Songwriter, guitarist, and producer Cory Wong talked with The Current’s Morning Show about his recent live album, multiple collaborations, hosting a podcast, and the MODE by Flickr photography festival.

Listen to the full interview in the player above, and find a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. Well, Cory Wong is a name heavily connected to the Minneapolis music scene. He's a songwriter, guitarist, producer, collaborator. I want to make sure to use the word collaborator. Grammy-nominated artist for an album he did with Jon Batiste, Meditations, also his work with Vulfpeck, and The Fearless Flyers, and so many guest appearances by a record he put out earlier this year, Lost in the Wonder. Cory Wong is on the line as he's going to be playing a new festival in Minneapolis, MODE by Flickr, and this is happening September 18 through the 20, and it's described as the world's photography festival, but there is a musical element to it as well. Cory Wong, welcome back to The Current.

Cory Wong: So stoked to be here! Thanks for having me.

Jill Riley: Well, it's great. I mean, you have had such a busy summer, I know that you've been keeping quite busy, touring the world, and you have a new live album. I would love to talk about this album because when I think of you, Cory, I think of so many different genres coming together. Funk, and soul, and jazz and pop, that list could be expanded. But you did this this live album called On a Random Tuesday (Live at the Blue Note), featuring a saxophonist by the name of Joshua Redman, and that just came out this summer. So I wonder if you could talk about kind of the the origin of that idea and the shows that you played that led to the album.

Cory Wong: Yeah. That was a fun run of shows that I just thought would be a great creative exploration for me. Because I did the Lost in the Wonder album, and it was all vocal collaborations, and a little more pop-leaning. But I love also doing the instrumental thing. I feel like part of my purpose is to be a good ambassador for instrumental music. And one of my just absolute heroes of music, Joshua Redman said, "Yeah, let's do some shows. Let's let's figure something out. I like your music. It makes me happy. I like what you're doing. Let's play." So I did a run of 12 shows at the Blue Note in New York, and I thought, "Okay, this is a small club run of shows." Normally, I do big shows when I'm there, so let's try to make something unique and special. And all the music is new to Joshua, so why don't I just make it new for everybody? So I wrote a bunch of music specifically for that run of shows, and I thought, let's just see what happens. But the tunes that we ended up being really stoked about were all stuff that I wrote for the shows and had never been released, so it just kind of made sense. Yeah, let's put it out. Let's do a live album. Just keep trying things and having fun. I think that's been my main source of of motivation for releasing albums and writing stuff. Is it fun for me? Do I want to do it?

Jill Riley: I'm with Cory Wong on The Current. You mentioned that this album that it was recorded out of some live shows at the Blue Note. I mean that's a pretty legendary New York club, and I'm curious if there's anything about that venue that just being there in that club, if just the space informed anything that you did. For folks that don't know, I mean, even if you want to talk a little bit about kind of the significance of the Blue Note.

Cory Wong: Yeah, I mean the club itself is legendary. There's so much lineage of jazz history that's gone through there, and being in The [Greenwich] Village in New York City, the heart of where the jazz scene in a lot of generations was developed, created, and really just found its thing. It's a special place. The building itself, sure, it's cool and it's great and it's a fun neighborhood. But I think more than anything, it's the spirit of the community and the lineage of the Blue Note that's special.

Jill Riley: I'm talking with Cory Wong on The Current. So there's a new live album, the second album that's come out this year from Cory Wong, On a Random Tuesday (Live at the Blue Note), featuring Joshua Redman, the saxophonist Joshua Redman. Well, Cory, you have had a busy year and a busy summer. I know that you've got some festivals coming up. The MODE by Flickr Festival is September 18 through the 20 in Minneapolis, and I was looking at this festival, and I know that it's a photography festival, and there is a musical element to it, obviously, with a lineup like Vince Staples and Tycho and Washed Out, which I haven't heard that name in a long time. That was cool to see. And you will be there on September 20. I'm curious, I think there are so many creative endeavors and artistic endeavors that cross over with music, and I know that you're pretty active on social media and putting video out. How does that intersect with music for you? Was there something kind of interesting about this festival that's like oh okay this could be kind of a cool intersection.

Cory Wong: Yeah, I mean photography is an art form that I've gotten into over the last couple years and just learned to appreciate. Just found like oh you're capturing this one moment. It's like when they press the button. Like timing matters so much in photography, obviously in music, timing and especially the way that I play very rhythmic, timing is so much a part of it. But with photography, it's like when do you press the button, and how do you frame it? There's infinite amounts of photos being taken every day now because we all have smartphones, and you know, everybody's a photographer. But how are certain photographs, emotion-inducing, and how do they really feel like they capture something special? Same thing in music. There's a craft to it. There's an understanding of technique, and there's also sometimes just this bit of, “oh my gosh, I was in the right place at the right time. I had my gear in my hands at the right time.” And photography is a fun way of capturing singular moments in a way that video does it in a in a different way, in the way that music does it in a different way. Like music, you don't just capture in one snapshot and boom, like it's just one note and that's it. You know, music needs the story, but with photography, you can see one image taken at one time, and you can kind of get a story from seeing the context of the photo. What else is happening around the way that it's framed? It's really a beautiful art form.

Jill Riley: Cory Wong is on The Current. The MODE by Flickr Festival, the World's Photography Festival, is going to be in Minneapolis September 18 through the 20, and there is the musical lineup that goes along with that, including Cory Wong. Looking ahead to December, Cory, you have a tour coming up. You're going over to Europe, and it's The Fretboard Odyssey, and I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit because, well, when I read Fretboard, I'm like, okay, well, this is going to have something to do with guitar, which you are known for guitar, and then well, you're going on an Odyssey, so it's some sort of quest that I'm thinking that you're on, perhaps. So, could you talk about The Fretboard Odyssey and where that idea came from, and who's going to be on the road with you?

