Some artists might jump at the opportunity to upgrade their gear, but folk singer Joy Oladokun's all-time favorite instrument is one of the first guitars she ever purchased: a Nash Telecaster.
"I was living in Los Angeles at the time," Oladokun explains in the latest episode of It Goes to 11. "I went to this store on Sunset Boulevard. I saw it and was like, 'That is a beautiful piece of wood and steel.'"
Oladokun says she's a "sound and feel person," so she wasn't just looking for an aesthetically pleasing guitar but one that felt good "when picking it up and playing it." Simply put, this guitar was the type Oladokun "could make a lot of music on."
When she's writing music, Oladokun often asks, "What would my heroes do if they had the tools of today?" Instantly, she imagines herself standing on stage, performing a guitar solo for thousands of people — and whenever she plays her Nash Tele, she feels like she steps into the world of her idols, like Jimi Hendrix.
Oladokun has made a lot of memories with this guitar, so many that she calls it her real-life starter Pokémon: "There's an attachment and a relationship there that I did not know I could have to an instrument."
Press play on the video above to learn more about Joy Oladokun's cherished Nash Telecaster, and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of It Goes to 11.
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