“She gets on the intercom and says, ‘There's a boy from Australia here to see you.’ I hear him say, ‘Is he a fingerpicker?’” Tommy Emmanuel knocked on the door of his biggest guitar hero – and ended up jamming with him

Tommy Emmanuel performs on stage at the Victorian Arts Centre, Hamer Hall on May 25, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia / Chet Atkins performs at Paul Masson Winery on September 20, 1991 in Saratoga, California.

Sometimes, you bump into high-profile players when you least expect it. If you’re anything like Tommy Emmanuel, though – who literally walked up and knocked on the door of his guitar hero – you meet them exactly when you expect to.

Speaking on The Zak Kuhn Show, the Aussie acoustic guitar virtuoso reflected on the time he first visited Music Row in Nashville as an aspiring musician and took the opportunity to swing by the abode of none other than Chet Atkins.