Patty Blee: Press

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Patty Blee's CD, Disguise, is a crossover hit waiting to happen. The songs speak country and rock in a fun, and moving way. Her songs are honest and sincere. They stick out like, "Soul Dancing", and "I Believe In This Love." They are touching perspectives on relationships. Blee is destined for something bigger and better with this album. For more information visit www.pattyblee.com

Six Degrees of Dylan

The music legend’s links run deep, even here at the Jersey Shore




Bob Dylan
Where: Bogata Event Center
When: June 22 & 23, 8pm
Tickets: $97-$137

Bob Dylan, who kicks off the latest leg of his Never Ending Tour this weekend with two shows at the Borgata (June 22 & 23), once sang: “Atlantic City, by the cold gray sea — there’s a voice crying daddy, I always think it’s for me.” An odd line in a cryptic Dylan song (“Caribbean Wind,” an outtake from the 1981 Shot of Love album, which turned up on the 1986 Biograph retrospective), yes, but also perhaps another example of the 66-year-old music man’s many Atlantic City-area connections. Here are some others.

Patty Blee: Local singer-songwriter performs weekly at area venues; recorded her debut — Disguise — for Scullville’s Treasure Records in 2002, which featured Tony Garnier, Dylan’s long-time bass player, as well as other notable musicians. Disguise features guest appearance by Augie Meyers — longtime keyboardist for John Hammond — who Dylan requested to play accordion and organ on his 1997 album Time Out of Mind.

Janis Joplin: Had same manager as Dylan for a while (Albert Grossman) and performed at the Atlantic City Pop Festival a few weeks before Woodstock in summer of 1969. One of Grossman’s other clients — aside from the Band — was Todd Rundgren, who has family in Ocean City.

Martin Scorsese: The Oscar-winning film director made the Band’s famous rock doc The Last Waltz — which Dylan appeared in — and directed 2006’s PBS Dylan special No Direction Home. Has been reportedly working on an HBO series on Atlantic City, based on Nelson Johnson’s book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.

John Hammond: His father (John Hammond Sr.) “discovered” Dylan in 1961 and later signed him to Columbia Records. Junior, a veteran blues player, lent some harp work to Patty Blee’s album, Disguise. Has been spotted eating at the Point Diner in Somers Point.

LL Cool J: Dylan rapped with Kurtis Blow on the 1986 song “Street Rock.” The year before, Blow appeared in Krush Groove with LL Cool J, who performed at A.C.’s Club Harlem in the 1980s and shot the video for “I Need Love” at the Golden Nugget. Performs in A.C. in July.

Twyla Tharp: Choreographed Movin’ Out, the musical based on songs of Billy Joel, currently running at Harrah’s. Tharp did same treatment to Dylan’s songs with last fall’s critically panned The Times They Are A-Changin.

Tony Mart’s: The Somers Point club was the rock ‘n’ roll epicenter of the Jersey Shore for many years, especially during the mid-‘60s, when Dylan found his new electric band — Levon and the Hawks — playing there. The Hawks became Dylan’s backing group for his pivotal and tumultuous 1966 world tour and later changed their name to the Band. Tony Mart’s closed in the early 1980s.

Levon Helm: Member of the Hawks and later the Band. Has appeared in our area numerous times over the years (see below) performing and recording. Lent talents to the Dixie Hummingbirds Diamond Jubilation album, which was recorded at Scullville Studios (with other members of Dylan’s touring band as well as Band member Garth Hudson) in Egg Harbor Twp. back in 2003.

Larry Campbell: Dylan’s one-time guitarist recorded a solo guitar record (Rooftops) at Scullville in 2005 with local artists Nancy Palermo and Phyllis London contributing to the CD’s cover art. Took part in several Scullville sessions, including for Blee’s Disguise and the Dixie Hummingbirds album.

PATTY BLEE- ACOUSTIC VIBE

Powerful acoustic Americana album. I love every song of it.

Music, art
Series at gallery to begin Sept. 28
By LEE WARD / THE INDEPENDENT

ASHLAND — Six big music shows are planned starting Sept. 28 at the Ann Davis Gallery at 1516 Winchester Ave.

Each show will be hosted by organizer Rob McNurlin and the Beatnik Cowboys. It was McNurlin’s idea to offer the series.

“I play all over the country and friends have found shows for me,” he said. “When Patty Blee and Bliss told me they were coming through the area, I thought I needed to organize a show.”

That show grew into a series that will continue once a month through February. McNurlin and his band will host a different performer each month.

McNurlin, an eastern Kentucky native, has studied and performed traditional music for years. He has released five CDs, including “Cowboy Boot Heel,” which was recorded at Johnny Cash’s Cabin Studio, produced by his son, John Carter Cash, and includes a duet with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. He has performed at Fur Peace Ranch in Darwin, Ohio, the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Okla., and The Bluebird Café in Nashville.

‰Patty Blee and Bliss will perform on Oct. 26. Singer/songwriter Blee has performed in the House of Blues and Hard Rock in Atlantic City, in Red Lion and Blaggards in New York, The Stony Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., and other venues in major cities in the United States. She has opened for Jackson Brown, Martina McBride, The Marshall Tucker Band and Delbert McClinton, among others. Members of Bob Dylan’s band perform on her second CD, “Disguise” and her third CD, “acoustic vibe,” consists of 20 songs written and performed by Blee.

All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Suggested donation for admission is $10. For more information, call (606) 324-1296.

