Singer-songwriters Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers have teamed up for a cover of Gillian Welch’s “Everything Is Free,” which originally appeared on her 2001 studio album Time (The Revelator). This was part of the Newport Folk Festival’s live stream event the Folk On Revival weekend, which took place from July 31 to August 2.
The duo performed this cover as a duet, with Barnett playing on guitar and singing, while Bridgers sang. Barnett handled the song’s first verse, while Bridgers handled the second. During the introduction and chorus, Bridgers high voice blended in perfectly with Barnett’s lower register, as Barnett’s guitar chords provided a folksy ode to the original.
This song was originally written when Napster was gaining heavy prominence and scrutiny, due to fans illegally downloading music from these platforms for free. This recent performance however, comes a few days after Spotify CEO Daniek Ek said that artists not getting paid enough for streams was a “narrative fallacy.”
Barnett recently held a massive four hour live stream alongside Lucius, which held guest appearances from The War on Drugs, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Kevin Morby & Katie Crutchfield, Fred Armisen, Sheryl Crow, Bedouine, Nathaniel Rateliff, Emily King and Lukas Nelson. She released MTV Australia Unplugged Live in Melbourne back in February.
Bridgers is fresh off the release of her latest studio album Punisher, which debuted last month. The artist released music video for the album’s single “I Know The End” earlier this month. This video was directed by Alissa Torvinen. Welch released three new songs this year “Strange Isabella,” “Mighty Good Book” and “Happy Mothers Day.”
Photo Credit: Kalyn Oyer
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