Wong Notes

Premier Guitar
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  • MUSIC INTERVIEWS
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Wong Notes

Hi, my name is Cory Wong. This is my podcast. I'm going to talk to your favorite artists as they discuss their personal tricks of the trade, never-before-heard stories, and the proper response when Sinatra wants to peep your master tapes.

  1. 8 JAN

    The Journey of Jazz Guitarist Mike Stern

    Mike Stern has been around the block. The jazz-guitar virtuoso earned his stripes through the ’70s and ’80s in New York’s jazz scene, playing 6-string with drummer Billy Cobham before tapping in with artists like Miles Davis and Jaco Pastorius—even at a time when guitar wasn’t necessarily a cornerstone piece of a jazz outfit. In this episode of Wong Notes, Stern fills Cory Wong in on the ups and downs of 50 years spent in one of the most complex and underappreciated music genres. Stern made the leap to New York from Boston when Davis invited him to join his band (back when jazz was the pop music of the day, notes Stern), but it was a rocky ride—Stern says he and many other musicians were “bottoming out” from addiction, until a friend went sober and convinced them to give sobriety a try. Stern talks about Miles’ hidden love for the guitar, and how he succeeded in fitting into non-guitar environments. Wong and Stern touch on the decline of arts spaces and cultures in America (thanks, Stern says, to misallocated funding), playing gigs where the band outnumbers the audience members, the benefits of running the same rig in every room, and how to pick the right pick—for Stern, that involves a bit of wig glue. Tune in to get the details, and be sure to check out our 2018 Rig Rundown with Stern, too. Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Visit Mike Stern: https://www.mikestern.org/ Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: a...

    59 min

  2. 18/12/2024

    “Get It Right, Get It Fast”: Jerry Douglas on Bluegrass History, Technicality, and Session Secrets

    Bluegrass music is bigger than a genre. It’s become an entire world of ideas and feelings in the popular American imagination. And musician Jerry Douglas has been a key part of its celebration and revival over the past 30 years. “It's an old form of music that came from people in the south playing on the porch and became this juggernaut of a genre,” says Douglas. “It’s a character. It's a physical music.” Douglas has racked up an impressive cabinet of accolades, including Grammies, American Music Association Awards, and International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. He’s been dubbed the CMA Awards’ Musician of the Year three times, and played with everyone from Allison Krauss and Elvis Costello to Bela Fleck and John Fogerty. He’s an encyclopedic guide to contemporary American roots music, and on this episode of Wong Notes, he walks Cory Wong through the most important moments in his 50-year career. Tune in to hear Douglas’ assessment of bluegrass’ demanding nature (“Honestly, there's not so many genres nowadays that require as much technical facility as something like bluegrass”), what’s required of roots players (“Get it right, get it fast, make it hook”), and why the O Brother, Where Are Thou? soundtrack connected with so many listeners. Wondering how to get involved with session work? Douglas says there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, and what worked for him might not work today. The key is to be dynamic—and know when to keep your mouth shut. There are plenty of gems in this interview, like Douglas’ thoughts on what makes a good solo, but the most significant might be Douglas’ big takeaway from decades of sitting in on communal roots-music sessions. “We can play in all genres,” says Douglas. “We just have to listen.” Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Visit Jerry Douglas: https://jerrydouglas.com/ Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: a...

    1h 6m

  3. 04/12/2024

    Superstar Bassist Blu DeTiger: “Wanna Get Gigs? Be a Good Hang”

    At 26, Blu DeTiger is the youngest musician ever to have a signature Fender bass guitar. The Fender Limited Player Plus x Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass, announced in September, pays tribute to the bassist and singer’s far-reaching impact and cultural sway. She’s played with Caroline Polachek, Bleachers, FLETCHER, Olivia Rodrigo, and more, and released her own LP in March 2024. In 2023, Forbes feature her on their top 30 Under 30 list of musicians. So how did DeTiger work her way to the top? DeTiger opens up on this episode of Wong Notes about her career so far, which started at a School of Rock camp at age seven. That’s where she started performing and learning to gig with others—she played at CBGB’s before she turned 10. DeTiger took workshops with Victor Wooten at Berklee followed and studied under Steven Wolf, but years of DJing around New York City, which hammered in the hottest basslines in funk and disco, also imprinted on her style. (Larry Graham is DeTiger’s slap-bass hero.) DeTiger and Wong dish on the ups and downs of touring and session life, collaborating with pop artists to make “timeless” pop songs, and how to get gigs. DeTiger’s advice? “You gotta be a good hang.” Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Visit Blu DeTiger: https://www.bludetiger.com/ Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: https://www.instagram.com/wongnotespod Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger Presented by DistroKid

