“They’re not my strings, not my pickups, not my anything, but I just thought, ‘Well, it’s eight o’clock, just make a show!’”: Julian Lage says using rented Telecasters to perform live freed him from gear anxiety

Julian Lage.

As guitar players, we can all get a little bit precious about our instrument, obsessing over every detail, and doubly so when it comes to playing live. Jazz phenom Julian Lage is no different, but he says he had an epiphany when he joined John Zorn for a string of live dates and was unable to take any of his own electric guitars.

Speaking to MusicRadar ahead of the launch of his latest studio album, Speak To Me, which drops today via Blue Note, the jazz guitar maestro said he had to backline Telecasters to fulfil his dates with Zorn, and it proved to be a “wild” experience that would ultimately liberate him from many of the gear hangups he might have had, and what he thought he needed to put in a good performance.