If I ran the world — which clearly I do not, for good reason — Barns Courtney would be huge. Here's why: I honestly feel that every couple of years, an artist will pass through the station, and I'll have very little going into the experience — not knowing a ton about their background, not having heard a lot of their material — and upon instantly meeting them or hearing them perform, I am their newest fan.

If I had my way and I could predict the future of rock 'n' roll, Barns Courtney would be huge. (And he's not to be confused with Courtney Barnett, who is certainly becoming quite huge in her own right.)

Barns has a single, "Fire," and it's good … but the new EP that is coming out in the next month, I think, and he did a couple of songs from the forthcoming when he visited us in studio — including "Golden Dandelions," in the video at the top of this page. But as Barns played, I sat there and all I could think was, "OK, I'm going to remember this, that you were here before you were heee-uuuge."

The dude had so much charisma, that while he was performing and telling his stories, the inner agent in me kicked in, and all I could think was, "This dude needs a SAG card." Because he could potentially, I think, be an amazing actor and performer. He's a great storyteller, and he did tell a story about a movie premiere that he'd gone to — because his song, "Fire," was in the soundtrack to a movie, Burn, with Bradley Cooper. So Barns told a story of bringing his grandmother to the premiere, and it's priceless. You can listen to it using the audio player above.

Remember the name Barns Courtney. At some point in the future, you'll go, "Oh, Barns Courtney — I remember when Lucia said he was going to be HUGE!"

Related

• Barns Courtney performs in The Current studio
• The Current's Guitar Collection: Barns Courtney, Martin OOO-15M
• Barns Courtney - official site