Which two instruments are specifically mentioned as accompanying Taylor Swift’s Grammy performance of “august”?

Taylor Swift’s Grammy performance of “august” was accompanied by guitar and keyboards. Swift played guitar inside the cottage while Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner supplied accompanying instruments during the Folklore medley.

The performance was part of a three-song sequence with “cardigan” and “willow” at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021. Its arrangement emphasized the songs’ atmospheric, acoustic character rather than presenting them as high-energy pop numbers. The cottage setting and surrounding woodland imagery reinforced the visual world of Folklore.

The studio recording of “august” also uses a broad palette, including guitars, keyboards, strings, and dense reverb. That production helps explain why the track works both as a quiet album song and as a cinematic live performance. The Grammy appearance was the first time Swift, Antonoff, and Dessner performed together, making the instrumentation part of a larger collaboration milestone.