    1h 8m

  4. 13/11/2024

    Mark Tremonti: “Play Like Grandma’s in the Room”

    There probably aren’t too many artists out there as busy as Mark Tremonti. Aside from his celebrated careers in alt-rock mainstays Creed and Alter Bridge, the guitarist, songwriter, and singer organizes guitar and songwriting clinics while on tour; has a line of signature PRS gear; and cut a 14-track charity record, Mark Tremonti Sings Sinatra. Did we mention he’s aiming to become a pinball kingpin, too? Tremonti joins Cory Wong on this episode of Wong Notes to dig into his musical trajectory since the late ’90s, when he blasted to the top of the charts with Creed. The band drew comparisons to other grunge-era staples like Pearl Jam, which irritated Tremonti but pleased Stapp. Tremonti discusses the gulf between the band’s popularity and the critical backlash they received: “People can be cruel, but it’s part of the world. You gotta deal with it.” Tremonti analyzes what makes a good riff and why everything in “the middle” is boring to him, and unveils his songwriting and demoing routines. (“I think melody is the most important part of everything,” he says.) But his biggest passion project these days is his step into classic crooner music. Inspired by his daughter to do a charity project to benefit the down syndrome community, Tremonti recorded a Frank Sinatra covers album, complete with more than a dozen musicians who played with Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. Tune in to hear all about Tremonti’s artistic life, plus a peek at what happens during his pre-show guitar and songwriting clinics on Creed’s fall 2024 tour. Expecting him to demonstrate some ferocious warmups? Think again: “I play like grandma’s in the room,” says Tremonti. Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Visit Mark Tremonti: http://marktremonti.com Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: a...

    55 min

  5. 30/10/2024

    Skunk Baxter: Hostage Negotiations in the Studio

    “Skunk” Baxter has had an interesting career. The Washington, D.C.-born musician was one of Steely Dan’s founding members in the early 1970s, and played on some of their most iconic numbers, like Can’t Buy a Thrill’s’ “Reelin’ in the Years” and “Do It Again,” or Pretzel Logic’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” Then, he moved on to join the Doobie Brothers, from roughly 1974 to 1979, where he fatefully invited Michael McDonald into the band. After that stint, he became a go-to session player for artists like Rod Stewart, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, and Donna Summer, and a touring performer for Elton John and Linda Ronstadt, among others. That was just the beginning. Baxter’s interest and background in electronics, science, and recording technology gained him a position in the U.S. defense industry. Turns out, a lot of digital music gear shared similar principles with emergent defense tech. “Basically, a radar is just an electric guitar on steroids,” says Baxter, noting the same four fundamental forces at work over everything in our universe. Wong and Baxter trades notes on how to navigate studio sessions (“Just shut the hell up,” offers Baxter), early conversions of pitch into digital signals, and how Baxter cut his solo on Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” on a $25 guitar. And can mediating between artists and producers feel like high-stakes hostage negotiations? Sometimes. Visit Skunk Baxter: https://www.jeffskunkbaxter.com/ Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/wongnotespod Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger Presented by DistroKid

