© 2024 Iowa Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

LISTEN: Our Mountain Stage Song Of The Week Is An Incredible Guitar Duet

Frank Vignola & Tommy Emmanuel
Amos Perrine
/
Mountain Stage
Tommy Emmanuel (Left) joins fellow guitarist Frank Vignola on this week's broadcast starting July 29.

This week's encore broadcast of Mountain Stage with host Kathy Mattea features performances by Australian guitar phenom Tommy Emmanuel, plus slide-blues guitar from Jack Broadbent, some heartfelt pop from Lera Lynn, bluegrass' finest in Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, and a special duo set from Frank Vignola featuring Tommy Emmanuel.

Our Song of the Week comes from the impromptu set performed by an extraordinary pair of guitarists, Frank Vignola and Tommy Emmanuel. When Vignola's scheduled duet-partner Vinny Raniolo was unable to appear, Emmanuel stepped in, and the results are the kind of spontaneous magic that we love here at Mountain Stage.

The whole performance is head-shakingly good, but the last song has some particularly strong fireworks. Here’s the duo performing “Swing 42.”

Frank Vignola and Tommy Emmanuel "Swing 42" live on Mountain Stage
The sensational guitar duo perform their version of "Swing 42" recorded live on Mountain Stage
Frank Vignola & Tommy Emmanuel

Elsewhere on the show, we are treated to performances from UK slide-guitarist Jack Broadbent, who at that time was about to head out on the road to open shows for Little Feat. The hot-shot bluegrass duo of Rob Ickes (Dobro) and Trey Hensley (guitar) brings a high-energy set, and Nashville-based singer and, in her third appearance on the show, songwriter Lera Lynn has some endearing heartbreak songs from her album On My Own. The episode kicks off with the set from Frank & Tommy, so be sure you tune in early so you don’t miss a note.

If you missed something or want to hear the show again, be sure to check out our Podcast section at MountainStage.org and be sure you sign up for our newsletter for news and live-show updates.

Executive Producer of Mountain Stage, adam@mountainstage.org, 304-556-4900, @mtnadam