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8:30AM Sunday 12 October, 2008 Sunshine Coast weather Showers min 17° - max 24°

Emmanuel and Borich kick off tour

18 July 2008

| By Grant Reynolds

Phil Emmanuel lives and breathes rock and roll.

His voice has that gravely, husky quality made hoarse from years of playing badly ventilated venues filled with smoke, the hallmark of old rockers.

Phil’s love affair with the guitar started when he was about six years old and his father was a sort-of manager for a band in Gunnedah, central New South Wales.

“I used to put my pillow in front of a Fender amplifier and go to sleep,” he said.

He continued to learn by ear, and it was listening to Apache by The Shadows that sold Phil on a career as a guitar player.

“I knew that’s what I wanted to do, that’s how I wanted to play,” he said.

Then at the ripe-old age of eight with his younger brother Tommy playing rhythm and his other siblings on bass and drums, the Emmanuel Quartet played a sold-out show in a little CWA hall in Goohli, just west of Gunnedah.

While his brother Tommy became a world-wide master and commercial success with his acoustic style, Phil never lost his love of electric and it was Kevin Borich – the man he’s teamed up with to play a top-shelf dinner show at the Sheraton Noosa – who he looked up to for inspiration.

Phil fist saw Kevin Borich at pubs and clubs around Sydney, and when the opportunity was presented to play alongside the man whose music and technique he idolised, Phil said it took him all of “36 micro-seconds” to say yes.

The 1990 tour was supposed to be for two weeks but lasted 13 as they travelled from Cairns to Melbourne with their brand of rock and roll.

Since then Phil has forged a career with his style of electric guitar that has spanned 50 years and has taken him to the festival circuit in Europe and three albums with a fourth to be released later this year.

This month, fans will have the chance to see two of Australia’s and arguably the world’s greatest guitarists perform within the luxurious surrounds of the Sheraton Noosa.

And Phil said he may even treat audiences to a rendition of Apache.

Don’t miss Phil Emmanuel and Kevin Borich for a dinner show at Sheraton Noosa for their We Mean Business Tour on July 26. For tickets: Sheraton Noosa on 5449 4888.

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