GW readers get a first look at Vulfpeck guitarist's lively new video.
Today, we've teamed up with Vulfpeck guitarist Cory Wong to premiere his new "'91 Maxima" music video. You can check it out above.
"'91 Maxima," which features contributions from Minneapolis folk veteran Joe Savage, is one of the shining lights from Wong's sophomore solo effort, The Optimist. Released on August 17, the album contains plenty of the nimble, funky guitar work Wong is known for, while also showing Wong's impressive musical versatility.
"I knew I had to nail it in one take for the sake of the video," Wong told Guitar World about the video. "I record my songs live with one camera and wanted to capture the live energy of the solo but also surprise the band when we got to the end. Most people who are familiar with me as a guitarist know me as a rhythm guitar guy; so with this song it's a guitar-focused melody but also the spot on the album where I step out and kind of mockingly play an epic guitar solo....it's fun. And also, if you watch the video, you can see that we don't take ourselves too seriously. It's key to the vibe of what we do.
"Also, as a side note, Sonny Thompson is the most insane and shredding bass player I've ever seen or heard," Wong continued. "He played very tasteful and reserved on this track, but then after we recorded the song, I had to let him loose in some way—the vocals at the end just seemed appropriate."
Wong will be taking The Optimist on the road this fall, with some additional dates scheduled for early 2019. You can check out his itinerary below.
Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
