Coinciding with springtime, TOMMY EMMANUEL has today (March 21) released the single and video “Windy and Warm” from his album LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE (C.G.P. Sounds), which also has been issued today. Watch the live performance video of the evocative instrumental track, beautifully filmed by Bondi Rocks Media at the Sydney Opera House in his native Australia, HERE. Stream the album HERE.
TOMMY EMMANUEL is an acoustic guitarist extraordinaire, composer, global touring artist, and Grammy® Award winner. He’s also one of five people ever to be named a C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player) by Chet Atkins, the great innovator, songwriter, producer, record company executive, and visionary.
“‘Windy & Warm’ was the first song I heard by Chet Atkins, and the very first song I learned in thumb and fingerstyle,” says TOMMY. “It was the song that everybody wanted to play but had so much trouble trying to play it. It’s a timeless classic with elements of blues, jazz, and country fused together into an irresistible cocktail of groove!
“With this recording at The Sydney Opera House, I decided to recut this classic song in a much more traditional style, because I messed with it before making it funky and jazzier, so I took it back home! John D. Loudermilk wrote this song especially for Chet to record.”
Also, look for the film LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE streaming exclusively on TOMMY’s website. This film features performance highlights from his sold-out residency at the Sydney Opera House plus a visit to the Maton Guitar Factory, a cruise on Sydney Harbor, and much more. Watch it HERE.
Meanwhile, watch the album’s live performance videos for the first three singles including “The Jolly Swagman,” “Gdansk/Tall Fiddler,” and “Secret Love.”
EMMANUEL is no stranger to iconic stages from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to London’s Royal Festival Hall and Paris’ L’Olympia. The legendary entertainer has dazzled audiences across the world. But there’s something truly magical about the Sydney Opera House, and the magic of his sold-out performances there has finally been captured on this new EMMANUEL-produced album. It features 16 tracks, four of which are medleys, including his famous “Beatles Medley” (a previous live version of this has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube).
“The moment and power in these hours spent playing music, is perfectly preserved here on this record,” says TOMMY. “I hope you can feel the intensity of our musical and spiritual relationship… a bond built on a life freely given to all.”
He played two spellbinding shows on the Concert Hall stage in May 2023, with the best of both performances represented here. The setlist showcases the most beloved songs of TOMMY’s career—classic compositions like “Tall Fiddler,” “Mombasa,” and “Country Wide,” recent fan favorites like “Fuel” and “Sail On,” his now iconic arrangement of “Classical Gas,” and his thrilling “Beatles Medley.”
“As a 15-year-old boy living in Circular Quay, I spent many a time walking past the Opera House,” he says. “I would daydream about what it must be like in there, what it would be like to perform there. After fifty years in the business, we finally got there!”
“Playing the shows for this recording was a dream come true for me,” TOMMY adds. “I felt so ready! I was surrounded by my team of brilliant people, and I was looking into the faces of so many loving and happy fans in the concert Hall. The momentum and power in these hours spent playing music, is perfectly captured and preserved here on this record. I hope you can feel the intensity of our musical and spiritual relationship…a bond built on a life freely given to all.”
A noted fingerstyle guitarist, EMMANUEL frequently threads three different parts simultaneously into his material, operating as a one-man band who handles the melody, the supporting chords and the bass all at once. You can hear his wizardry captured brilliantly on LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE.
Here’s the album’s track listing:
- Countrywide
- Fuel
- The Jolly Swagman
- Deep River Blues -Doc’s Guitar -Blue Smoke -Cannonball Rag
- Song for a Rainy Morning
- Since We Met
- Secret Love
- Drums/Mombasa
- Gdansk -Tall Fiddler
- Smokey Mountain Lullaby
- Windy & Warm
- Beatles Medley -She’s A Women -Please Please Me -While My Guitar Gently Weeps -Day Tripper -Lady Madonna
- Classical Gas
- April Sun in Cuba
- Sail On
- American Tune -Waltzing Matilda
