Smells Like Teen Spirit For Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes (2022 In Review)

Keavin Wiggins | December 22, 2022

EP cover art

Smells Like Teen Spirit For Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes was a top 22 story from June 2022: Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes shared their rendition of the Nirvana classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit", from their EP "Accomplice Series Vol. 3".

"I've always loved Nirvana's original recording and music video of this song, but I never dreamed I'd play it as an instrumental one day," said Emmanuel. "Having Mike on tour with me gave me a window into other possibilities as a player, performer, and arranger.

"So, we set about to make it live for us. I let my imagination run wild and Mike created a strong foundation that gave us the freedom to soar with our hearts open when we play it!"

Mike Dawes shared that "It has been so much fun playing this arrangement live with Tommy, and a thrill to bring some of my own guitar heritage to the table for this project. Some of my parts are heavily inspired by my old guitar teacher, the great Stuart Ryan, who had an arrangement of his own. Much like the late, great Eric Roche.

"To have Tommy Emmanuel play on top of the rhythm is an exceptional circumstance and the one-take recording we did in LA turned out so great! I hope that this timeless trans-generational piece sets up this 'Accomplice Series' EP in the appropriate way. A mix of shredding and percussive grunge!" Watch the video below: