Tommy Emmanuel says bluegrass and Americana guitar is officially in safe hands with a new generation of players who have come along to “shake us out of our comfort zones”.
Speaking to Guitar World, the Australian acoustic guitar virtuoso was effusive in his praise for four young players who have “raised the bar” for the art form, and just as importantly, turned a new generation of fans onto it.
Asked who his guitarist of the year was for 2025 in the new issue of GW, Emmanuel had no hesitation, naming the man who had just been voted guitar player of the year by the International Bluegrass Music Awards for the third time.
“Trey Hensley,” said Emmanuel. “I’m glad to see the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards thought so, too.”
But Emmanuel couldn’t stop at one. There were three more, including a Gibson signature artist, a former Guitar World columnist, and another player whom the IBMA considers bluegrass guitar royalty.
“Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull have come on like a tsunami in Americana/ bluegrass,” he continued. They’ve raised the bar, stretched the boundaries and won the ears and hearts of the young generation.”
Informed by the likes of Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt and Paco De Lucia – “the greatest guitar player I‘ve ever seen, period” – Emmanuel’s approach to the acoustic guitar is still radical long over 45 years since the release of his debut album, From Out of Nowhere.
Even electric guitar luminaries such as Joe Satriani have said no way could they do what he does on acoustic. “I routinely humiliate myself by putting on a live DVD of Tommy Emmanuel, and I go, ‘I will never achieve that!’ [Laughs] But thank God for Tommy for doing that,” said Satriani, speaking to MusicRadar in 2022.
For many players, Emmanuel is the archetypical acoustic maestro. But even he feels the challenge coming from the next generation, and welcomes it, too. “More power to those young guns who come into our world to shake us out of our comfort zones,” he says.
Emmanuel also had some props to share from one of the old guard – a guitarist who has consistently reinvented how we he approaches the instrument, who has not stopped.
“I also think Robben Ford has killed it in 2025,” he says. “He’s kept writing, recording, shooting videos, touring with multiple lineups and shown us all what an artist can do. His sound is revolutionary; his enthusiasm is infectious. More power to you, Lord Mr. Ford!”
In another recent interview with Guitar World, Emmanuel shared his trick for putting a capo on the right way to avoid tuning issues.
