Cory Wong gets never-before-heard stories from your favorite musicians on his star-studded, riff-filled podcast ‘Wong Notes’
There’s not many things worse than being subjected to some random guy playing Oasis’ “Wonderwall” on his acoustic guitar at a party. Luckily, this isn’t anything like that. Cory Wong is one of the greatest multi-genre guitarists of our generation who has collaborated/toured with bands and musicians like Vulfpeck, Jon Batiste, Ben Rector, and Chris Thile along with putting out incredible works as a solo artist. And he’s speaking with and jamming with other living legends on his podcast “Wong Notes.”
Cory began “Wong Notes” in 2020 and has released nearly 50 episodes since. In each episode, his guests share their tricks of the trade, sharing never-before-heard stories, doling out advice to musicians of all levels, and walking us through their musical processes. His fifth season just began with his first guest being none other than John Mayer. While episodes are typically an hour long, John’s episode is nearly two hours, and that’s just part one. The second episode of this 5th season will be part two of Cory’s time with John.
While Cory may not have the same name recognition as someone like John Mayer or Carlos Santana, most musicians in your life will probably know who he is. His rhythm guitar technique has been emulated across music, which you can hear on his recordings with Vulfpeck, numerous solo albums, his GRAMMY-nominated album Meditations made in collaboration with Batiste, and his half-Vulfpeck half-Snarky Puppy quartet, The Fearless Flyers. And not only is he a great guitarist, but he’s a phenomenal teacher who can translate his teachings directly into podcast form.
Cory Wong can be described as the definition of a musician’s musician, which makes his podcast “Wong Notes” the musician’s podcast for musicians. Not only is he bringing the voices of leading guitarists and musicians into the podcasting realm, but he is sharing his own techniques and tips alongside these legends.
In 2020, he sat down with multi-instrumentalist/phenom Jacob Collier to talk about how the prodigious GRAMMY winner/YouTube sensation thinks about rhythm and harmony. Wong has chatted with Danny Elfman about the relationship between film composers and directors like Tim Burton. They talk about revisiting the music of Oingo Boingo and what it takes to cultivate inspiration when you’ve written for over 100 films. Wong has also had on legends like Carlos Santana, Ani Di Franco, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, and George Benson to name just a few.
Mayer is perhaps one of the biggest household names yet to be on “Wong Notes,” though. The two sit down with their guitars to have a wild conversation about Mayer’s distinct sound and how Mayer can hear his own influence in other people’s playing. They talk about songwriting, musicality, the music industry, and Cory’s earliest attempts to play Neon. The two play riffs back and forth to each other in just an incredible display of musicianship, and you’d be hard-pressed to miss these two young legends playing together.
We see no reason to not check out “Wong Notes.” For any musicians out there, this one should absolutely be in your rotation. Tune in to “Wong Notes” for just a whole lot of joyful noise.
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