Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Wong was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is of mixed Chinese-American descent.[1][2] Growing up, he was exposed to classic rock and jazz music by his father. He took piano lessons at age nine. He was fascinated by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primus and decided to play bass and start a band. He took guitar and bass lessons and started a punk rock band. His first instruments were a Fender Jazz Bass, a Gretsch guitar, and a Fender Stratocaster. He acquired a second Stratocaster during his senior year of high school, which remained his primary instrument until the release of his signature Fender Stratocaster in 2021.[3][4][5]
In late 2000s and early 2010s, Wong focused on jazz music and performed in Minneapolis–Saint Paul jazz clubs. He released two records with jazz ensembles, Even Uneven in 2008 and Quartet/Quintet in 2012.[3][8] He then performed in the Nashville music scene on a regular basis as a session musician and guitarist. He started touring with Ben Rector and worked with a variety of artists including Bryan White, Brandon Heath and Dave Barnes.[9] In 2013, for a six-month period he performed in the Minneapolis-based band Dr. Mambo's Combo with several veterans of the city's R&B-pop-funk music scene including members of Prince's band: Michael Bland and bassist Sonny T. He calls this period his learning curve in performing "vibrant funk soul" music.[3][4]
In 2013, Wong met members of the Ann Arbor-based band Vulfpeck.[3] He performed a jam with the group which was later rerecorded and released as the track "Cory Wong" on The Beautiful Game.[10][11] In 2016, he started recording and touring with the band. He has recorded on every Vulfpeck album since then and toured with the band. He said of his guitar sound with Vulfpeck: "part of my sound is kind of bringing rhythm guitar to the front". He is also a member of The Fearless Flyers, an instrumental quartet (with Vulfpeck's bass player Joe Dart, Snarky Puppy's guitarist Mark Lettieri, and drummer Nate Smith) and has released four EPs and an album with the group.[4][8][12]
In 2016, Wong released a six-track EP as a lead artist. In 2017, he released his debut solo album, Cory Wong and The Green Screen Band.[8] His second solo album The Optimist was released in 2018 and reached number 19 on the U.S. Jazz Albums chart.[7][13] He released a third album Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul in 2019.[5] The albums feature contributions by Phoebe Katis, Antwaun Stanley, Michael Bland, Sonny T., Ben Rector, Jon Batiste, Louis Cato, Nate Smith and others.[8][14] In 2020, Wong released his fourth solo album, Elevator Music for an Elevated Mood, which he called a continuation of his third album.[15]
In 2020 to 2022, in the absence of touring over the course of coronavirus pandemic, Wong released multiple solo and collaborative albums including The Golden Hour with Dave Koz, Turbo with Dirty Loops, and Tailwinds with The Fearless Flyers.[20][21] He started hosting[b] a music podcast for Premier Guitar magazine and he produced a YouTube music-comedy-variety show.[22][23] In 2023, he collaborated with the popular Japanese J-pop artist Vaundy on the song "Todome no Ichigeki" (トドメの一撃), which served as the ending theme song for the second season of the anime television series Spy × Family.[24] He also collaborated with Huntertones on the track "Tunnel" on their album Motionation released in April 2024.[25]
Variety show
In 2021, Wong premiered a YouTube variety show titled "Cory and the Wongnotes". The show featured a full ensemble band, original music, short comedy skits, and interviews on subjects such as gear, genre and rhythm. The band consisted of Wong (guitar), Sonny T. (bass), Kevin Gastonguay (keys), Nêgah Santos (percussion), Petar Janjic (drums), Eddie Barbash (sax), Kenni Holmen (sax, flute), Sam Greenfield (sax, clarinet), Steve Strand (trumpet),[c]Jon Lampley (trumpet), Michael Nelson (trombone, horn arrangement). The show featured collaborators Cody Fry and Antwaun Stanley and culminated in the release of an 11-track album.[23]
Wong's primary equipment includes the following, Guitar: Fender Highway One Stratocaster[d] with Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups, Amplifiers: Fender '65 Super Reverb reissue, Kemper Profiler, and Neural DSP Quad Cortex,[28]Strings: D'Addario NYXL (.010–.046), Accessories: Wampler Ego Compressor, Vertex Steel String Clean Drive, and Strymon Big Sky.[17][18] He uses a variety of other instruments and accessories as well.[17][18] He aims for a clean tone, and often records direct.[29] In 2020, Cory collaborated with Neural DSP to create Archetype: Cory Wong, a plugin with three amplifiers and several effects.[30] In 2021, the Fender company released Wong's signature model Stratocaster guitar.[31]
^ abcPaul Kobylensky (November 6, 2018). "Cory Wong: The Sound of Joy". Premier Guitar. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2019.