MARY LEE’S CORVETTE
EAGERLY AWAITED CD
700 MILES SET FOR RELEASE ON
BAR-NONE RECORDS APRIL 8
TOUR DATES WITH JOE JACKSON ANNOUNCED

“Executed with a quietly direct magnificence enhanced by the modesty of its origins and eclipsed only by Dylan’s definitive recording.”
David Fricke, Rolling Stone on Mary Lee’s Corvette Blood on the Tracks

On April 8, Bar None Records will release 700 Miles, the new album from Mary Lee’s Corvette. Following last year’s critically acclaimed Blood on the Tracks: Recorded Live at Arlene’s Grocery, NYC, the new album features 12 bright original songs. Joe Jackson has also hand picked the band to support him on his upcoming tour.

Produced by Mary Lee Kortes’ husband Eric “Roscoe” Ambel (Nils Lofgren, The Bottle Rockets and Blue Mountain), the album was recorded at their home in Manhattan and at Eric’s Brooklyn studio, Cowboy Technical Services. Mary Lee figured out much of the recording process on her own when Eric was hired to play guitar for Steve Earle’s tour. She admits, “Once I got the basics of the Roland in my brain (a VS-1680 digital porta-studio), I discovered my inner mad scientist…I think the result is a record which, for better or for worse, has a lot more of me on it.”

700 Miles
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Based in New York by way of Montana, Mary Lee Kortes began playing various instruments at an early age. Although her plans were to become a book editor, her passion for music got in the way. When Amy Grant recorded “Everywhere I Go,” Mary Lee found herself with a hit single that reached #28 on the Billboard AC chart. Mary Lee has also contributed backing vocals on several recordings, including Laura Cantrell’s “Not the Tremblin Kind” and “When the Roses Bloom Again,” Freedy Johnston’s “Never Home,” and the Blood Oranges alt-country cult classic “The Crying Tree.”

Here’s what’s been said about Blood On The Tracks
“Blood on the Tracks” is an audacious gamble that pays off.” Boston Herald

“Kortes's strong, sinewy voice careens artfully through the 10 songs…” Amazon

“…intriguing …” LA Times

“…Kortes is right-on throughout this sterling performance…” Billboard

My grandmother used to keep trip diaries of everywhere she went, whether it was an adventure to London with the local Ladies Club or her winter stays in Florida. These were reports written in classic stoic midwestern tone:

March 18. Friday. 82 degrees. Went to Cyril’s at Bonita Springs. Howard and Cyril went fishing. Velma, Edna and Irene and I went shopping. After supper, we played accumulation rum. I lost 37 cents....

Wed. March 23. 78 degrees. Went to Hobby Club in A.M. Finished making blue pant suit, cleaned kitchen and bathroom floors. Jean called and said Mabel Burmas had died. I mailed State and Federal income tax.

When I made the big move from Michigan to New York City, she joined my parents in a trip to visit me. They asked me a lot of questions about New York City. They wondered if we had grocery stores. I assured them there were many places to buy food within half a block of my apartment. They showed up with lots of canned goods nonetheless. We had a great time. My grandmother stayed with me in my studio apartment and slept with with me on my mattress on the floor.

When she died, I found the diary that contained the account of her visit to New York City. It was true to form — nothing but the facts. Short sentences mentioning subway rides, a Broadway play, and dinner at The Russian Tea Room. But the final entry had something else:

Monday, September 19th. 69 degrees. Up at 6 AM. Left Mary Lee’s at 7 AM. Stopped 9:30 at White Haven, PA for breakfast. Nice place off the highway. 3 PM Stopped at Howard Johnson’s for clam chowder and hamburger near PA and Ohio line. 8:30 PM Stopped at Nickersons Farms for dinner. Home at 10 PM. A beautiful trip. 725 miles from Mary Lee’s door to mine.

This is an album about journey, transformation and freedom — the freedom to be who you really are. I hope you enjoy the trip.... Mary Lee Kortes