Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jo Corso. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jo, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I wish I had the confidence when I was younger to get onstage on my own and play whatever made me happy. I was very insecure with myself when I started writing. I did not want people seeing it until I was sure I loved what I was doing. The thoughts on how to make my performance bulletproof were what prevented me from getting on stage in the first place. It was effecting what i was putting down on paper. If you keep at it though you get desensitized to all that. You start caring a lot less about what other people think.
Playing in bands was a great learning experience on how to handle myself on and off stage. There’s a difference experiencing things as a band compared to just yourself. In groups you have all these ideas bouncing back-and-forth between multiple people. You start defining the noise that sound right in your head and you get instant feedback when you’re testing something new. You can carry those things into a solo performance but your role onstage gets completely modified. You have to learn a new kind of performance.
Jo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a musician based out of Nashville and work on guitars for a living. I moved here 7 years ago and currently work for Gibson USA doing setups on their electrics. I play around town and write music focused around the guitar. I’ve competed in championships and love traveling around playing wherever I can find a spot.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Until I run out of fun things to do on a guitar, I really want to see how far I can go with it. I get so much satisfaction from learning a new technique and finding a way to implement it in a song. That’s the greatest feeling I get out of doing all this. When you see guitarists like Michael Angelo Batio and Stanley Jordan you can’t help but wonder what is going on in their head. Nobody plays like those guys. They put in the work to perfect their ways of playing.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Definitely the open mic spots around Nashville. The Bowery Vault, Pitch Lobby, Fox and Locke, Cafe Coco, Tennessee Brew Works. I love these places and the people. It’s a great way to discover yourself as an artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jocorso.com/
- Instagram: @jo_corso
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCwbRXAbD63QiYS3Z3Pz1mTw
- Other: TikTok: jo_corso
Image Credits
Bridey Caramagno Zachariah Neupert