Canadian musician Cory Marks is redefining the boundaries of country and rock with his unapologetically bold sound. Hailing from North Bay, Ontario, Marks blends the storytelling tradition of country legends like Merle Haggard with the high-energy punch of rock icons such as Rush and Ozzy Osbourne. Influenced by artists like Bryan Adams, Brad Paisley, and Eric Church, he has crafted a style that is distinctly his own.
His latest album, ‘Sorry for Nothing,' produced by Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Shania Twain), Kile Odell, and Andrew Baylis, showcases his signature fusion of gritty country and hard-hitting rock. The title track, along with the chart-rising single ‘(Make My) Country Rock,' demonstrates Marks’ ability to bridge audiences from honky-tonks to rock arenas while exploring themes of perseverance, family, and life’s unpredictable highs and lows.
With performances at over 30 major music festivals and tours alongside acts like ZZ Top, Five Finger Death Punch, Toby Keith, and Brantley Gilbert, Marks has proven himself as a dynamic live performer. Staying true to his roots while pushing musical boundaries, Cory Marks is poised to make an even greater impact, inviting listeners on a high-energy, heartfelt journey that’s as raw as it is electrifying as he heads over to Europe in March to make his debut at the esteemed C2C festival in London. We were thrilled to talk to him all about it.
Thanks for your time today, Cory, we know just how busy you must be.
No, thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Congratulations on your new album ‘Sorry for Nothing.' It's a great album. I'm intrigued by you releasing the album in December – right in the middle of Christmas music season! That was a ballsy move.
(laughing) I guess I might be known for doing some ballsy things at this point in my career! We had planned to release the album a little earlier in the year, originally, but December 6th fell into place and I thought that there were a lot of songs about whiskey and having a good time which fit in with the Christmas season, right? (laughing)
‘Sorry for Nothing' is a bold statement and song. Is that why you chose it as the album's title?
What you see is what you get with me. My first album gave people a little taste of what I am about – honest lyrics and authentic music, right? I'm all about that Country soul and Rock energy and this album echoes that sound and vibe.
The song itself is just a song about who I am, where I come from and where I want to go. I'm a little Rock, a little Country and a little Metal too and for that, I'm sorry for nothing! I'm tired of trying to be confined in a box, you know….. He's too Country for Rock and too Rock for Country is what I've heard before but there's music all over the radio in both genres that isn't even close to what I'm doing so what's the point about worrying about it?
How would you say you've changed as a writer and artist since your debut album, ‘Who I Am'?
You get better the more you do anything, I think. I've been blessed to be able to work with a range of great writers and producers who have helped me get better at the craft. I've been very lucky to work with people who get me and understand what it is that I'm trying to do, so I've learnt from them a hell of a lot.
Which song was the easiest to write on the album and which song took the longest to get it to where you want to be?
They were all pretty similar, really. By the time you get the demo done and get the lyrics right you are looking at around 3 hours each song, I guess. You tinker with it afterwards, maybe change some of the lyrics, change the ending, add in some tweaks at the production phase. Most of these songs just came straight from the heart for me.
The easiest one was also the oldest song on the album and the one that is as Country as it gets, ‘Late Night of Drinking Again. That song is an homage to my favourite artist, Merle Haggard with a little Vince Gill added in for good measure. I wrote that song about eight years ago now in about 20 minutes sat staring at a bottle of Jack Daniels at a party! It's a classic Country song that just flowed out of me.
There's two versions of (Make My) Country Rock' on the album. The original version and then a ‘Harder' version. Is it the same vocal on both and different guitars and production or did you sing them differently?
We all sang a little heavier, played the guitars differently and made the drums different on the harder version. We also had the guitar player from Wage War, Cody Quistad, beef up the sound quite a bit too – so it was played differently rather than just tweaked in the studio.
I'm in love with ‘Fast as I Can' and ‘Tough to be Strong.' Two great commercial sounding Country music songs that sound like Lonestar from the 90s to me. Where did you draw the inspiration for those songs from?
‘Fast as I Can' was written with JT Harding and Steve Brown. I wanted something a little Keith Urban-esque on the album that also could have been a Bryan Adams song, right? A little mix of both. I wanted an upbeat, feel-good song that makes you want to roll the windows down with a smile on your face.
It's one of my favourite songs on the record and I love playing it live too. It's so much fun to do. Even before it was released we could see the fans at shows singing along by the second chorus, which is a sign that you've got something good on your hands! (laughing)
When you write a song do you go into the studio or the room knowing whether it's going to be a Country song or a Rock song or do you just roll the dice and let the muse decide?
