Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

How a Gardening Accident Changed This Indie Icon’s Guitar Technique (And No, This Isn’t a Spinal Tap Reference)

Phoebe Bridgers once had her own bizarre gardening accident, but unlike John “Stumpy” Pepys, she fortunately survived. 

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

The news of Phoebe Bridgers’ first solo tour in three years, which she announced in early June 2026, has us recalling a story she shared in 2020. Speaking with Guitar World, Bridgers admitted to having her own Spinal Tap moment. That is, a bizarre gardening accident.

Notably, the interview touched on her fondness for open tunings. This means the open, or unfretted, strings on a guitar are tuned to a specific chord. It’s a tuning technique often found in country, blues, folk, and rock music. Bridgers noted that she possibly started doing that while learning specific songs. But it became necessary after her bizarre gardening accident.

“I actually f***ed up my finger like a year and a half ago, and it stopped me from playing E and F, which was in so many of my........

© Vice