14 minute read
Brown Theatre
91.9 WFPK presents TOMMY EMMANUEL, CGP WITH ROB ICKES AND TREY HENSLEY
Saturday, January 29, 2022 | 8:00pm | Brown Theatre
-- Tommy Emmanuel
Anytime you talk to any of his fans, whether musicians or civilians, invariably they will speak of not one but two qualities that define his greatness. The first, predictably, is his extraordinary guitar playing. Considered by those in the know to be among this planet’s greatest guitarists, his playing is simply miraculous, as it would take three musicians, or more, to do what Tommy does solo. Who else, for example, when playing “Day Tripper,” can lay down the rhythm part, dig into the riff and sing the melody all at once on just one acoustic guitar? Which brings us to the other aspect of his music always mentioned, and without which the first might not be as powerful or as infectiously appealing: the joy. Yes, joy. Because 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 peoples’ 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!”
Although his expression is instrumental, he comes to the guitar much more like a vocalist, positively singing melodies through the strings. He inhabits the tunes he performs, delivering every nuance and turn of phrase. His own songs are also illuminated always with lyrical melodies that go right to the heart, such as his beautiful ode to his daughter, “Angelina,” or his great “story without words,” “Lewis & Clark.” That they resonate so deeply without words makes sense, as words only go so far. But music, coming from a genuine and joyful source, can go so much farther. Now with The Best of Tommysongs, he brings us a complete collection of his own songs, all rich with ripe melodicism and rendered with joy in real-time.
Born in 1955, one of six kids in Muswellbrook, New South Wales Australia, his first years were fairly uneventful, mostly mastering necessary motor skills between naps. By age four, he got busy becoming a musician. His father, an engineer who loved music and musicians, brought home an electric guitar one day with the intention of finding out how it worked. Piece by piece, he took it apart to discover its secrets. But Tommy and his brother were much more interested in music than mechanics, so that when their dad was away at work, they’d surreptitiously sneak away with the guitar.
Driven somewhat by sibling rivalry, they developed contests that were both fun and extremely educational. “We turned our backs to each other,” Tommy remembered, “and Phil would play a chord and I would have to say what the chord was, what the notes in it were.” It was competition which impacted his entire career, allowing him access to the rich interior architecture of songs. Though neither brother had any formal musical training, this selfschooling quickly transformed both into seriously sophisticated musicians.
Though they assumed their father would be angry if he found out, which he did, they were wrong. He was surprised and thrilled his sons could play music. Soon their big brother Chris was enlisted to play drums, and with sister Veronica playing lap-steel, a family band was born. They joyously rocked hip guitar instrumentals such as “Apache” by The Shadows, featuring Hank Marvin on guitar, who both Phil and Tommy adored and emulated. They called themselves The Emmanuel Quartet. But when people kept mistaking them for a classical string quartet, they changed the name to The Midget Surfaries.
They entered a band competition, and easily surpassed all contenders to take first prize, a national TV appearance. On that show they burned through “Apache” with such aplomb that the producer told their dad he should take the band on the road.
He agreed. Back home he told everyone the plan: Sell the house, buy a tent, two station wagons, and hit the road.
It seemed to be a dream, yet it was true. What they didn’t know was that their dad had learned recently that he had an incurable heart disease and was not expected to live for much more than a year. His doctor said if there was ever anything he really wanted to do; he should do it.
It lasted for six years. They were on the road constantly, except for a few periods when their dad was too ill to tour, and Tommy and his brothers picked fruit to make some money. When his father’s heart finally gave out, Tommy remembered, his mother grieved for a few hours alone, and then emerged to give them the choice of a “normal life” or staying on the road. They chose the road, of course, and signed up with a successful traveling show, which kept them gainfully employed for a good stretch. But that came to an end when the child welfare department forced them off the road again for perceived child labor violations.
“They made us go to normal schools,” Tommy said. But normal was not something Tommy accepted for long. Though they settled down in a little town near Sydney, the brothers quickly assembled a little rock band, playing pubs, parties, weddings, and dances. One thing he learned on the road and never forgot was that he loved performing. And he was great at it. From these origins, Tommy’s music expanded in every direction. At 30, he was burning on electric guitar with several rock bands in stadiums all over Europe. He could have gone on to live the rock star life. Yet he yearned for something purer and closer to his heart. Casting off the reliable rock band engine of monstrous sonics blasting with chains of effects through monstrous stacks of amps, he did a reverse Bob Dylan, and instead of going electric, Tommy went acoustic.
Stripping away everything but the essentials, Tommy found the ideal equation, and one which has led him to worldwide acclaim: one acoustic guitar in standard tuning played by one ambitiously unchained guitarist and lover of song. Always it’s about melody, of expressing the tune not with a barrage of notes, but with those which touch the heart. And it’s about his singular greatness at translating the dimensional dynamics and dimensions of arrangements onto the six strings of his guitar. Although many scoffed that it was possible, Tommy made a series of hit albums as a solo guitarist, and became a major star first in Australia, and soon everywhere.
