Tommy Emmanuel: 🎸 “I was sitting in the dressing room, and he came straight in like a rabid dog”

Tommy Emmanuel on the night he shared the stage with an electric guitar legend — and learned who really ruled the room

Les Paul may have been in his nineties, but no one was about to treat him like an old man.

When Tommy Emmanuel was invited to jam with Les Paul during his long-running New York residency, the Australian acoustic guitar virtuoso quickly discovered that the legendary guitarist was not a man to be taken lightly.

Yes, Les Paul carved his name into guitar history thanks to his revolutionary electric guitar design — and he nearly worked with Leo Fender before his iconic partnership with Gibson truly took off. But as a player, he was anything but second-rate.

The legendary Iridium residency

From 1995 until 2009 — the year he passed away at the age of 94 — Les Paul held a residency at the small, intimate jazz and blues club Iridium in New York. The 180-capacity venue was packed night after night with fans eager to see the master and his special guests.

He loved inviting other musicians to share the stage with him. Over the years, the guest list included Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, and many other six-string icons.

For just two nights — believed to have taken place in 2007, when Les Paul was already in his nineties — Tommy Emmanuel found himself seated at that legendary table.

Night one: too polite

Emmanuel believed the first show went smoothly. But it soon became clear that his host was far from impressed with how he handled himself on stage at the venue on 1650 Broadway.

“I take a little solo, then throw it back to him, play one more tune — something like Caravan — then bow and walk off,” Emmanuel recalled in an interview with Q104.3 New York.
“I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I was being very low-key.”

As it turned out, low-key was not what Les Paul wanted.

The dressing-room confrontation

“When the first show finished, I was sitting in the dressing room, and he came straight in like a rabid dog,” Emmanuel continues.
“He said, ‘I know what you’re doing! You think I’m old. Don’t you ever hold back on stage again. When I call you out, you get up there and give it hell. Give it everything you’ve got!’”

“I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘Okay, Les, I will.’”

Night two: full volume, no mercy

And he kept his promise. The second night was a completely different story.

“He calls me up, I run out there, crank my amp, and go straight into Classical Gas,” Emmanuel says.
“The audience exploded at the end. They jumped to their feet, screaming. It was deafening. Absolute chaos.”

For a brief moment, Emmanuel thought he’d stolen the show. But the final punchline belonged to his host.

The last word from a legend

“When they finally calmed down,” he continues, “Les grabbed the mic and said:
‘Ah! So he waits till I’m old to come and beat me up!’”

A lesson from a master

In a previous interview with Guitar Player, Emmanuel shared his top tips for guitarists, explaining why learning from other players is “part of the musical dialogue” — and why covering songs can unlock parts of your playing you never knew existed.

Back in April, he also revealed his intense pre-show routine — a method definitely not for the faint-hearted.