Brad Paisley on Fish, Phish, and the Origins of the "Lost" Paisley Guitar

About this episode

Brad Paisley discusses his musical influences, fishing, and the origins of his signature guitar with host Cory Wong.

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…

People in this episode

Host: Cory Wong

Guest: Brad Paisley

Topics covered

• guitar influences
• country music
• fishing
• jam bands
• music industry
• signature guitar

Keywords

• Brad Paisley
• Cory Wong
• guitar
• country music
• Phish
• DistroKid
• signature guitar
• music industry

Sponsors

DistroKid

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Premier Guitar, Belmont University

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