Cory Wong: Yeah. So, my band on the road historically has been a four-piece rhythm section and a five-piece horn section, and of course, I play the guitar and I'm the person out front, but so much of the arrangements and the production of it is horn-heavy. But I wanted to try something again, following the muse of creativity and exploration. What's it like to just put on a guitar show? And with this, I thought, oh, I have two of my really close friends who are incredible guitar players, Ariel Posen and Mark Lettieri. Mark and I have a band called The Fearless Flyers together, and I thought it'd be fun to just try to do a guitar tour. But a lot of what I do is rhythm guitar. So some of the melodies come from other places. But with this tour, I want it to be very guitar-driven, but also stay within the bounds of what my artistry is and my artistic vision overall. So I have those guys joining me. My friend Louis Cato will be playing drums and guitar. Henrik Linder from the band Dirty Loops is playing bass, and my other Minnesota native friend Kevin Gastonguay from Burnsville, playing keys with me. We're gonna play a bunch of new music. We're gonna interpret a bunch of other tunes that we've played before. It's going to be a blast.

Jill Riley: Cory Wong on The Current. Now, when it comes to the guitar, I know for a few years now you've had this podcast called Wong Notes. I mean, you've talked to some pretty big icons. I can't wait to dig deeper into it and go back and listen to some of these episodes. But you've talked with people from the rock world, the metal world, the jam world, the country world, the funk world, singer-songwriters, the blues world. I think the question there is that 20 different people could look at one guitar and tell you what kind of sound that's going to make. I wonder when you went into the idea of that podcast, what was your goal when it came time to talking with guitar players and bass players as well?

Cory Wong: I think a lot of people expected it just to be guitar talk. What do you use for picks and strings and gear and all this. And although we do get into that sometimes, really to me, it's about artistry. I do the podcast because I'm curious. There are so many of my mentors, heroes, peers that I want to hear how they approach and why they approach what they do. I'm thinking of Molly Tuttle, who's one of my favorite guitar players. She approaches a guitar in such a unique way. It's like, why, how, how did you get there? How did you land on this as your artistry compared to like a Billy Strings or Sierra Hull in that realm? And then there's people like Steve Lukather or Joe Walsh or George Benson, a lot of these other guitar heroes of mine. How did you do that, and how do you keep doing it? How do you keep exploring this? And I think the other thing in a social media era is we can go online and see thousands of amazing guitar players. So many people that are more technically proficient than I am, or whoever else that I may have interviewed in my podcast. But what is it that makes certain artists stand out? Why do we remember certain guitar players? And that's one of the things that I've gotten into with a lot of the people that I've interviewed because I've noticed every one of them, no surprise, they have some unique way of inserting their life experience and who they are as a person into their artistry, which then bleeds into how they approach the guitar.

Jill Riley: Yeah. I'm curious when it comes to talking with guitar players, was there a favorite episode that you've done? Is there one where you're like, wow, I really learned something, or it affected you in a certain way? You're like, wow, I can't believe that I just had a conversation with you know so and so.

Cory Wong: I would say probably the episode I did with Victor Wooten was really special because he kind of helps talk about the spirit of music and the why of being an artist. He helps people discover that for themselves, and he really encourages that. And somebody who's had so much technical mastery over the instrument- that was not even remotely part of the conversation. Like some people, that's going to be a given. Maybe that's part of their artistry, but so much of what's important about being a musician and why we do what we do is: why are you using music to do something in the world? What can you help bring to the world? Do you have a certain life experience that will help people overcome something they've been dealing with? Are you going to be somebody who can just help bring joy to people when they need it on their car ride home or whatever? So the Victor Wooten episode was really special. Pat Metheny was one of my heroes and has been for years. That was just a hang up the call, like I can't believe I just talked to Pat Metheny for an hour. Like what? How did that happen? You know, listening to Joe Walsh rant on my podcast about the current state of the music industry was just so great, and also like, of course, you know, he comes from a different era, and it's so much fun to hear him talk about certain things. Like, oh, okay, that's where you're at with it. And you know, hearing people that are up-and-coming talking about trying to figure it out. It's just really fun to talk to people different stages of their career, different stages of their life. But I would say the Victor Wooten and the Pat Metheny episodes were really special for me. Although there is one, I'm putting this out there in the world. I know she was just here at the Minnesota State Fair. Hopefully, some of you just saw her. But Bonnie Raitt, that is number one on my list and has been since season one. I got to meet her. I got to thank her for everything she did at the festival a year and a half ago, and we had some wonderful time together. But that is somebody that I'm really wanting to interview her because she has a lot of life experience and depth in songwriting and how to approach playing the guitar as a songwriter. I want to try to tap into some of that knowledge. So I'm putting that out there, Bonnie. Coming for you.

Jill Riley: The Wong Notes podcast, you can find it where you get your podcasts. You can find Cory Wong at the MODE by Flickr Festival, The World's Photography Festival. That's September 18 through the 20, right here in the Twin Cities in Minneapolis. A lineup including yes, Cory, but also Vince Staples and Tyco and Washed Out. December, he'll be over in Europe on the guitar quest, The Fretboard Odyssey, and yes, the Wong Notes podcast. Sounds like that's going to go on. Cory, you are just a gem of the Minneapolis music scene. Your enthusiasm is contagious. I'm so glad we got to talk, and best wishes for the rest of the year. And we'll talk to you down the road. Okay.

Cory Wong: Thanks.

Jill Riley: All right. You are listening to The Current.

Credits

Guests – Cory Wong
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Derrick Stevens, Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer - Natalia Toledo

External Link

Cory Wong – Official Website