Mike Dawes starts an acoustic jam with Tommy Emmanuel on live TV – in the wrong tuning – but styles it out like a boss

Everyone has had that dream where you turn up at school – and it is always school – and what do you know? You’ve got no pants on. Well, there is a six-string equivalent of this, and Mike Dawes recently lived it when he started jamming with Tommy Emmanuel on live television, only to discover that his acoustic guitar was in the wrong tuning.

There he was, on the genial, comfortably beige set of what looks like a morning TV show, in a guitar situation with all the horror of the last act of The Exorcist.

That would kill most of us. No sacred rite could exorcise that memory from our minds. That would be preferable. Honestly, if given the choice, send us to school, with no pants on, like, forever. 

But when you have two of the world’s foremost acoustic virtuosos in session, those years of professionalism and practiced calm goes a long way – and Dawes, with the help of the unflappable Emmanuel, executed an act of mid-song guitar tuning that is an example to us all.

Watching it in action, as Dawes shared it on his Instagram page, is a little like a seasoned circus pro walking the high-wire, having a wobble, then back to business. It heightens the drama. But really in this instance Dawes and Emmanuel turn it into comedy. 

He doesn’t miss a beat, mic’d up and calling out the tune as they assemble the jam – “…and I’m in the wrong tuning so let’s fix that!” A twist of his low E to take it down to D, Emmanuel giving it a tweak for good measure, like the chef checking the sauce, or as Dawes comments, “The king being the king”, and then they’re off.

Dawes and Emmanuel are quite the double act, Dawes on his koa-bodied Andreas Cuntz CWG 23 and Emmanuel on his Maton TE Personal signature guitar. Together they have reimagined classic tracks from across popular music as acoustic studies. 

Emmanuel welcomed Dawes for the latest in the Australian acoustic legend’s collaborative albums, Accomplice Series Vol. 3. The album found the pair transforming The 1975’s Be My Mistake, unplugging Nirvana for a second time with Smells Like Teen Spirit, and going pastoral with Fields of Gold by Sting. Dawes and Emmanuel even took on John Mayer’s 21st-century smooth-rock favorite Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.

Is there a lesson to be taken from this? Well, before going live on network television, it’s always worth referring to the trusty guitar tuner and making sure you’re all set to go. 

Failing that, a phenomenal ear, smooth tuners (Gotoh 510s will do the job), and a once-in-a-generation talent sitting alongside you should see you through the gig.