I find the vehicle for mediumship to the spirit—or whatever artistic “other” there is that comes in and allows artists to access what they have to say—comes a lot easier for me when things are simplified. Emily’s songwriting had a big impact on me because I found myself feeling really emotionally connected to her songs, and they were like three chords.

What has playing on other people’s projects taught you about your own music?

It’s taught me how to not shred over a song that doesn’t need to be shredded over. Even going wicked far back to when I was playing guitar with songwriters in Albany, who I learned so much from playing with, it wasn’t about me. That was important to learn, because when you’re in music school, it is very much about you and your practice. But then when you’re at a bar and there’s someone shredding vocals, singing their songs, it’s not about you. It’s challenging to figure out where you fit as a guitar player. Going into studios to work, whether people wanted a solo, some sort of chordal addition, or a sonic kind of glue thing, forced me to realize that the guitar is not the main event, it’s really just there to add emotional or melodic content to a song. Sometimes with Kevin there would be moments where I would play out in the live show, and we would solo together. But then there are some songs where I just play a chord because that’s what’s needed. It’s a humbling experience, but it’s also crucial because you are doing something subconsciously that heavily contributes to the performance.

The slide guitar you play on the War on Drugs song “Holding On” seems like a great example of a crucial performance. What is it like to hear the parts you write find new lives with other musicians?

It’s strange. The first time it happened was on the Weyes Blood record [Front Row Seat to Earth], I play a slide solo on “Seven Words.” We wrote that together, but she was giving me a lot of prompts. But I play it on the record and then I saw her play in L.A. and watching someone else play the solo was weird! Adam [Granduciel] asked me to play when War on Drugs performed on “Jimmy Kimmel” and I sort of thought I would be playing the slide part that I wrote and I ended up just playing acoustic guitar. It was cool, but sort of strange to be like, Wow, this song people know the words to and the slide part is such a huge part of the song and I’m just playing the acoustic guitar. As a session player I think you have to be okay with that. I really appreciate the opportunity Adam gave me and admittedly people know who I am sometimes just from the liner notes of that record because it’s such a big record, it won a Grammy! From a financial standpoint it’s strange to do because I don’t gain that much from contributing that much. But that’s the name of the game sometimes, and that’s okay because you're helping people make cool music and make it better—and that’s soul deposits.

When you are playing guitar on someone else’s record, do you try to sound like yourself or do you embody their style too?

Definitely both, because I can’t really separate me from my voice on the guitar. I’m not one of those people who can recreate anything on the guitar, which a lot of studio musicians do because that’s how you get a lot of work. I can’t pinpoint it directly, but I think what I do is very specific and it doesn’t work on everything.

What do you think you bring to the projects you work on?

I don’t know that I would say this unless asked, but I have a good sense of melody. That brings up a philosophical roadblock—like, what’s good and what’s bad?—but I feel really connected to my instrument, the guitar, melodically, often more so than I do vocally. Also, I’ve done more slide sessions now than not. Two of the biggest sessions I’ve done that have gone to tape have been slide sessions and I didn’t really consider myself a slide player.

You played electric guitar on William Tyler’s new album, Goes West. How did you two meet?

I met William through his sister Elise, who directed a music video [“Paradise”] for Kevin a long time ago. Elise and William used to own a venue called the Stone Fox in Nashville, so I might have met him there. But in 2017, when I played with Kevin at Primavera, William invited me to come up and jam and the three of us—me, him, and Brad— ended up hanging. Then I had my session with Brad and he was managing William, so Brad kind of brought me into his world.

When Goes West came out, you wrote on Instagram that working on it “very drastically altered the course of [your] life.” Could you tell me more about that?

If I hadn’t done the William session, I don’t think I would have ever gotten the chance to work with Tucker [Martine, classic ’00s indie-rock producer], who I was a big fan of. Working with Tucker was incredible in and of itself, but then I went back to his studio and he mixed my record to tape.

Being a part of that record with William was amazing because we all arranged our parts on the spot, live, in the studio. I felt really trusted. I remember being on the plane to Portland and feeling a little insecure, like, “I’m the youngest person going, I’m the only non-male person, why do I need to be there?” After the first day of feeling a little uncertain, I had a conversation with William and he was like, “Dude, I love your playing, I want your voice on this.” Hearing somebody who has made a career out of instrumental guitar—which is really hard to do!—say that, I felt really seen and appreciated and taken seriously. It made me realize I can be a part of the circuit. I mean, fucking Bill Frisell is the only other electric guitar that’s on that record. It’s crazy!