Friday, April 24 (doors at 8, show form 9 to 11 p.m.; 21-and-older; $7.20 presale at my805tix.com or $10 at the door). “We’ll be playing Michael Jackson’s iconic songs with a full 10-piece funk band, spanning from his early years to his platinum record hits,” Caeden O’Neill of IMVA said. “Come dance, shout, and shake your body down to the ground with us while we celebrate the King of Pop!”
The Full Swing Band plays the Central Coast Dance Community’s next event at the Morro Bay Vets Hall on Saturday, April 25 (5:30 to 8 p.m.; $10). A dance lesson with Linda Drake runs from 5:30 to 6:15 to get you warmed up, then dance the night away with fellow dance enthusiasts.
The Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Club presents West Coast Gumbo at the Pismo Beach Vets Hall on Sunday, April 26 (jam session starts at 11 a.m. followed by the concert from 12:30 to 4 p.m.; all ages; $5 for jammers, $10 for members, $15 for non-members at my805tix.com or at the door). The Bakersfield headliner is a New Orleans style band playing Mardi Gras favorites like Dr. John, the Meters, and Professor Longhair, with more traditional New Orleans standards and a little bit of funk mixed in. The Tevis Ranger Jazz Ensemble is the Intermission band. Mardi Gras attire is encouraged!
Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FULL SWING BAND
Jazz Vespers Concerts returns to SLO’s First Presbyterian Church on Sunday, April 26, with Cuesta’s award-winning vocal jazz ensemble Voce (4 p.m.; all ages; free though donations are welcome). Directed by John Knutson for 25 years, this a cappella group creates a lush orchestra of sound and has toured extensively on the West Coast and 11 times in Europe.
The Famous Jazz Artist Series plays Woodlands Concert Hall (715 Main St., Cambria) on Sunday, April 26, with The Rhythm Section—featuring bassist Luther Hughes and drummer Paul Kreibich performing with Charlie (vibes) and Sandi (vocals) Shoemake. They appeared on many of the Shoemake’s recordings and will re-create that music live (5 to 7 p.m.; $35 with tickets by calling (805) 935-9007 or emailing charlie@talsamusic.com). ∆
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 23-30, 2026.