I let it do its thing, man. We don't pigeonhole ahead of time, we just write what we feel on any given day. Write what you feel and write what you know is my aim. The production side of things might veer the song one way or another but at the heart of it and the conception of the song, it's all from the same place. Most of all it's important that it just sounds like me.
No Country album is complete without a good nostalgia song and you have that with '17' which you wrote with Jacob Bryant/ How did you come to work with him?
We met each other in Nashville. I've been going down there since about 2011 / 2012. He reached out when ‘Pour Whiskey on My Grave' was blowing up for him and we both hit that same road bock with Covid in 2020 just when things were getting going. We became good friends over the years and he brought his family over from Georgia and rented a house in Nashville and we wrote together.
If you could go into a room with anyone tomorrow to write the first single from your third album who would you choose and why?
It would probably be Bryan Adams. I'm such a huge fan of his voice, his sound, his lyrics. The purity of his music is amazing. Writing in Nashville? Stapleton would drive me to be both a better writer and singer. Obviously someone like The Chief, Eric Church, would be amazing too – I've always been a fan of his work and style.
HARDY would be a cool write. When ‘Outlaws….' came out it was a big US rock radio hit and a rock radio hit in Germany too in 2020 and HARDY and Jelly Roll have had mutliple hits on rock radio despite being ‘Country' artists so we'd all work so well together I think.
There's a great cover of ‘Learn to Fly' on ‘Sorry for Nothing' which took me down a rabbit hole of thinking that you would suit a covers EP sometime in the near future. Halestorm have done at least three so far. If you got chance to record a covers EP which songs instantly come into your mind as being suitable?
Definitely ‘Somebody' by Bryan Adams, or ‘Cuts Like a Knife,' one of those two. I would probably go back to my roots and have a go at Eric Church's ‘How ‘Bout You' which I used to do back in the day. That would be a good one.
It would be good to throw something like Def Leppard's ‘Animal' into the mix too, that would suit me and my style. I used to do Blake Shelton's ‘Who Are You When I'm Not Looking?' I think that song is a cool song, you can almost see every line and every lyric because of the way that song is written. There would definitely need to be a Merle Haggard song on that EP, for sure, too! (laughing)
Your brother is a professional hockey player. Did you ever come close to going down that route yourself?
Yeah. I've played hockey my whole life, I was on skates by the age of 3, just like my brother. Once high school started I found myself in a metal band as the drummer and I fell in love with bands like Rush before that evolved in bands like Pantera and Lamb of God so music took over.
I played hockey to quite a high level but it was always my brothers goal to make the NHL – that was his passion whereas mine was always music. Aviation was always there for me, drumming, music and girls! (laughing) I always had a lot of things going on – I wouldn't say I was distracted because I enjoyed what I did but the focus and the discipline you need to succeed in one thing was never there for me at that age. I did get an offer, after playing junior hockey, for a full ride at Ohio State University and some pro offers too but music kinda took over for me by the time those offers played out.
You got your pilot's license in 2021. How many hours did you have to put in for that and do you keep up with the flying now?
I flew just before Christmas, that was my last flight here in Canada. The rules are that you have to fly at least once every 90 days otherwise you have to go up with someone to make sure you still know what you are doing. I keep up with that. I'm usually looking to get in between 2-5 hours a month if I can. I'll rent a plane until I get one of my own and do the hours to keep up with it.
I started flying at a very young age. Even before the hockey thing, I was on the verge of getting my commercial pilot's license but the school shut down before I could finish the training! That's when my brother said ,'well, until you can figure out what you want to do, why don't you just go and play hockey?' After COVID I decided to see it through to the end which meant me driving an hour each way to the airport so that I could put in the time – I was flying one or two flights a day and completing ground school too. Eventually I'd love to mix the music with competing in air shows too. I could be the Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden lead singer and renowned pilot) of the Country / Rock world, right? (laughing)
You're coming over to Europe in March and making your debut at the C2C festival in London. How excited are you?
It can't come quick enough. I've been dreaming of crossing the pond for years now, pretty much ever since I released ‘Who I Am.' I'm so grateful and excited to be making my way over there – my brother played ice hockey for the teams in Coventry and Sheffield and I never got the chance to visit him whilst he was there so this is a big deal for me.
Have you got any sightseeing or bucket list plans you want to do whilst you are over in the UK?
I've been talking to my tour manager about that. I'd love to see some aviation history – maybe an Air Force museum, right? I'd love that. I got to hang out with the Red Arrows last year when they came over to Canada, which was so cool.
Check out Cory Marks' excellent ‘Sorry for Nothing' album and grab a ticket to see him at the C2C festival in March right here.
