The lyrics of Phoebe Bridgers' songs are so emotionally vivid, it makes sense that when it comes to songwriting, Bridgers follows her gut. "I think some sort of idea or phrase has to stick with me in a way that will make me want to explore it more," Bridgers says. "But I don't really have a process that I could write out for anybody or tell anybody how to do it. It's just whatever happens to be on my mind."

In town for a sold-out show at the Turf Club, Bridgers and her full band — bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Marshall Vore, keyboardist Nick White and second guitarist Harrison Whitford — stopped at The Current for a session hosted by Jade.

Bridgers' debut full-length album, Stranger In The Alps, was released in September 2017, but prior to that, she had already worked with people like Ryan Adams, Conor Oberst and John Doe, seemingly oblivious to the old saw advising never to meet your heroes. "I think that's true of some people, but I've been pretty lucky," Bridgers says. "I can speak for John Doe — you will never be disappointed by that person. I think [one should] meet your heroes if they're going to go above and beyond and just be your forever people. Conor's a forever person. … I think it's invigorating to meet your heroes when they're so human and cool."

Probably Bridgers' first hero is her own mother, whom Bridgers says has great musical tastes. " I think I just kind of fell into [music] from what she was listening to around the house: Jackson Brown, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, that scene," Bridgers explains.

Now with one full-length album under her belt, Bridgers is looking ahead to what's next. "I think I'm eager to keep writing," she says. "The songs that are the most fun for me to play are obviously the songs that are the most new. It's exciting thinking about recording another record, where I'll have more context for the music I'm playing. But it's cool seeing people — especially young people — connecting with songs I wrote [when I was younger], because it makes me feel like I struck a chord with my peers at the time, so it's cool."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session.

Songs Performed

"Scott Street"
"Smoke Signals"
"Motion Sickness"
All songs from Phoebe Bridgers' 2017 album, Stranger In The Alps, available on Dead Oceans.

Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark and Brandon Smith
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

Resources

Phoebe Bridgers - official site

Gallery

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