Tommy Emmanuel comes back to his artistic roots for the first time in four years

Sitting in his lounge room surrounded by guitars - of course - Tommy, 67, has called Nashville home for 20 years and is about to return to his real home for a tour and to release a new album, Accomplice Two, in May.

It will be his first trip back Down Under in four years and he is desperate to see his family.

"I got in the car this morning to go to the supermarket, turned on the CD and guess what came up," he asked me.

I'm guessing something Australian.

"Yes," he said. "Peter Allen's Tenterfield Saddler."

He picks up the nearest guitar and starts singing "Time is a traveller..."

"I was a bit emotional at that stage and the next song that came up was The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics."

Tommy sings the line: "I wasn't there that morning when my father passed away" bringing lumps to both our throats.

"My father died when I was 10 and this song and that line gets me every time. I was quite teary after all of that.

"I can't wait to get home to see all my family."

Only missing will be Tommy's older brother Phil, who died suddenly of an asthma attack in Parkes on May 24, 2018, aged 65.

"I miss him terribly," Tommy said.

Born in Muswellbrook in 1955, Tommy is still touring the world playing guitar and bringing joy to the stage.

He brims with joy when on stage performing and in this interview.

"I get so much joy out of being on stage and performing," he said.

"Possibly too much sometimes. I'll be up there chatting away like a lunatic and telling jokes and I have to apologise to the audience for talking too much and not playing."

Tommy is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time and was one of only five guitarists ever named a Certified Guitar Player by his hero Chet Atkins.

He's uncomfortable with being called the best or a legend.

"I'm human after all," he said.

Tommy has never had a guitar lesson. He doesn't read music and doesn't know much about music theory. Yet, he's considered one of the modern masters of the guitar. His skills are due to natural talent and decades of practice.

Old Slow Hand Eric Clapton has called him "the greatest guitar player I ever saw" while American guitarist Steve Vai said "Imagine Chet Atkins with the testosterone of Eddie Van Halen".

"I study music every day," Tommy said. "I always have. I just watch and learn from everyone around me."

He was taught how to play guitar chords at age 4 by his mother.

"Mum was learning to play Hawaiian music, and she needed a rhythm player. So she trained me up, and that's how I got started. From what she told me, it came very naturally to me. So in that way, it was a gift."

By age 5, he was touring in a band with his three siblings, and for several years they earned the family's only income. At age 8, he discovered the music of his mentor Chet Atkins and knew what he wanted to do with his life.

By his teens he was touring clubs around Australia and playing on recordings for bands such as Air Supply and Men at Work, and commercial jingles.

He formed a friendship with Atkins, who became one of Tommy's biggest fans.

Tommy wrote Guitar Man (he picks up the guitar again) for Atkins who introduced him to the Grand Ole Opry.

"I was called up on the Opry stage one night and introduced. Then I played Waltzing Matilda and had no idea two busloads of Aussie tourists were in the audience. They went mad when they heard it. It was serendipity."

His tour starts on May 7 in Canberra and winds up in Melbourne on May 28, taking in Sydney, Newcastle, Perth, Cairns, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Brisbane, Gladstone, Caloundra, Broadbeach, Adelaide, Hobart abd Launceston along the way.

The packed three week national tour will include headlining the renowned Blues On Broadbeach festival on the Gold Coast.

"I am so happy to be finally able to come back to play my beloved Australia," he said.

"It's been a tough time in our world lately, and I find that music is needed more than ever.

"Since I've been back touring again, I sense a new feeling of joy that people have for the live experience, just like the old days when people hear you play for the first time.

"It's an awakening, a reminder of the beauty of music - seeing, feeling and experiencing an event filled with truth, love, sacrifice, dedication and letting go.

"Relax, let it all go, come and have fun."

Tommy brings the power and dynamism of a full band to his solo acoustic playing, with incredible charisma, stunning speed and dexterity and unerring command of melody.

He has received a huge variety of accolades and recently added yet another string to his guitar, being named number one acoustic guitarist in the world on Music Radar, as voted by his fellow musicians.

Meanwhile, our long chat is over and he's off to cook gumbo for dinner.

"We've just returned from Louisiana and I fell in love with the food," he said.

Click here for more information.