James Bay on Failed Solos, Onstage Adrenaline, and How to Hire a Band

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: Get 30% off your first year of DistroKid by going here: Visit James Bay: Hit us up: wongnotes@premierguitar.com Visit Cory: Visit Premier Guitar: Twitter: IG: Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong Presented by DistroKid

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James Bay on Failed Solos, Onstage Adrenaline, and How to Hire a Band is an episode from Wong Notes by Premier Guitar.

This episode is 59:38 long.

This episode was published on Sep 18, 2025.

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