Woody Weatherman of Corrosion of Conformity has influenced generations of shredders. His career has spanned many phases: the massively influential crossover albums, their unexpected commercial run in the ’90s and the return of the old school lineup in recent years. COC remains as relevant as ever and just released their new record IX. Mr. Weatherman sat down to tell us about the riffs that schooled him.
“Since I first picked up a guitar and tried to make a noise, the players that grabbed my attention were the ones that really would bend the string and meant it, and that has kind of stuck with me over the years,” he says.
Please welcome Woody Weatherman to the shredder’s studio.
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ZZ Top: “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings”
I remember breaking into my Dad’s ZZ Top vinyls and it was on. Billy Gibbons is one of my faves to this day. This is one we occasionally halfway do as a warm-up during sound checks.
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Black Flag: “Depression”
Attitude goes a long way and can sometimes carry a player. Seeing Black Flag when I was 15 or 16 was a game changer and some of that early stuff was a big influence on me.
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Scorpions: “Dark Lady”
Giant overbends and awesome guitar intros have always grabbed my attention. I’ve been a huge Scorpions fan since I was a wee lad. There are so many great tunes to choose from but this is an old one that has cool guitar work
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Black Sabbath: “Turn Up The Night”
What list these days is complete without some Sabbath? This band has influenced countless players and I’m one of them. Pretty much any song is great but the guitar work on this tune is pretty cool and a little different than a lot of Iommi’s stuff.
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Jimi Hendrix: “Ezy Rider”
Probably the biggest influence on me since it was the first stuff I owned when I was a kid. He bends those strings just the way they ought to be bent.
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Motorhead: “Bite the Bullet”
Sometimes you just want to hear some good solid rock and roll.
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Read previous installments of Inside The Shredder’s Studio:
#1: Elizabeth Schall of Dreaming Dead
#2: Mike Hill of Tombs
#3: Jon Levasseur of Cryptopsy
#4: Alex Bouks of Incantation
#5: Kurt Ballou of Converge
#6: Mark Thomas Baker of Orchid
#7: Andre Foisy of Locrian
#8: Eric Daniels of GSBC and Asphyx
#9: Kevin Hufnagel of Gorguts
#10: Marissa Martinez-Hoadley of Cretin
#11: Eric Cutler of Autopsy