“Used to tour a lot as a four-piece,” begins Aussie singer/songwriter/guitar player Courtney Barnett in the latest episode of Fender Sessions, a YouTube series that showcases performances by Fender artists. “Then there was a point where my friend Dan, he couldn’t tour anymore, and so I kind of had to learn both guitar parts.
“While I was in the process of learning how to do that, I was like ‘I need a different guitar.’”
That different guitar? A Lefty Kurt Cobain Fender Jaguar. Typically a Tele player, Barnett (a southpaw) was attracted to the Jaguar for the kind of vague, mystical, vibe-based reasons that, let’s be honest, all guitar players can relate to.
“It just was easier, something about the sound. I could make both worlds work.”
Barnett shares in the video, “I’ll always call myself a guitar player before I call myself like, a singer, or a singer-songwriter or whatever, ‘cause I think it’s just my comfortable state.”
But the claim of “guitar player first, singer-songwriter second” is a pretty wild one for an artist of Barnett’s scope. After all, she’s an artist whose deadpan, witty songwriting style and delivery has earned her APRA’s 2016 Songwriter of the Year award, not to mention a 2016 Grammy nomination for “Best New Artist.”
In her new Fender Sessions episode, however, Barnett wields both the Jaguar and a Stratocaster with equal dexterity and aplomb, lending her a hefty helping of shredder cred on top of her lofty songwriting acclaim. Clean-tone, melodic fingerpicking on a Lefty American Vintage II ‘61 Strat in the solo number “Before You Gotta Go” yields to sizzling overdriven riffing and soloing on her Kurt Cobain Jaguar in her hard-rocking full-band (three-piece, remember) performance of “Turning Green.”
Being able to hold it down solo, or in a stripped-down band, or in whatever context the road throws at you, is what life as a working songwriter is all about. Barnett’s Fender Sessions performances serve as a friendly reminder from down under that songwriting isn’t just about what you say and how you say it—but also how you play it.
Check out the video below.
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