Goose's Rick Mitarotonda: Can Jambands Write Great Songs? Yes!
Wong Notes
Premier Guitar
4.9 • 587 Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2025
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sound the alarms, tell your neighbors, hire a banner plane: Wong Notes is back. Cory Wong’s beloved podcast returns after a healthy break, and this exciting comeback episode features Wong in conversation with Goose’s Rick Mitarotonda.
The Connecticut rock band’s guitarist and vocalist talks through the band’s origins and position in the jam-band and broader music scenes, and Wong and Mitarotonda debate an ancient, critical question: Can jam bands actually write great songs?
The duo talk through their philosophies on recording, staying sharp on your instrument, all-star moments and standout players in the jam community, and feeling misunderstood as an artist. Like a good jam set, there are plenty of rich tangents, fascinating rabbit holes, and unexpected insights, so tune in and keep your ears open.
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Produced by Jason Shadrick and Cory Wong
Presented by DistroKid
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What's happening? Welcome to Wong Nodes podcast. I'm your host, Corey Wong. It's a new season we start today. I'm stoked about that. Stoked about a lot of things right now. I'm in the Midwest. I'm in Minnesota. Minneapolis, it's like the time of year where we really get to enjoy the weather. And if you're from Minnesota, you know, |
| 0:22.0 | this is just what we like to talk about. The weather. It's, uh, you know, we deal with the winter |
| 0:27.4 | the majority of the year. So now I'm just, I'm chilling. I'm having a good time. I'm outside, |
| 0:32.1 | getting my walks in, getting my bike rides in. It's fun stoked because wolf pack is playing madison square |
| 0:39.4 | garden next week sold out we're stoked very excited i was just looking over the list of like 20 |
| 0:47.2 | some tunes i've got to make sure i'm prepared for it even though we've played a few times |
| 0:51.9 | you know this year i like to i like to come in prepared that's my little tip for everybody today even though we've played a few times, you know, this year. I like to come in prepared. |
| 0:56.2 | That's my little tip for everybody today. Even if you're in a band that's played a bunch, |
| 0:59.9 | you've got to just review the material before a big gig. Make sure that you're set. So when the |
| 1:04.1 | bridge comes, it's not like, oh wait, does the bridge go to the four? And then the secondary |
| 1:08.0 | dominant, which secondary dominant? these are things that I'm always |
| 1:12.6 | refreshing. So that way when it comes to the gig, I don't have to worry about any of the |
| 1:17.5 | pressure because I've come in prepared. People always ask, are you like nervous about this |
| 1:21.9 | game? I'm only ever nervous if I feel like I'm unprepared. So I'm stoked because I'm, I'm |
| 1:27.4 | getting myself prepared for that. |
| 1:29.2 | Also very excited. Today's episode, we have Rick from the band Goose. Goose is in the midst of what |
| 1:35.7 | seems like a world takeover. And I'm here for it. I'm a fan. These guys have become friends of |
| 1:41.9 | mine over the last few years. I've had the pleasure of sitting |
| 1:44.8 | in with them a few times. They've sat in with me before. It's been really fun. And if you're a guitar |
| 1:51.2 | player, you know that Rick's touch, tone, feel is all a huge part of that. Also, incredible |
| 1:58.8 | singing and songwriting. Okay? A lot of people are like, oh, aren't they |
| 2:02.5 | like a jam band? Yeah, they jam, but they got songs, man. And Rick's a great singer. Rick's a great |
... |
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