Listen To Cory Wong's 'Bluebird' with Chris Thile Ahead of 'Trail Songs: Dawn' Out This Week

Minneapolis-born Cory Wong has shared the song "Bluebird" from his upcoming album Trail Songs: Dawn arriving this week on August 7th.  "Bluebird" also features the work of mandolinist Chris Thile. You may know Wong's work from his contributions to Vulfpeck. 

Trail Songs: Dawn follows the recent release of sister record, the acoustic-based Trail Songs: Dawn, and though the newest release promises to be a more "rollicking affair", it was also made on all acoustic instruments.

"I wanted to release two albums over the summer that reflect my personality on acoustic instruments," Wong says.

Wong is both a guitarist and a podcast host, and he reflects that lockdown was hard for him since he's not used to "sitting still". He found himself in the midst of composing Trail Songs.

Wong says:

"The music I wrote for this album is nothing like the music I’ve put out before. It’s reflective and contemplative. It’s all acoustic music, recorded on acoustic instruments. I started by writing tunes on the guitar, and then added layers while mocking up demos. And then i sent the demos and scores out to my friends to replace the demo parts. It was really a magical thing to be able to bring some of my friends together to play music from around the world in a time where many of them felt isolated from any sense of community.

This music is meant to be taken in and absorbed through the lens of the listener's self-reflection. Some people dream of taking a trip to the midwest to find a respite in nature to write. For me, I didn’t need to take a trip. I needed to stop taking trips! The midwest is home for me, and this album reminded me of that."