Essential 8: Kory Caudill

World-class pianist Kory Caudill has been touching and inspiring thousands of concert goers since his youth. One of America’s most sought after pianists, Caudill's fluency in nearly every genre, as well as his highly acclaimed virtuosity, has given him success in multiple facets of the music industry. Whether he is recording and producing projects for artists, touring with country superstars, or selling out concerts of his own, it has become clear that the Caudill is a force to be reckoned with in today's music industry. On November 10th, Caudill released his holiday album, Christmas with Kory Caudill and Friends an eleven track collection that gets you in the Christmas spirit! Here Kory talks musical mentors, his new album, and more in the Essential 8 .

Did you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you?
​Both of my parents are incredible musicians, and they will always be my biggest influences. When they realized I had an interest in music, they became very active in making sure I was able to spend time around the world class musicians we were blessed with in eastern Kentucky.  We had a wonderful community of musicians where I grew up, and they all took me under their wing in one way or another. Two folks stand out, however. The first of which was pianist/producer/engineer, Dave Kazee. Dave was everything I could hope to be as a pianist and as a person. He was country as cornbread, and watching him helped me understand that a person didn’t have to be eccentric in order to be a really great musician. As busy as he was, he always allowed me to shadow him throughout a broad range of musical ventures that spanned nearly every genre. My other primary mentor is guitarist James Whited. I’ve never met a musician as talented as James. One of my favorite moments as a musician came during a rehearsal when I was twelve years old. James and the band had been letting me sit in as a learning experience, and I kept missing a part. James stopped the rehearsal and yelled at me for missing it, and I’d never been so excited...it meant that one of the best musicians in the world thought I could be fixed and brought up to his level someday. The two of us have remained close friends and continue to make music together regularly.


With "Carol of the Bells," what was the “a-ha” moment when you knew the song was completed and perfect?  
Carol of the Bells! When we sat out to record a Christmas album, we knew we wanted to veer from the seven minute arrangements on my first album, and make a record full of vocal tunes and instrumentals that made folks want to sing along. The jury’s still out on whether or not we’ve achieved this, but that’s where our focus was. Then came Carol of the Bells. What started as a relaxed, low key instrumental, took on a very exciting life of it’s own once we started tracking. After a couple hours of everybody in the room saying, “hey, what if we tried this?!” we had put together something pretty special. The “a-ha” moment we had was when we’d finally hashed out the arrangement, and played a take in the studio. When we finished the take, there was a nervous tension in the air from all of us trying to get an arrangement like that under our fingers. The tune went by so fast that we couldn’t tell if we’d trainwrecked or not. We sat in silence for a second, then looked into the control room to see producer Jamie Tate with his arms in the air and his face lit up like he’d had a blast. That was the moment when we knew we were on to a special arrangement, and that we’d tapped into something truly unique.

What’s the story behind your album’s title?
Jamie Tate had masterfully crafted a list of funny album titles, none of which I want my mom to read, and sent them out on a group text with the band. This started five months worth of us coming up with “clever” titles. When it came time to submit the album, I sent out a text asking the guys what their thoughts were for an actual album title, and the titles only got more “clever.” So, I pretty much threw in the towel and rolled with “Christmas with Kory Caudill and Friends.”

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When/where do you do your best writing?
I do my best writing between 10:00 pm and 4:00am upstairs in my home studio. I wish I had an explanation for what made the creative juices flow best at that time, because I’d try my darndest to make it happen during better hours! My best guess stems from being a kid and Mom and Dad occasionally allowing me to play my keyboard through headphones long past everybody else's bed time. I think that when I knew nobody else was listening, I was more in touch with why I was playing music in the first place.

What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician?
A few years ago I read a series of interviews with guitarist Pat Metheny. He touched on young musicians being of the mindset that they needed to reach a certain big goal before they can reach another big goal they have in mind. Metheny pointed out that if you thought you needed a record deal in order to achieve another goal, go for it, but you’re skipping some steps. In the interview, he said to find something you could do in the next fifteen minutes that would play towards your bigger goals. Over time, those small tasks grow into larger ones, and eventually you’ve climbed the ladder.  

What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out?
Don’t measure your success in terms of stats such as sales, social media numbers, or charts. Instead, measure your success in terms of how you made the folks who heard your music or saw your concert feel. When you approach music that way, everything else falls into place.

Do you have any touring tips?
Keep things in perspective. It’s easy to get caught up in the grueling hours and chaos of a show day, and lose sight of how fortunate we are to be making music for a living. The first time I played in Buffalo we had just come off an early, long flight, and we were tired and hungry. I called and spoke with my Papaw to wish him happy birthday. When I told him where we were, he got excited and said, “oh cool, I’ve been there before. When I was in the service that’s where we flew out of to head to Germany.” Twenty-one-year-old me was able to play country music in buffalo because twenty-one-year-old papaw flew out of there to fight World War II. Suddenly catching a 5:00am flight to the show felt like a blessing.

Who would you love to collaborate with?
I would love to do a collaboration with Chris Stapleton. I grew up playing piano and Hammond B3 in a church where we could improvise depending on the direction the sermon was heading. Given Stapleton’s unbelievable vocal ability and his soulful approach, I feel like we could have a rapport similar to a preacher and his/her organist. Chris and I know each other some from our eastern Kentucky roots, so I know he’d be a blast to be around. Also, his bassist, J.T. is one of the coolest bass players in the business, so I’d of course jump at the chance to lay down a groove with him.

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