Back in August, at Cory Wong’s Syncopated Summer Camp in Nashville, Wong hosted a late-night interview and hang session with Italian guitar hero Matteo Mancuso. If you weren’t there, you’re in luck: This week’s episode of Wong Notes features that exclusive rendezvous in its entirety, recorded live in front of an audience of camp attendees.Mancuso unearths his roots on the guitar, from starting on the electric guitar to learning Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix while using his father’s finger-picking style. “Later on, I discovered about the pick, but I was too lazy to start again,” says Mancuso, who shouts out other fingerstyle players like Wes Montgomery and Django Reinhardt.

Mancuso credits his unique playing vocabulary to his atypical approach to the instrument, which meant he had to “find some solutions to some technical problems” that he encountered while learning to play. What kind of warm-ups does he turn to when he wants to get his fingers and brain moving? Mancuso has a few thoughts, but it all has to be “goal-oriented.”

Mancuso and Wong, both veteran bandleaders at this point, swap advice and techniques on heading your own band, arranging, and writing, plus scores of other obscure tricks of the trade. Tune in and listen to get the goods.

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

Phish’s Trey Anastasio is back again on this week’s extra-special episode of Wong Notes. The expansive conversation goes from the mundane to the massive: Trey shares the meaningful gift he bought himself for his 60th birthday, reflects on his most meaningful song, dissects boredom and nostalgia in the streaming era, and names the young bands impressing him most these days.

Then, Trey and Cory dig deep into the songwriting process, and Trey reflects on how his songwriting has (and hasn’t) changed over his length career: “Maybe it’s some kind of human nature, that you’re kind of fighting against who you actually, really are,” he offers. He then opens up the files and plays few unreleased (and vintage) demos! At this stage in his career, what is Trey Anastasio hoping to accomplish, and has his approach to making music changed? Tune in to find out.

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

Imagine being in a band with your best friends for over 40 years, and each night you step on stage you get to play one more show. That’s exactly what guitarist Trey Anastasio and his bandmates in Phish think about right before every sold-out arena or amphitheater show. “We're all hyper aware now, every night,” mentions Anastasio. “I mean, we just love it so much. It's like, I can't wait for the tour to start.” Anastasio’s energy and passion is infectious, even when he isn’t talking about music. Bring up hockey, 6L6-based amps, or even his generationally deep Iowa roots and watch as his eyebrows raise. 

We had to do something special for the 100th episode of Wong Notes. We caught up with Trey while he was preparing for a November tour with his solo band. In part one, Cory Wong brings Anastasio in with some hockey talk before diving straight into his current full-circle journey with his rig, and he reveals a bit of an epiphany that all true gearheads know, but sometimes are afraid to admit.

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

This go around, Cory Wong is joined by Pino Palladino and Blake Mills. Palladino, a Grammy-winning bassist, has collaborated with everyone from Erykah Badu and Keith Richards to John Mayer and the late, great D’Angelo. Mills’ resumé includes work with Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, and Joni Mitchell. The duo has been around the block.

Wong probes all corners of their creative processes, from the purpose of the music they make, to dealing with “unnatural” elements of the creative process, to layering parts on a record, to different approaches to melody. As you read, Palladino and Mills have worked with some of the greatest musicians and writers of the past century. They’ve got a lot of wisdom to share.

Tune in to learn from some of the best in the biz.

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

Welcome back for a special episode of Wong Notes! If you couldn’t make it to Cory’s Syncopated Summer Camp, this one’s for you: It features Wong and his Flyers bandmates—Nate Smith on drums, Joe Dart on bass, and Mark Lettieri on guitar—in a live masterclass recording from this summer, as they jam and break down an original composition.

The group starts off with a rowdy rip through the tune (which, apparently, didn’t go so well when they played it in Italy) before slowing down its constituent parts and highlighting Lettieri’s thoughtful arrangements. Each member of the band takes a turn explaining their approach to jamming and improvising—and how to know when trouble is coming. (For Smith, it’s when one player tries to “force an agenda.”)

The most important instrument for a successful jam and songwriting session? Your ears: It all comes back to listening. So listen in and learn with the best on this exclusive instalment.

Recorded LIVE at the Syncopated Summer Camp presented by Dreamcatcher Events: http://dreamcatcher-events.com

Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/WongNotes

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

On this episode, James Bay joins Cory Wong from backstage at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (It takes Wong all of 10 seconds to recognize and name the green room.) Bay is still supporting his fourth full-length record, Changes All the Time, and Wong picked up on a different guitar approach on the new album. Bay walks him through how his playing matched the collection’s title.

