New York, NY (Top40 Charts) TOMMY EMMANUEL, the acclaimed and Grammy-nominated acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter, has today (October 9) released a newly recorded acoustic instrumental of John Lennon's classic "
Imagine" as a limited edition 7-inch vinyl single exclusive for independent retail on November 13 in the U.S. and December 18 internationally. A video for the Nashville-based artist's stirring version of "
Imagine" has also been released today, the same day Lennon would have been 80 years old. Watch the video-filmed in Nashville at Tunesmith Studios and directed by Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard for Neighborhoods Apart—here:
"I want to say a big thank you and a big Happy Birthday to John Lennon," says EMMANUEL. "Thank you John for all your mojo, for all your music and all the great memories that you've left us. To celebrate your birthday, I have recorded my version of "
Imagine" and it's only coming out on record. It's gonna be a 7" vinyl and it'll be available at your record store. So support your local record store because in these hard times, everybody needs to help each other. If you love John Lennon, like most of us do, and if you love the song "
Imagine"—one of the greatest songs of peace ever written, then please go and get my version of 'Imagine' and play it for your children. Lots of Love."
TOMMY recorded "
Imagine" on March 5, 2020 in Nashville at Tunesmith Studios right before the pandemic set in. It was produced by Tommy Emmanuel, engineered by Brad Benge, mixed by Brad Benge & Tommy Emmanuel and mastered by Marc DeSisto. "Imagine," an exclusive release to record stores for 2020, is being issued on Tommy's label, CGP
Sounds (ironically the catalog number is #9). Only 1,000 copies of the vinyl single are being produced and each one is numbered. The B-side is a Tommy Emmanuel original song, "Since We Met," that has never appeared on vinyl.
In other TOMMY news, he'll perform two live-stream concerts on Saturday, November 7. For the first show, at 3:00 PM, he'll play highlights from his It's Never Too Late album along with other fan favorites and at the 8:00 PM show, he'll visit highlights from his Endless Road album along with other fan favorites. For these two live-streams, TOMMY has partnered with Topeka Live to bring a front row concert experience to the audience: he'll perform in front of giant video monitors where he can see the audience and they'll be able to see him (they can clap in between songs and he will hear and interact with them).
TOMMY EMMANUEL has achieved enough musical milestones to satisfy several lifetimes. At the age of six, he was touring regional Australia with his family band. By 30, he was a rock n' roll lead guitarist burning up stadiums in Europe. At 44, he became one of five people ever named a CPG (Certified Guitar Player) by his idol, music icon Chet Atkins. Today, he plays hundreds of sold-out shows every year from Nashville to Sydney to London. He's piled up numerous accolades, including two Grammy Award nominations, two ARIA Awards from the Australian Recording
Industry Association (the Aussie equivalent of the Recording Academy); repeated honors in the Guitar Player magazine reader's poll including a cover story for their August 2017 issue; a cover feature for Vintage Guitar's July 2020 issue; and was
Music Radar's reader's poll #1 winner of the Ten Best Acoustic Guitarists in The World (December 2019). 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. His talents, which translate in any language, carry him to the far corners of the globe, but EMMANUEL never plays the same show twice, and he improvises big chunks of every date. That leaves him open to those technical imperfections, though they also provide some of the humanity to an other-worldly talent. On May 8, 2020, he released a newly recorded career-spanning double album, THE BEST OF TOMMYSONGS, via CGP Sounds/Cruzen Street Records). Watch the album trailer here which focuses on TOMMY's unique ability to tell stories without words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SOQEMWYAQ4&feature=youtu.be
