Acclaimed and Grammy®-nominated acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter TOMMY EMMANUEL—one of five people ever named a CPG (Certified Guitar Player) by his idol, music icon Chet Atkins—has joined forces with powerhouse Grammy®-nominated acoustic duo Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley to record the EP ACCOMPLICE SERIES VOLUME 1 WITH ROB ICKES & TREY HENSLEY out May 7.

Today (March 19), they’ve shared the first single and video “Flatt Did It” from the four-song digital-only EP (*see the track listing below) on CGP Sounds. Listen here to the album’s first single and watch the video here. The Zach Pigg-directed video, premiered at The Bluegrass Situation, was shot in Nashville when the three artists recorded the EP. Pre-save and pre-add the EP here.

ACCOMPLICE SERIES VOLUME 1 WITH ROB ICKES & TREY HENSLEY was born out of the deep admiration the musicians have for each other, also underlined by shows they’ve played together intermittently for nearly five years, the first of which was May 5, 2016 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco.

Creative sparks fly on the EP, which radiates good vibrations with white-hot picking virtuosity on acoustic guitars and Dobro—it’s all a welcome sanctuary from these upside-down times. There are three cover songs—the Chet Atkins/Doc Watson song “Flatt Did It,” Buck Owens’ “Raz-Ma-Taz Polka” and the standard “Copper Kettle”—plus a rendering of the Emmanuel composition, “It’s Never Too Late,” originally released in 2015.

Here are quotes from TOMMY, ROB and TREY about the EP:

TOMMY EMMANUEL: “The sessions were very spontaneous, and in fact, I suggested ‘Flatt Did It’ and ‘Copper Kettle’ as pieces on the day we recorded them. That’s how it came about. It was very spontaneous.”

ROB ICKES: “Well, it’s always great to work with Tommy. He's such a great artist, and such a great person. There are always a lot of sparks flying when we play together, and all three of us are into lots of different musical genres, so that’s always fun to explore different musical territories when we get together.”

TREY HENSLEY: “Getting to pick with Tommy and Rob any time is always a blast! Working in the studio with Tommy was so much fun, which I think is evident throughout this EP. The great vibe in the studio that day is prominent in the recordings. It was really just the three of us hanging out and playing tunes…what could be more fun?”

Here are quotes from them about “Flatt Did It”:

TOMMY EMMANUEL: “‘Flatt Did It’ is a tribute to Lester Flatt and some of his classic kind of licks. We had the film crew in there for the day and they just rolled the cameras. We actually just played and ignored them almost.”

ROB ICKES: “This song comes from an album that Chet Atkins did with Doc Watson. I love to hear Tommy and Trey play together. There’s a great respect between the two of them. They are both so brilliant. It’s great to hear them feeding off each other. And this song is just the perfect vehicle for a Dobro, so I’m enjoying the whole thing!”

TREY HENSLEY: “Yeah, this one was Tommy’s idea, and it’s a tune from the Doc Watson and Chet Atkins duo record. Rob and I both have a bluegrass background, and this song was written with the great bluegrass icon Lester Flatt in mind. (Hence the title.) It really was a natural fit and recording it with Tommy was so much fun!”

The Full Track List for Accomplice EP #1:

1. Copper Kettle (featuring Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley)

2. Raz-Ma-Taz Polka (featuring Trey Hensley)

3. Flatt Did It (featuring Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley)

4. It’s Never Too Late (featuring Rob Ickes)