Bay also reveals the first solo he learned to play (or, rather, failed to learn to play; it’s a Bon Jovi hit), and how Jack White’s philosophy of struggle against his instrument has shaped Bay’s relationship to his own guitars. As bandleaders, Wong and Bay both have plenty of experience hiring players to join them in studio and on the road, so what do they look for when selecting colleagues? Tune in to find out.

It wouldn’t be a chat with a Minnesotan guitarist without some Prince talk, so stick around to learn the appropriate etiquette for covering The Artist when touring his home state.

Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/WongNotes

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

Sound the alarms, tell your neighbors, hire a banner plane: Wong Notes is back. Cory Wong’s beloved podcast returns after a healthy break, and this exciting comeback episode features Wong in conversation with Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda.

The Connecticut rock band’s guitarist and vocalist talks through the band’s origins and position in the jam-band and broader music scenes, and Wong and Mitarotonda debate an ancient, critical question: Can jam bands actually write great songs?

The duo talk through their philosophies on recording, staying sharp on your instrument, all-star moments and standout players in the jam community, and feeling misunderstood as an artist. Like a good jam set, there are plenty of rich tangents, fascinating rabbit holes, and unexpected insights, so tune in and keep your ears open.

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Visit Goose: https://www.goosetheband.com/

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Presented by DistroKid

Welcome back for a special season finale of Wong Notes!

We’ve saved one of the best for last: Brad Paisley.The celebrated shredder and seasoned fisherman joins host Cory Wong for one of this season’s most interesting episodes. Paisley talks his earliest guitar-playing influences, which came from his grandfather’s love of country music, and his first days in Nashville—as a student at Belmont University, studying the music industry.

The behind-the-curtain knowledge he picked up at Belmont made him a good match for industry suits trying to force bad contracts on him.

Wong and Paisley swap notes on fishing and a mutual love of Phish—Paisley envies the jam-band scene, which he thinks has more leeway in live contexts than country. And with a new signature Fender Telecaster hitting the market in a rare blue paisley finish, Paisley discusses his iconic namesake pattern—which some might describe as “hippie puke”—and its surprising origin with Elvis’ guitarist James Burton.

Plus, hear how Paisley assembled his rig over the years, the state of shredding on mainstream radio, when it might be good to hallucinogenic drugs in a set, and the only negative thing about country-music audiences.

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger

Presented by DistroKid

Legendary shredder Joe Satriani was the first ever guest on Wong Notes, so it makes sense that he’s the first returning sit-in with Cory Wong. Satch is busy as ever, juggling enough projects to make a normal guitarist’s head spin. But Satriani’s not a normal guitarist.

He teases a new song with Sammy Hagar, plus delves into the intricacies of Eddie Van Halen’s playing and why he can’t quite replicate it—every guitarist has their strengths and deficiencies, claims Satch. And believe it or not, Satriani didn’t figure standing in front of huge crowds to be one of his strengths when he was younger. Fate figured otherwise.

Satriani goes deep on one of his favorite tools, the Sustainiac pickup, and talks about how it’s defined his playing—just like his trademark sunglasses, even in dark rooms. (“Stupid idea, right?” he jokes.)And young guitarists, listen up: Satriani has some wise words on the importance of rigorous practice while you’re budding on the instrument. The big takeaway? Learn. The. Notes.

Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/WongNotes

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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger

Presented by DistroKid

Grace Bowers just released her debut record, 2024’s Wine on Venus, with her band the Hodge Podge, but she’s already one the most well-known young guitarists in America. On this episode of Wong Notes, Bowers talks through the ups, downs, and detours of her whirlwind career.

Bowers started out livestreaming performances on Reddit at age 13, and came into the public eye as a performer on social media, so she’s well acquainted with the limits and benefits of being an “Instagram guitarist.” She and Cory talk about session work in Nashville (Bowers loathes it), her live performance rig, and Eddie Hazel’s influence.

Bowers plugs the importance of networking as a young musician: If you want gigs, you gotta go to gigs, and make acquaintances. But none of that elbow-rubbing will matter unless you’re solid on you’re instrument. “No one’s gonna hire you if you’re ass,” says Bowers. “Practice is important.”

Tune in to learn why Bowers is ready to move on from Wine on Venus, her takes on Nashville versus California, and why she hates “the blues-rock label.”

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Visit Grace Bowers: https://www.gracebowers.com/

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IG: https://www.instagram.com/wongnotespod

Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong

Additional Editing by Shawn Persinger

Presented by DistroKid