Fearless fingerstyle guitarist Tommy Emmanuel certainly has an almost supernatural ability to create a cinematic substance with the most abbreviated musical setups. Yet the man and his acoustic, continue to set a bar that very few have approached.
Emmanuel is set to release an upcoming five-song EP with British acoustic guitar virtuoso Mike Dawes titled Accomplice Series Vol. 3, due out September 23, on CGP Sounds. The duo takes a valiant turn on songs by Nirvana, Gotye, The 1975, John Mayer, and Sting.
Glide is premiering the duo’s reimagination of Sting’s “Fields of Gold”, (below) a colorful take where a breezy soul elevates this nostalgic yet melancholy tune to imaginative double melodies. The striking video was filmed outside in Franklin, Kentucky amid the yellow sagebrush and was directed and edited by Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard for Neighborhoods Apart.
“Playing this masterpiece with Mike is always fun and emotional…a simple repetitive melody with a slowly building arrangement that becomes powerful. I always think like a singer when I play a Sting melody,” says Emmanuel.
‘Fields’ was Tommy’s idea based on his own arrangement from the ‘Can’t Get Enough’ record [Tommy’s 1996 album]. I wanted to hold down something of a strict rhythm and backbeat for this one. The result is a mid-tempo homage to the classic Sting song. This was recorded in a single take by Marc DeSisto. I’m playing in DADGAD tuning whilst Tommy is in standard tuning. I particularly like the different tones on our guitars on this one. Tommy’s bright flatpicked Maton soars over my fingerpicked Indian Rose Cuntz guitar. This was very important in a tune with doubled melodies,” adds Dawes about the track.