    1 hr

  6. 16/10/2024

    Jason Newsted Wants You to Put Your Damn Phone Away

    Jason Newsted spent 15 years holding down the low end in Metallica, playing bass for the band from 1986 through 2001. That era included records like …And Justice For All and Metallica—AKA The Black Album—plus the iconic S&M live album with the San Francisco Symphony. But that was just the beginning for Newsted, an artistic polymath who has since pursued a life of balance and creative freedom. On this episode of Wong Notes, he opens up to Cory Wong about why he left Metallica, and details the “Olympian” physicality and discipline that hard international touring requires. Newsted needed a break; the band wanted to keep going. “You gotta sometimes give it a minute,” he says. Newsted shares his thoughts on Dave Mustaine and his predecessor Cliff Burton, and goes deep on the issue of cellphone usage at concerts. (Spoiler alert: He doesn’t like it very much, and he’s got good reasons for his disdain.) But Newsted isn’t just a performer. He talks about his painting and the way that practice differs from music-making, plus his private artistic journeys with theremin, mandolin, and sequencers and loopers—rabbit holes he might not have gone down if he stayed in Metallica. “I don’t say no to any medium,” he says. Maybe leaving Metallica created the need to explore. “I did not get to fulfill that journey,” he says, “so I’m making up for it.” Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/WongNotes Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: a...

    1h 22m
  7. Dave Navarro on Trainwrecks, Rabbit Holes, and the “Navarro Smear”

    02/10/2024

    Dave Navarro on Trainwrecks, Rabbit Holes, and the “Navarro Smear”

    We know what you’re thinking: Dave Navarro is gonna talk about the onstage brawl. But Cory Wong starts this episode of Wong Notes with an important caveat. This show was recorded long before the awful breakdown and confrontation between Navarro and Jane’s Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell, so don’t expect any salacious gossip. But that just makes this episode all the more interesting. Navarro talks Wong through his formative influences, from Hendrix, Zeppelin, and the Doors to Maiden, heavy metal, and goth. That melting pot, he says, became one of Jane’s Addiction’s calling cards: “Perry and Eric [Avery] ended up in a band that is influenced by bands they hate,” laughs Navarro, who geeks out on Rush and prog-rock. Navarro discusses how Jane’s Addiction has a propensity for jamming live, a practice developed out of a mutual appreciation for nontraditional song structures. But the delineations can sometimes go wrong. “We do run into trainwrecks,” says Farrell. “Sometimes we’ll find ourselves in a part that we’re vibing on, and we’ll keep going, and Perry doesn’t know what we’re doing. He’ll come in and it’s in the wrong place, and we’re fucking him up.” Tune in to hear Navarro talk his “rabbit hole de jour” practice style, how to exercise your fingers and your brain, and a lead technique he calls “the Navarro smear.” All this and more on this latest episode of Wong Notes. Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Visit Dave Navarro: https://www.instagram.com/davenavarro/ Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: https://www.instagram.com/wongnotespod Produced by...

    1h 9m

  8. 18/09/2024

    Keith Urban: “I’m Not Chasing Tone, I’m Pursuing Inspiration”

    Keith Urban has spent decades traveling the world and topping global country-music charts, and on this episode of Wong Notes, the country-guitar hero tells host Cory Wong how he conquered the world—and what keeps him chasing new sounds on his 6-string via a new record, High, which releases on September 20. Urban came up as guitarist and singer at the same time, and he details how his playing and singing have always worked as a duet in service of the song: “When I stop singing, [my guitar] wants to say something, and he says it in a different way.” Those traits served him well when he made his move into the American music industry, a story that begins in part with a fateful meeting with a 6-string banjo in a Nashville music store in 1995. It’s a different world for working musicians now, and Urban weighs in on the state of radio, social media, and podcasts for modern guitarists, but he still believes in word-of-mouth over the algorithm when it comes to discovering exciting new players. And in case you didn’t know, Keith Urban is a total gearhead. He shares his essential budget stomps and admits he’s a pedal hound, chasing new sounds week in and week out, but what role does new gear play in his routine? Urban puts it simply: “I’m not chasing tone, I’m pursuing inspiration.” Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: http://distrokid.com/vip/corywong Visit Keith Urban: https://keithurban.com Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: https://www.corywongmusic.com Visit Premier Guitar: http://premierguitar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/wongnotespod IG: https://www.instagram.com/wongnotespod Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger Presented by DistroKid

    52 min
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4.9
out of 5
41 Ratings

About

Hi, my name is Cory Wong. This is my podcast. I'm going to talk to your favorite artists as they discuss their personal tricks of the trade, never-before-heard stories, and the proper response when Sinatra wants to peep your master tapes.

Information

  • Creator
    Premier Guitar
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    93
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 Gearhead Communications / Cory Wong
  • Show Website
    Wong Notes

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