Apr 24, 2024
Heads up Michigan Music
Fans:
It’s been a year since I
did my last Mid-Mitten ‘15’ From Harvest Canteen as a bonus episode
for the MMHP—and while you patiently await Part 2 this Thursday for
Zydeco Ziggy, I am prepping a one-on-one phone conversation with
the one and only
Mary Lee Kortes.
100% Portland, Michigan,
by way of Brooklyn, New York (since a move in the early ‘80s) Mary
Lee was on fire with Mary Lee’s Corvette in the ‘90s and ‘00s. Some
of you may recall her bills with Joe Jackson over the years. Or
maybe made it to the gig when she opened for Bob Dylan?
Having her youth piano
bench pried open at the age of 10 to find the music and lyrics of
one Beulah Rowley (written at the turn of the last century), MLK
spent years awaiting for the moment to release this haunting, stark
and coveted set of gems onto the world. Teamed up with the late,
great, genius producer Hal Willner (Lou Reed, Mingus, Disney fans
take note), Will Anybody Know That I Was Here: The Songs Of Beulah
Rowley ring true today and offer a glimpse at a young Michigan
songwriter who perished in a fire. Or was it something else? Three
anecdotes adorn the liner notes where this April 22, 2023 on Record
Store Day epic appeared on Vinyl for the first time.
Mary Lee was able to
bring her dreams to life from one Michigan songwriter to another,
giving a voice to a lost one.
Tune in next Monday for
this amazing hour-long episode where we hear about Beulah, MLK’s
Corvette history, her dreams of Bob Dylan and the book that she
wrote, and so much more.
By the way—bonus points
if you can catch her gig in NYC tomorrow night
