INTERVIEW: Cory Marks straddles the line between country and rock
Photo: Cory Marks recently finished a tour opening for Dorothy, and next he’ll head out in his native Canada. Photo courtesy of Alex Kouvastos / Provided by SRO PR with permission.
Cory Marks would like to introduce himself. The singer-guitarist, who used to be a professional drummer, has been leaving a great impact in the music industry, especially on the touring circuit, bringing his unique amalgam of styles to a growing fan base around North America, including the United States and his native Canada. He has recently finished a sold-out tour opening for Dorothy, and now he’s ready to swing through Canada in the coming weeks.
“My goal and objective and mission every night is always to put on the best show I can, get the crowd amped up and ready for the headliner, and really just try to leave my mark on the crowd, especially the ones who haven’t heard of me or haven’t heard my music,” Marks said about his opening slot on the Dorothy tour. “My goal is to win as many fans over as I can, and to get the rockers to love some of my country music and some of the country fans to get more involved in the rock.”
The guidepost for Marks each night are the celebrated songs on his two well-received albums: Sorry for Nothing and Who I Am. When fans check out his music, they’ll quickly realize he’s combining a little bit of the genres that he loves most into one Cory Marks brand. One only has to look at the various acts he’s toured with to appreciate his diverse output.
“I’ve toured with Travis Tritt,” he said. “I’ve toured with Toby Keith and Brantley Gilbert, but I’ve also toured with Five Finger Death Punch and Theory of a Deadman and now Dorothy and bands like Halestorm. I think the biggest thing for me is winning those really hard-rock fans over. I’ll often get, ‘I don’t listen to country music, but I love your shit,’ or stuff like that. It’s always a cool thing to hear, especially from the heavier crowds, where they’re definitely more rock-oriented. I grew up on country music, like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard and up until the Brad Paisleys of the world, but I also grew up on Rush, Bryan Adams and heavier stuff being a drummer before even singing. I was singing and playing Dream Theater and bands like Pantera and Lamb of God, so I’ve always really enjoyed the storytelling and the heartfelt songs of country music, but also the hard stomp and rock energy of punk rock and metal and rock ‘n’ roll.”
Marks comes from North Bay, Ontario, which the singer said is a musical type of town. He remembers an old AM station that used to play classic country music on Sundays, and his parents would always turn the dial to the sweet crooning of the greats, including singers like Patsy Cline, Haggard, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette and Owens.
“In the U.S., country music is a lot more pop than anything right now, and you almost have to look, act and sound that way to get that support,” he said. “There were all kinds of bands where I grew up. There were some really good country venues that I played a lot in when I first started, but there were a lot of rock bands and metal bands, too. And I was in one of them. I was a drummer in my band called Inflict. It was kind of a mix between Slayer, Pantera and Lamb of God, so there was a lot of that, especially for the young kids, between 15 and 20 years old. There were a lot of those concerts being put on. There was a lot of music in that city and in and around the city, too. … When I first started playing and doing the clubs and stuff, I had a lot of options. Even in North Bay alone, I would play three, sometimes four times a week. In a city of 50,000, to be able to play 3-4 times a week and have these venues packed all week, it was a lot of fun, some of the best times of my life, getting to work on my craft and party and hang out with family and friends from home.”
When Marks takes to the stage, whether he’s headlining or opening for another band, he creates a set list by pulling equally from his two albums. He tries to keep the set tight and offer audiences what they came out to see, but also leave in a couple tunes to push them in a new, unexpected direction.
“Obviously I want to promote the news album as much as I can,” Marks said. “[For the Dorothy tour,] our set is only 40 minutes, so I’m going to play the songs that people know the most, like ‘Outlaws & Outsiders,’ it was a top 10 here in the U.S. in rock, and ‘(Make My) Country Rock’ being top 20 here. Those get put into the set, but seeing how Dorothy is more on the rock side of things, I tend to pick those songs that might fit this show the best. … It’s basically split essentially. I manage to squeeze in nine songs in the 40 minutes, and I believe it’s four or five songs from Who I Am and I think three from Sorry for Nothing. The way I’m trying to bring in the country side of things — and it’s worked out so well — is we have the band come up; we’re big, loud and in your face, and I close out just the same way I started this whole thing, which is me and my guitar. And I play the acoustic version of ‘Sorry for Nothing’ and just get to be with the fans, me and myself, and make it a little more intimate before Dorothy comes on and does her thing.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Cory Marks is gearing up for a tour of Canada over the next two months. Click here for more information and tickets.
