Love,
Loss & Lunacy
Quotes & Reviews
Mary Lee Kortes is able to effortlessly toss
out shimmering pop gems. -- Philadelphia Inquirer
MARY LEE’S CORVETTE combines
rodeo queen savvy and pop-rock spunk as Love, Loss
and Lunacy puzzles over love’s redemptive powers and
nostalgia’s cravings.
- MaximumInk.com
700
Miles
Quotes & Reviews
Transparency
reigns in the songs of Mary Lee Kortes. On 700 Miles, her voice
is clear, her lyrics direct and her music poised and tuneful.
With flickers of wry humor, she sings about love and hopes and
memories in songs so meticulously crafted they sound completely
natural. -- Jon Pareles, The new York Times
Mary
Lee Kortes never takes the easy way out. On her last album, the
Montana native wrestled with the audacious task of recreating Bob
Dylan's 1975 classic Blood on the Tracks. Kortes recorded
the basic tracks for 700 Miles in her Manhattan apartment,
which gives the album a pristine, personal feel. Indeed, the lyrics
of the title track come from an entry from her grandmother's travel
diary. That song forms the locus of the album as Kortes embarks
on a metaphoric journey for Kortes, who describes finding her true
voice and path after abandoning an early ambition to become a book
editor. But that voice is anything but one-dimensional. The singer
effortlessly skips from an earnest and injured on the starkly beautiful
"Nothing" to a sultry on "More Stupider," as
she debates the worth of playing dumb to attract men. The outcome
is obvious, since Kortes' greatest strength is brainy, poetic lyrics
that can be as chilling as Emily Dickinson or as inflamed as Pablo
Neruda. Kortes has certainly traveled far and has emerged as a true
original with a bold, daring spirit. --Jaan
Uhelszki, Amazon.com
Mary
Lee Kortes and her stellar band are back to Kortes' own artful and
catchy pop-folk-rock musings, and that is a wonderful thing. Entertainment
Weekly
Kortes
is that kind of artist, one who's unafraid to her parameters. On
the deeply felt and an articulately crafted 700 Miles,
Kortes parlays her versatility into a kind of dual purpose, crafting
songs that are vibrant but vulnerable, lilting yet longing. Kortes
possesses the persona of the most durable singer/songwriters. Honest,
direct and supremely engaging songs take hold from first hearing,
imbued with melodies that resonate with both urgency and intrigue. Amplifier
Kortes
displays her strong voice, as both a singer and a writer, throughout 700 Miles. Using her sweet yet steely voice, she conveys
the sense of yearning in standout love songs. No
Depression
Sweet and inspiring. New York Resident
700
Miles is powered by the empathic nature of singer Kortes. An engaging
blend of pop, folk and country that glides over glistening hooks
and insinuating harmonies, 700 Miles is the kind of album
that will have listeners anxiously awaiting each new track. And
there's not a Dylan song in the bunch. Knoxville
News Sentinel
Emotive
originality. Harp
Mary
Lee Kortes ought to be reckoned a real artist.... To someone in
transition, 700 Miles may well become essential —
like a battered journal you're always careful to tuck into your
backpack. Paste
On 700 Miles Kortes exhibits her knack for composing affecting
lyrics be they wrapped around the rompo of a rock song or a sleepy
acoustic guitar. Kortes' voice moves from the slept-late ppop whisper
delivered on Herculetta to a haunting tone that does justice to
a Townes Van Zandt track, the beautiful "No Place To Fall." Journal Enquirer
It's
lucky for Mary Lee Kortes that falling in and out of love is more
like a supernatural baptismal rite than a fatal car crash. On 700
Miles, her playful personality comes crashing through like
a rush of blood to the cheeks. Don't let the heartbroken confessions
fool you, because this gal means business — she's behind the
wheel of music's answer to Stephen King's Christine. Women
Who Rock
Blood
on the Tracks
Quotes & Reviews
Singer-songwriter
Mary Lee Kortes decided to tackle Bob Dylan's masterpiece of romantic
disillusionment and wanderlust on a whim when she learned that the
New York nightclub Arlene's Grocery needed someone to cover the
1975 classic for one of its Classic Album Nights. The experiment
in channeling rock's greatest bard was so otherworldly for Kortes
and her band Mary Lee's Corvette that they've now released this
impassioned and athletic homage to Blood on the Tracks on CD. While
it's tempting to compare this disc to Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair's
retort to the Rolling Stones's Exile on Main Street, this is much
more a mash note to the great man than a rejoinder. Kortes's strong,
sinewy voice careens artfully through the 10 songs, as if she were
a medium tapping into Dylan's mind, perfectly mimicking his cadence
and idiosyncratic phrasing without entirely losing herself in the
process. While no shrinking violet, Kortes does succeed in bringing
a woman's vision to the collection, if only between the lines (she
makes no attempt to change the gender in the lyrics). But Kortes
inhabits a song like "Buckets of Rain" completely, giving
it a guileless innocence that Dylan could never have anticipated. - Jaan Uhelszki
Amazon.com
It
takes extraordinary bravery to cover one of the classic albums of
the rock era in front of a live audience. And it takes a little
foolishness to think you have something to add to a masterpiece
that its author, Bob Dylan, didn't.
Fortunately
for fans of both the album and New York City-based Mary Lee's Corvette,
singer-songwriter-guitarist-tightrope-walker Mary Lee Kortes is
both brave and foolish. She manages to turn out an album that plays
as homage to Dylan and ``Blood'' without ever losing her own voice.
That
voice - an urgent folk-rock alto that ranges from a whisper to a
wail - is what renews these beloved tunes, refracting their lyrics
and meanings in subtle new ways even while the arrangements stay
faithful to the originals.
``Blood on
the Tracks'' is an audacious gamble that pays off. - Kevin R. Convey
Boston
Herald
If
not on par with Liz Phair's "answer" to the Rolling Stones
with her "Exile in Guyville," New York singer-songwriter
Mary Lee Kortes and her band's complete, largely faithful, live
take on Bob Dylan's 1975 album Blood On The Tracks offers intriguing
spins simply by featuring a woman's voice. "You're a Big Girl
Now," for example, substitutes tenderness for Dylan's sneer.
Only a brief, cartoonish Dylan imitation by an audience member brought
on stage mars an otherwise worthy exercise. - Steve Hochman
calendarlive
True
Lovers of Adventure Quotes
"A true gem of a record." - Bruce
Warren
Frequency Lounge
"With folks like Billboard's Timothy White and WXPN Philadelphia's Bruce Warren
singing the praises of Mary Lee's Corvette, a breakout of epic proportions
can't be all that far behind."
FMQB Rock
"Mary Lee's Corvette
sincerely flatters indie sentimentals like Knots & Crosses on True Lovers of Adventure (Wild Pitch)" - Joshua
Clover
SPIN Magazine
"The album is a complete
joy from start to finish."
Songwriter's Monthly
"Newcomer Mary Lee
Kortes, front woman for Mary Lee's Corvette, has one of the most
compelling voices in modern rock." - Dan
Aquilante
New York Post
"Sparkles with Mary
Lee Kortes' versatile vocals. The songs reveal a wide-ranging musical
intelligence matched by smart lyrics."
USA Today
"Lovely, nuanced voice
and deft storytelling. From hit-ready rockers to a poignant tale
of abuse, Corvette comes option-loaded."
Entertainment Weekly
"The best record of
1999!" - Jim Bessman
Billboard Magazine |
