Mary Lee's Corvette: 700 Miles : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Mary Lee Kortes, founder and creative force behind Mary Lee's Corvette, is known for penning nimble, emotional pop songs; she even scored a country hit when Amy Grant recorded one of her compositions. But on her group's fourth album, which comes on the heels of last year's song-by-song live recording of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Kortes is even more introspective. In a sweet, rangy voice that tends toward little trills, she revisits the dark, unspoken side of her small town upbringing ("Portland, Michigan"), wrestles with envy ("The Nothing Song") and casts off the yoke of expectation to find ultimate self-fulfillment ("Out From Under It," "More Stupider"). The crunchy, roots rock guitar and hot production hand of Kortes' husband -- ubiquitous producer and Steve Earle sideman Eric "Roscoe" Ambel -- make a nice match with her string arrangements and programmed drum beats, echoing the duality of Kortes' urbane songcraft and her folksy foundation.

MEREDITH OCHS
(April 8, 2003)