The inspiration for Tommy’s transformation? That would be guitar legend Chet Atkins, who represented to Tommy the pinnacle of guitar playing. One man, one guitar, and unlimited, passionate song. Like Dylan, who made a pilgrimage from the Midwest to New York to meet his idol, Woody Guthrie, Tommy always knew he had to get to Chet. To let Chet hear his music, which had been so shaped by his years listening, and absorbing, Chet’s genius. When he finally made that trek around the globe to meet the man himself, in Nashville, their bond was immediate, and like their music, existed beyond words. Chet picked up his guitar, and the two men jammed joyously for hours. It started a lifelong friendship which shaped Tommy’s music forever. Chet welcomed Tommy into guitarist knighthood by bestowing upon him the coveted title of CGP (Certified Guitar Player), an honor awarded only to four
other humans ever. Though already devoted to the life of a solo player, receiving the love and esteem of Chet lifted Tommy into a different realm. Because, as Chet recognized instantly and told the world, musicians like this don’t come along that often; pay attention to this man. Of course, Chet knew of what he spoke. Tommy’s triumph on his singular solo path has been extraordinary. From the Midget Surfaries he’s become beloved and revered around the planet for the music. And, for the joy. 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 who made his Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 11, and you have Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, a powerhouse acoustic duo that has electrified the acoustic music scene.
Known for their white-hot picking, stone country vocals with soul and world class live musicianship, Ickes and Hensley meld together blues, bluegrass, country, rock and other string band music of all kinds to form a signature blend of music that defies restrictions of genre. They are equally at home on stages of prestigious performing arts centers, theatres and the Grand Ole Opry as they are on Americana, jamgrass, bluegrass and jam band festivals.
Ickes co-founded the highly influential bluegrass group Blue Highway and has been a sought-after Nashville session player and live performing musician for decades, with credits to his name such as Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and Alison Krauss. Hensley has been called “Nashville’s hottest young player” by Acoustic Guitar magazine and his soulful baritone vocals have received acclaim as well. Influenced by repertoires as diverse as The Allman Brothers Band, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hensley has shared stages with artists such as Johnny Cash, Steve Wariner, and Peter Frampton. As a duo, Ickes and Hensley have shared the stage and collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel, Taj Mahal, David Grisman, and Jorma Kaukonen & Hot Tuna — all enthusiastic admirers of the duo — as well as Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi All Stars, Molly Tuttle, and many more. The duo were key players on Original, the recent highly lauded Compass album by bluegrass giant Bobby Osborne; their participation garnered a Recorded Event Of The Year Award for Bobby’s version of “Got To Get A Message To You” on that album at this year’s IBMA Awards; they also were on the 2016 Recorded Event winner, ”Fireball,” featuring Special Consensus, in 2016.
Ickes and Hensley have gained some added grit and a nod to the roots side of Americana aided by the guiding hand of GRAMMY-winning producer Brent Maher on the duo’s new Compass Records album, World Full of Blues (released Oct. 4, 2019). Maher, known for his production and engineering of such diverse artists as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers, The Judds, Faces, Ike and Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, and Chuck Berry, loved the duo’s demos and signed on to produce immediately upon hearing them. Acclaimed bluesman Taj Mahal provides his unmistakable mojo to the title track and country music legend Vince Gill guests on an inspired rendition of cover of the Grateful Dead’s moonshiner song, “Brown-Eyed Women.” The project includes a range of songs
that could be featured on a vintage Sun Records recording to Trey’s more traditional country originals. On World Full of Blues, they move beyond the acoustic-centric sound of their previous two releases (including the GRAMMYnominated Before The Sun Goes Down) and juice things up with Hammond B3 and a horn section.
The album was recorded live at Maher’s Nashville studio, The Blueroom, with minimal overdubs. Maher says, “For me, this record was all about living in the moment…letting spontaneity rule.” Despite the diversity in instrumentation and song selection— acoustic blues to jammed out roots rockers, “Hag” country to Duane and Dickey style twin leads reminiscent of The Allman Brothers—the end result is a sound unified in its approach to the broad scope of roots music. “Ultimately we’re the unifying factor,” says Ickes. “It’s obvious we’re into all these different styles, but there’s a commonality in the sound of our instruments that, blended with Trey’s voice, makes it one sound.”
Ickes and Hensley wrote or co-wrote nine of the songs on World Full of Blues and put their own spin on the two covers. Hensley says, “Our songwriting was always present on the last records, but there were maybe three originals and the rest covers. We made a decision on this one to present more of our own material.”
