Walking The Musical Tightrope With CORY MARKS

HEAVY Music Interviews

Combining rock and metal with country music is a brave move. Fans of each genre individually are parochial in their love of music and unlikely to take to any bastardisation with any other form of sonic entertainment. It takes a person with confidence and conviction to even attempt such a marriage, but when done right even the staunchest of purists can do nothing except sit back, listen, and enjoy. Such is the case with Cory Marks and his body of work. By integrating elements of each of the above genres with blatant disregard for convention or history, Marks has found his niche in a blurry world of music with a striking and engaging mixing of styles that reflects his own upbringing and eclectic tastes. His recent - and appropriately titled - album Sorry For Nothing accentuates his individuality, bringing together country, rock and metal in such a way that makes it impossible to resist. Collaborations with artists such as Sully Erna (Godsmack), Travis Tritt, Mick Mars and DL of Bad Wolves have helped bridge the divide between genres, but it is Marks' inate ability to transcend musical barriers that makes him stand out in a musical climate that is becoming increasingly predictable. HEAVY spent some time with Marks to find out his thoughts on music. "It's been a project I've been waiting to release and working on for the last four years," he smiled, "so to finally have it out… it's nice. Now it's up to the world to see how they acknowledge it, and hopefully they love it." We ask him to dive deeper into Sorry For Nothing musically. "I've always stayed true to who I am and what I believe in or what I enjoy doing," he said. "As you know I'm country, I'm rock, and I'm a little bit of metal and in this record you have songs that I've written about a year ago all the way to songs written seven or eight years ago. It's thirteen songs that I think represent me the best right now. What I've been through, where I've been and how far I've come and where I plan on to continue to go. Hence the album title, Sorry For Nothing." In the full interview, Cory discusses the blending of genres and how he makes them work, the potential risks of combining genres, the guest artists on the album and why they were chosen, finding the balance in music, the pressures of following his hugely successful single Outlaws & Outsiders, how his sound has changed over his career, what he has learnt about himself and his music on this journey and more.
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