Courtesy photo.
With special guests Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
SUMMARY
- UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Tommy Emmanuel, CGP
- Sat, March 9 | 8 p.m. | Campbell Hall
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- Considered one of the best acoustic guitar players on Earth, Tommy Emmanuel will be joined on stage by special guests Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley for an unforgettable evening of music.
- $65 / $40 / $15 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
- Tickets & Info: www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
“Known as one of the greats due to his complex fingerstyle techniques, the Australian guitarist has had a long and successful career as a session musician and solo artist.” Guitar.com
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Tommy Emmanuel, CGP on Saturday, March 9 at 8 p.m. at Campbell Hall. Recognized as one of the best acoustic guitar players on Earth, Tommy Emmanuel brings a sense of palpable joy to every note he plays. Incorporating the sounds of blues, country, rock, classical and Spanish music, his unique style encompasses a multi-dimensional landscape of masterful guitar playing. A four-time winner of Australia’s “Golden Guitar” Award, his long-awaited 2023 album Accomplice Two features scores of musical legends ranging from Michael McDonald to Billy Strings.
ABOUT TOMMY EMMANUEL
The real-time exuberance Tommy Emmanuel brings to every note of every song he plays is palpable and infectious. His fans are in love with his unbound talent as a guitarist of multitudes, as well as his ability to play three parts at once – always with pure heart and real soul.
It’s one thing to play these multi-dimensional arrangements flawlessly on an acoustic guitar. But to do it with that smile of the ages, that evidence of authentic, unbridled delight, is an irresistible invitation to feel his music as deeply as he does. “The joy,” he says, “is there always because I’m chasing it through music. Seeing the surprise in people’s eyes is worth living and working for… I can’t help but play to the people with all my heart, which is overflowing with joy of being in that moment that I’ve worked all my life for. And here it is!”
Emmanuel’s happiness, like his music, is pure and expressed in real-time. Nothing is phony. It’s a quality that reaches far beyond any one language, and it’s instantly understood by all his fellow humans. It’s the reason he smiles so much while playing, and why his audience does as well. As many have said, it’s hard not to be happy at his shows. Because his joy, and the timeless river of inspiration which is the source, is universally recognized. And it feels good.
In 2018, Emmanuel made the album Accomplice One, a series of duets with a range of artists – including Rodney Crowell, Mark Knopfler, Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Jerry Douglas, Jake Shimabukuro and more – that reflected his love of all kinds of music. His accomplices on the album seemed as inspired by his energy and passion as Emmanuel was by theirs, and he played with effortless grace.
Now comes the long-awaited sequel, Accomplice Two. It shares the same exuberance, diversity and sense of adventure as the first album, with a great range of artists. This album features rock legends Michael McDonald, Jorma Kaukonen and Little Feat; bluegrass superstars such as Billy Strings, The Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Sierra Hull and David Grisman; country icons such as Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jamey Johnson and Raul Malo; and guitar heavyweights like Yasmin Williams, Larry Campbell and Richard Smith.
Emmanuel also has a new television special called Accomplice LIVE!, which began airing on PBS in March of 2023. This special features some of Emmanuel’s best-known songs and duets with accomplices such as Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Sierra Hull, Yasmin Williams and many others.
Emmanuel was born in 1955 in Muswellbrook, New South Wales Australia, and started playing the guitar at age four. In his 20s, he was the most sought-after performer and session musician in Sydney. By age 30, he was burning on electric guitar with several rock bands in stadiums across Europe. He could have gone on to live the rock star life. Yet he yearned for something purer and closer to his heart, and went acoustic.
The inspiration for Emmanuel’s transformation was his hero, Chet Atkins, who represented the simplicity of one man, one guitar, and unlimited passion for serving the song. Eventually Emmanuel met his hero and started a lifelong friendship that shaped his music forever. Atkins welcomed Emmanuel into guitarist knighthood by bestowing upon him the coveted title of CGP (Certified Guitar Player) – an honor awarded only to four other humans ever – and they recorded an album together, The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World.
Receiving Atkins’ love and esteem lifted Emmanuel into a different realm. Because, as Atkins recognized instantly and told the world, musicians like this don’t come along that often; pay attention to this man. And people have paid attention. From sold out shows all over the world to multiple Grammy nominations, Australian Recording Industry Association Awards, International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, and countless Best Acoustic Guitarist wins in numerous music magazine readers polls… The world is taking notice.
ABOUT ROB ICKES AND TREY HENSLEY
Take a 15-time IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Dobro Player of the Year and a Tennessee-born guitar prodigy called “Nashville’s hottest young player” by Acoustic Guitar magazine, and you have Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, a Grammy-nominated powerhouse acoustic duo that has electrified the acoustic music scene around the world. Acoustic Guitardescribes their sound as “steel-string bluegrass with all the intensity of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Known for their white-hot picking and world class musicianship as six-string virtuosos, as well as their soulful stone country vocals, Ickes and Hensley cleverly and uniquely meld bluegrass, country, blues, rock, jamgrass and string band music of all kinds. Their signature blend of music that defies restrictions of genre can be heard on their new record, Living in a Song, released in February 2023. With the new album, Ickes and Hensley spotlight their songwriting chops by collaborating with and paying homage to some of Nashville’s finest songwriters. They made a conscious decision to lean the music in a classic country direction, with some elements of Americana and bluegrass thrown in for good measure.
As a duo, Ickes and Hensley have shared the stage or collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel, Taj Mahal, Vince Gill, David Grisman, Jorma Kaukonen, Hot Tuna, Marty Stuart and Steve Wariner, among many others.
Ickes, the most decorated musician in IBMA Awards history, grew up in California’s Bay Area. A former founding member of bluegrass “supergroup” Blue Highway and highly sought-after Dobro master, Ickes has graced the recordings and concerts of artists such as Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Earl Scruggs, Merle Haggard, Alison Krauss, Tony Rice and several others.
Hensley, a native of Jonesborough, Tennessee, earned IBMA Guitar Player of the Year nominations in 2020, 2021 and 2022. He made his Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 11 (thanks to an invite from Marty Stuart with Earl Scruggs). Hensley’s musical influences are as far-ranging as The Allman Brothers Band, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and he has had the opportunity to perform with the likes of Johnny Cash, Peter Frampton and Old Crow Medicine Show, among many others.
All four of the Compass Records albums released by Ickes and Hensley have received widespread acclaim, including their debut Before the Sun Goes Down, which garnered a Grammy nomination, The Country Blues and World Full of Blues, produced by Grammy-winning producer Brent Maher (The Judds, Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson), which features collaborations with Vince Gill and Taj Mahal. The new Ickes and Hensley record, Living in a Song (once again produced by Maher), highlights the duo’s songwriting chops like never before and is receiving glowing reviews.
Among notable side projects, Ickes and Hensley teamed up with guitar master Tommy Emmanuel for a very special EP, Tommy Emmanuel: Accomplice Series Vol. I with Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley (released at Emmanuel’s invite via his label, CGP Sounds) to critical acclaim. Ickes and Hensley have also recorded several songs with the legendary Taj Mahal, who invited them to go on tour and be part of his first-ever Taj Mahal Sextet.
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Tommy Emmanuel, CGP is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures in association with UCSB Department of Music
Special thanks: KCSB
Tickets are $65 / $40 / $15 UCSB students (Current student ID required)
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2023-2024 season.