“The tune was inspired by legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius’ Teen Town”: Cory Wong on why doubling the bassline is one of the “most badass” things a guitarist can do

Cory Wong plays a blue Stratocaster during a 2025 performance at Koerner Hall, Ontario.

One of the coolest and most badass-sounding things a guitarist can do is double a long, complex bassline an octave higher. This was my approach for the song Dean Town, which I recorded with Vulfpeck for our 2016 album, The Beautiful Game.

The tune was inspired by legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius’ Teen Town, which he recorded with Weather Report on the 1975 album Heavy Weather.