On a Thursday evening the Summer of 1998, I was honored to sit with Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins and watch them practice for the upcoming performance for a Saturday night at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society. I was absolutely in awe and Chet and Tommy were very congenial...I didn’t even attempt to strum my guitar...there were only about a half dozen of us in the room but it was an event of a lifetime for me. Jerry was a regular at the downstairs bar in Franklin...I never got to play guitar with him but got to have several (ahem..) drinks with him. He was truly unique and fun to be around...
What a great experience. I’m a little jealous, VVD. TE is a tremendous talent and self-taught, IIRC. Tommy tells a funny story that Chet had a little Tommy Emmanuel figure on his fireplace mantle.