SESSIONS: COURTNEY BARNETT

While many fans love Courtney Barnett for her evocative lyrics and endearingly conversational vocals, the artist self-describes first and foremost as a guitarist. “I’ll always call myself a guitar player before I call myself a singer or a singer/songwriter, because I think it’s just my comfortable state,” she says. And she’s right — she’s a supernova talent whose iconic left-handed fingerstyle splits the difference between Neil Young in Crazy Horse mode and Fairport Convention-era Richard Thompson.

While Barnett’s songs sound great on any guitar she picks up — check out this video for a heart-tugging version of her 2021 single “Before You Gotta Go” played gorgeously on Fender’s American Vintage II 1961 Stratocaster — she’s found the Jaguar to be a reliable go-to for playing rhythm and lead simultaneously. Relaying her experience of losing a band member and going from a four-piece to a three-piece, she says, “I had to learn both guitar parts and while I was in the process of learning how to do that, I was like, ‘I need a different guitar.’ So I went out and bought myself my first Jaguar. It was just easier. Something about the sound, I could make both worlds work.”

This collision of worlds is rendered perfectly on her song “Turning Green,” performed on our signature Kurt Cobain Jag. It’s equal parts plaintive and rocking, just like Courtney herself.