“When somebody signs up to listen to a guitar-led band, they might assume it’s going to be a bunch of shredding”: Cory Wong subverts expectations of what a lead guitarist should sound like during rare acoustic set

Vulfpeck’s Cory Wong has treated fans with a stripped-down set against the picturesque backdrop of Red Rocks Park in Jefferson County, Colorado. Alongside the performance, Wong gave his take on defying the expectations associated with a guitar-led band.

The Grammy-nominated guitarist performed new renditions of his tracks Flyers Direct, Pebbles, Team Sports and Airplane Mode, accompanied by his band. For this live recording, Wong brandished a Martin 000CJr-10E acoustic guitar, connected to a Neural DSP Quad Cortex.

“When somebody signs up to listen to a guitar-led band, they might assume it’s going to be a bunch of shredding and a traditional guitar hero sort of band,” Wong says in an interview with Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre.

Cory Wong: Red Rocks Trail Mix Session – YouTube

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“And for me, I like doing that sometimes. But I don’t always want the guitar to be the lead voice all the time. It’s the arrangements, and it’s choosing when what to do, and what to feature at any given moment.”

Wong also comments on the benefits of drawing inspiration from sources beyond music. “A lot of musicians draw inspiration from other music. And of course, I do that and I have done that a lot in the past.

“If I’m only focusing on music as my source of inspiration, the music I make starts to sound kind of like the thing that I’m listening to. And if I do things like look at a beautiful landscape or a piece of artwork, I’ll score the moment and take it in. I can try to write a song that feels like what this [referring to Red Rocks Park] looks like.”

In a 2021 Guitar World interview, Wong talked about this ongoing journey to find his own signature sound through evolving techniques:

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“I’ve always been on this journey of finding my signature sound, finding my voice. And I started doing something that I don’t see a lot of guitar players doing – using a technique in all kinds of contexts from lead to rhythm. And the technique is simply hitting the strings with my hand. I know that sounds absurd, like anyone could do that.

Jam on the Road featuring Cory Wong – YouTube

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“But if you listen to the intro of my song Companion Pass, there’s this triplet lick where I play an upstroke, hit the strings and then there’s a downstroke. So sometimes I might find a spot where I’d normally pick a note, and hit the strings with my palm somewhere – almost like palm muting – but a little towards the neck.”

Wong recently teamed up with anarchic electronic artist Marc Rebillet for an impromptu jam at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

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