“Picks always felt like a weird, artificial extension of my hand”: Yvette Young just played with a pick live for the first time ever

Yvette Young has long been known for her distinctive fingerstyle and tapping techniques. However, in a surprise twist, Young played with a pick for the first time ever in front of a live audience at Bonnaroo's Emo SuperJam on June 15.

In videos documenting this special moment, Young can be seen wielding a pink version of her signature Ibanez guitar, masterfully playing Jimmy Eat World's The Middle with a pick.

“Very grateful to have been part of the emo jam turbo team put together @dashboardconfessional and gang! Learning these songs was a blast and I have so much appreciation for the emotions and thoughtful songwriting going into it all,” wrote Young on Instagram.

“It was such a joy getting to experience some of my favorite songs behind the guitar. First time using a pick live whaaaa!”

Chris Carraba from Dashboard Confessional, who curated the event, also praised Young's work ethic and talent in a separate Instagram post. “@yvetteyoung is a rare thing in this world. She is an artist who pushes the boundaries of her medium. She is rewriting the rules of guitar in a way that challenges and inspires.”

Bonnaroo Superjam 2024 The Middle -Jimmy Eat World - with Andrew McMahon and Dashboard Confessional - YouTube

Watch On

“Yvette led us through The Middle, on which she played live with a guitar pick for the first time EVER, [American Football’s] Never Meant, on which she played the most memorable melody our scene has ever delivered, and [Dashboard Confessional’s] Vindicated which personally filled me with a brand of elation I remember from my earliest days of playing music with friends.”

Young is well-qualified to tackle American Football in particular, as she ranks Mike Kinsella as one of the 10 guitarists who shaped her sound.

The Ibanez signature artist has steered clear of picks for much of her career, with her background in piano playing shaping her guitar approach.

“I had the finger independence and dexterity from those days, so playing without a pick felt better to me,” she told Guitar World in 2020.

“I was already so used to working with my fingers and controlling them, and picks always felt like a weird, artificial extension of my hand. I couldn’t quite get the polyphony that I liked. You can get a lot of detail using fingerstyle, with counterpoints in your playing, which are more difficult with a pick. 

“So I just gravitated to the whole two-handed tapping, fingerstyle sort of thing. A lot of bands I listened to did that.”

Bonnaroo's Superjam is a yearly tradition that features a variety of guests from different music scenes and eras. 

This year's Superjam celebrated emo's golden years with guests from the scene's heyday, such as Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate, Mike Kinsella of American Football, and Tim Kasher from Cursive.

They were joined by other artists from the Bonnaroo lineup, including Young, The Beaches, and John O'Callaghan of the Maine.