"MY wife of 14 years met a doctor and fell in love. Now I live in hotels on the road a lot." It sounds like the kind of thing a blues player would say. But Tommy Emmanuel, who plays Burnley on December 10, is more of a melody man.

He's explaining why he left the UK for Nashville in 2002, despite having two girls who go to school in Suffolk. It sounds tough.

"You'd better believe it," Tommy said. "I'm not complaining. I'm one of the most blessed people I know.

"I make a living doing what I believe I was truly born to do. And I see my children whenever I can."

Over the last two decades, Tommy has astonished audiences worldwide, averaging 300 live concerts a year, with four platinum and three gold albums, a Grammy nomination and countless best guitarist awards.

Music, it seems, informs his very being. "My ex didn't like the lifestyle and wanted me to change," he said

But Tommy can't change, his first memory, aged one day old, he insisted, was hearing music. Born in Australia, with six siblings, his mother was a guitarist. As he grew up, music filled their house. She taught him to play when he was four.

"All my life, till she passed away two years ago, she's been my rock and inspiration."

One word critics use to describe his music is joy.

"One door closes and a huge gate opens. That's the way God works." Tommy said of his divorce. "I now have a partner in my life. If I went to God and said can I have this person, here's my requirements, well I got something even better.

"When the turmoil and heartache happened I had to hang on to life and draw nearer to my friends.

"I got through it and waiting on the other side was this wonderful person. She's a singer, a guitarist, loves travelling and loves me exactly how I am. "

It's easy to lose count of the number of times the words "great" or "greatest" are used in connection with Tommy.

Hailed as one of the greatest guitar players alive, what does it feel like to be so, well, great?

"They say Chet Atkins was the greatest of all time," Tommy said. "The accolades came from him."

But Tommy doesn't let it influence his ego.

"I don't even think about it. I just get on with what I do. I work as hard as I can to get as good as I can. In reality,

"I don't feel I need to acknowledge that, or say, 'Chet says I'm the greatest.' I never compare myself to anyone else. We are all so different. I'm just trying to be my best while I'm here."

Coming through his divorce left him philosophical.

"If I was in this business for money and fame I could get both right this minute. I know how to do that, but what's more important is what we do for each other and fame and fortune is just an illusion, it's not reality.

"What is real is someone coming up to you saying how your music got them through a hard time, or they found a release, that's reality.

"My philosophy is that music brings people together. If you close your eyes it can lift your soul so high and wash away troubles. When I play, something happens to people. I don't know how, I just play it and let it happen.

"Very occasionally you go through a period living in a dark cloud but I try to think from the perspective of what is it telling me?

"What can I learn rather than 'woe is me'. I think people make the mistake of turning to drugs or drinking heavily to mask the problem instead of looking at what caused it, how to solve it.

"You're in pain and the pain is trying to tell you something, that you need to change something. It's human nature that people are afraid of change.

"They say look before you leap. Let's leap and keep leaping. What life has in store is far more than we can imagine."

l Tommy Emmanuel plays Burnley Mechanics on Saturday, December 10. Box office: 01282 664400