Ickes contributes the instrumental “The Fatal Shore” and the cautionary “Thirty Days,” while Hensley offers the optimistic life-on-the-road song, “Both Ends of My Rainbow.” Hensley got the idea to write the lively “Nobody Can Tell Me I Can’t” after hearing a friend use that phrase in conversation. That title clearly embodies the duo’s creative streak, too. “World Full of Blues felt important to me to include from the first time Rob talked about it,” says Hensley. “Bill Scholer had written a version of the song, but Rob and I decided to rewrite it, with some help from our friend Jason Eady, to make it more modern, while keeping Bill’s original intent intact: ‘It’s a crazy world and it feels like it’s getting crazier all the time…’ We knew we wanted a guest on this song and Taj Mahal was at the top of our dream list. He loved it and agreed to sing a verse and play some guitar on it. Working with Taj in the studio was a huge highlight for us… what an amazing guy and an absolute legend in every sense.”
“Brown Eyed Women” has the distinction of not only being one of the duo’s favorite Grateful Dead tunes, but a career first for country legend Gill. “Vince is one of our big musical heroes and it was so awesome having him sing on a Grateful Dead tune, which was the first time he’s recorded a Dead song.”
“Born With The Blues” is a song Ickes and Hensley wrote with their friend Bobby Starnes. “Bobby started it and we finished it up,” Ickes recalls. “It reminds me of a Clint Eastwood western, and the percussion and horn section really solidifies that. This is a song that gives us room to stretch out musically. It felt like the perfect song to kick off the record. “
“Suzanne,” written by Hensley with Larry Shell and Larry Cordle, finds the duo swapping instruments, Hensley playing a 1931 National resonator guitar and Ickes playing a 1927 Montgomery Ward guitar that belonged to his grandfather. “We had spent the morning talking about how amazing Lightning Hopkins, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker all were and this song just appeared.” Hensley recalls. “Having Jim Hoke arrange the
Closing the project is a rousing, smoking hot take on blues-jazz-rock guitarist Robben Ford’s “Rugged Road.” Few guitarists cross boundaries as deftly as Ford and this rendition firmly places Ickes and Hensley in the same pantheon as the celebrated guitar slinger. Ickes grew up in a suburb of San Francisco and discovered the Dobro as a teenager when he borrowed a Mike Auldridge cassette from his brother. He later moved to Nashville to pursue session work, and eventually graced the recordings of some of the best in the business before co-founding Blue Highway, and earning an unprecedented number of IBMA Dobro Player of the Year accolades.
Hensley grew up in East Tennessee and started singing in a gospel group when he was 6 years old. A few years later, his parents took him to a bluegrass festival where the lineup included back-to-back sets by bluegrass legends Charlie Waller and Jimmy Martin. Hensley decided then and there that he wanted to play guitar. By the time he was 11, he had given the life-changing first performance on the Grand Ole Opry playing guitar with Earl Scruggs and Marty Stuart. When Scruggs played Knoxville not long after the Opry appearance, he invited the young Hensley to sit in. Ickes, who was playing Dobro in Scruggs’ band at the time, remembers Hensley as “a very talented kid,” but it would be roughly a decade before they crossed paths again. When they did, Ickes was blown away. “I couldn’t believe the guy!” Ickes says. “I was just so excited about his music that I called everyone I knew in Nashville and told them about him. Then I suggested that we start playing at (Nashville’s) Station Inn and treat it like a showcase for Trey, just to see what might happen. I used to tease him and say, ‘I’ll have you famous by Christmas.’ Then, just one year later, our first record was nominated for a GRAMMY.”
Ickes and Hensley have performed in places as close to home as Nashville’s world famous Grand Ole Opry (multiple performances at both the Grand Ole Opry House and the Ryman Auditorium) and as far away as Denmark’s Tonder Festival. They’ve played many prestigious music festivals, including Telluride Bluegrass, ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival, AmericanaFest, Rockygrass, ROMP, Wintergrass, Bluegrass Underground, Vancouver Island Music Festival, Guitar Town, Sisters Folk Festival, the Freshgrass Festival, Copper Country Music Festival and several others. They were invited to perform at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with Buddy Miller in Oct. 2019 and will set sail from Miami to St. Croix and Antigua on the Cayamo cruise alongside Brian Wilson, Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples, Rodney Crowell and others Feb. 2020. Several more tour dates are planned in 2020 with Taj Mahal, their World Full of Blues collaborator.
Going forward the goal is simply to reach more people and illustrate what the unique talents and down to earth, honest approach of Ickes and Hensley can bring to roots music. “We want to keep doing the music that we love, no matter what the genre, and finding the audience that gets what we’re mixing together” says Ickes. Hensley adds, “I love what we’re doing, so it’s just continuing on with that, to more and more people.”
