Tommy Emmanuel Coming to Center for the Arts in January

Two-time Grammy nominee Tommy Emmanuel, the guitarist whose five-decade career has seen him win legions of fans worldwide, once again brings his passionate and infectious live show Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Tuesday, January 19 at 8 p.m. and Wednesday, January 20 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, priced starting at $35 for the public and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or online at http://arts.pepperdine.edu/. More information about Tommy Emmanuel can be found at: http://tommyemmanuel.com/

This two-night only engagement showcases Tommy Emmanuel's new album It's Never Too Late which was released on September 21 on Thirty Tigers. The album is 14 tracks of all original music with no vocals or guests. It's just pure Tommy - solo.

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. A household name in his native Australia, Emmanuel has garnered hundreds of thousands of loyal fans worldwide. Emmanuel'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, Emmanuel 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.

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 U.S.

He 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.

The performances will feature the special guest the wisherkeepers, the new up-and-coming duo of Claire Wyndham and Anthony Snape. Individually, they have both toured the world writing and performing music, but the wisherkeepers brings their collective experiences together for something heart wrenchingly personal and beautifully unique.

The performance is sponsored by the Flamminio Family.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from 664 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.