(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Bergen Performing Arts Center (BergenPAC) presents Tommy Emmanuel: It’s Never Too Late Tour with Special Guest Joe Robinson on Thursday, March 2 at 8:00pm. Two-time Grammy nominee Tommy Emmanuel is one of Australia’s most respected musicians. The legendary guitarist has a professional career that spans five decades and continues to intersect with some of the finest musicians throughout the world.
Emmanuel has been voted Favorite Acoustic Guitarist in both Guitar Player Magazine and Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s reader polls, and is a YouTube sensation. His videos have over 29,000,000 views and have led to sold out shows in new markets all over the US. Tommy has also been seen all over the United States in his Public Television pledge specials “Center Stage” and “Tommy Emmanuel and Friends.”
A household name in his native Australia, Tommy has garnered hundreds of thousands of loyal fans worldwide. Tommy’s unique style - he calls it simply “finger style” - is akin to playing guitar the way a pianist plays piano, using all ten fingers. Rather than using a whole band for melody, rhythm, bass, and drum parts, Tommy plays all that - and more - on one guitar. Guitar legend Chet Atkins was one of the first to inspire Emmanuel to try this “fingerpicker” style as a child. Decades later, Atkins himself became one of Emmanuel’s biggest fans.
Tommy Emmanuel is an honorary Kentucky Colonel, a CGP (Certified Guitar Player - a title given by Chet Atkins to only 5 guitarists in the world), an Order of Australia Medalist (AM) and the holder of both an honorary Master’s Degree (MA) and more recently an honorary Doctor of Arts (DR) from Charles Sturt University in Australia in recognition of his commitment to rural Australia and his contribution to music education.
Joining Tommy Emmanuel on the bill is Australian guitar virtuoso Joe Robinson, who has spent the last few years touring North America playing festivals and headlining clubs. Having also played China, Japan, Europe and Australia, Robinson has been able to define himself as a budding world visionary.
He walks a tightrope between the instrumental music that’s put him in the spotlight and a unique fusion of rock, blues, jazz, and R&B that’s entirely his own.
bergenPAC is located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, NJ.