This interview is with Patty Blee. Patty, a new Jersey resident, plays a hot guitar and she sings with a dynamic voice. She is an accomplished songwriter. Peter North, Music Director of CKUA (Edmonton, Canada)said of Patty "In short, I was knocked out." Patty Blee has three CDs to her credit. The lastest CD, "Acoustic Vibes", contains 20 of Patty's songs, just her and her guitar. Her second CD, "Disguise", included three players from Bob Dylan's band, John Hammond, and other top side musicians. Patty Blee has played in a number of venues including The Appel Farm Music and Arts Festival, Mountain Stage, The Bottom Line, The Tin Angel (in Philly), Harrah's Showboat, Birchmere, and many more. She has shared the stage with such performers as Jackson Browne, Martina McBride, Lonestar, Marshall Tucker, Guy Davis, Jonatha Brooke, and Greg Greenway. Check out Patty Blee's MySpace site: http://www.myspace.com/pattyblee

2007-07-06 Cutting-edge Acoustic Vibe at Coffee Gallery-

Opening for Michael Gulezian will be South Jersey native Patty Blee, playing her first left-coast tour. The husky-voiced singer performs rootsy music thats earned her favorable comparisons to the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin. After developing her style gigging along the Jersey shore, in 2002 Blee released Disguise, a critically praised album on which she was backed by Larry Campbell and Tony Garnier (from Bob Dylans band), Augie Meyers and Bruce Springsteen violinist Soozie Tyrell. Shes since opened for acts like Tyrell, Delbert McClinton, Lonestar, Blake Shelton and the Marshall Tucker Band. Look for a new CD, Acoustic Vibe, out next month.

Blues in the Night

They're rocking live music everywhere inside the House of Blues. Along with touring national acts at the Music Hall, DJs at Club Worship and live gospel music at the Sunday Gospel Brunch, there's now a blues bar in the House of Blues' restaurant.

"It's been in operation about six weeks," says Julyett Spoltore, promotions manager at HOB. Every Monday night, a local favorite performs from 7-11pm. There are also food and drink specials and no cover charge.

This past Monday, the Bubba Mac Blues Band played the Blues Bar and attracted a large audience. Next Monday (March 20) Patty Blee & Patty Balbo will perform in the venue, followed by Dr. Bobby Fingers the following Monday (March 27). Blee and Balbo are two exceptional musicians who have played both solo and as a duo over the years. They perform originals, as well as a wide variety of contemporary material.

"We've had a lot of local talent," says Spoltore. "We'll have Patty Blee as often as we can get her."

The Blues Bar is located in the House of Blues Restaurant on the first floor (casino level) at the House of Blues Atlantic City, 801 Boardwalk, Atlantic City. Call 236-BLUE.

Patty Blee

Local songstress touches souls weekly

by Ray Schweibert


AS A NINE-YEAR-OLD ASPIRING musician growing up in Brigantine, Patty Blee bought some books of songs by her favorite artists, taught herself a few guitar chords, wrote a song and played it for her parents.

They were moved to tears.

"I remember thinking, 'This isn't the effect I wanted,'" says Blee. "When you're a little girl and you play a song you wrote for your parents, they'd have been touched by anything you played. I just remember thinking, 'Why are they crying?'"

The desired effect was achieved over time. Blee was encouraged to carry on by a musically inclined family, and has since become the focal point of a proud group of admirers that extends well beyond her family and southern New Jersey.

Now an Absecon resident, Blee has released an acclaimed CD of 13 original songs that have a folk-rock flair, and was inspired by the musicians she listened to in her youth like Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash. She has played with, or opened for, some of the biggest names in the music industry, and has performed in music venues all across the country.

"I'm the second oldest of nine children, and there was always music playing around the house when I was growing up," says Blee, who has two children of her own who are musicians. "It was always festive. My father was a three-chord guitar kind of guy who played a lot at barbecues and family functions, and I just thought everybody's dad played music.

"Later I bought some song books ... and taught myself how to play. I've taken some lessons, but I didn't get as much out of them as I got from the books."

Blee did not seriously begin writing her own songs from the beginning, but there was no long respite from playing music, as her endearing voice and proficiency with the guitar confirms. She continues to play locally, sometimes four or five gigs per week, including twice-weekly (year-round) appearances at the Library III in Egg Harbor Township, and once a week at O'Grady's in Atlantic City.

"Music means so much to me that I need to play in an environment that is warm and welcoming, and where people are happy to be there," she says. "I make music to touch people's souls."

During a recent performance at the Library, she opened her set with a stirring version of Loggins and Messina's "Danny's Song." The set included other covers by Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, and the song "Blackbird" by the Beatles — all performed flawlessly on her black, amplified Takamine acoustic guitar.

"I'm like the eBay Queen when it comes to guitars," she says. "Since music stores don't usually let you take one home and try it, I'll buy a guitar on eBay, play it for a while, and either keep it or sell it back on eBay. When you're playing in different places like I do, I like to have different guitars that sound good with the various sound systems I play on."

About four years ago, Blee's longtime friend, percussionist Jerry Klause, teamed with Herb "Bubba" Birch to establish the recording label Treasure Records (named after Birch's wife, Kerry Treasure) at Scullville Studios, located just west of Somers Point. Birch left to concentrate on his other interests, including his blues band and restaurant, the Bubba Mac Shack, and keyboardist/recording engineer Randy Friel (who also plays at O'Grady's occasionally) partnered with Klause at Treasure Records.

In 2002, Klause petitioned Blee to make a CD of her songs as a pilot project at Treasure, and Blee gladly agreed. It was intended to be a simple recording of Blee singing and performing her songs on acoustic guitar, but Klause's fellow percussionist, Richard Crooks, got involved and wondered if he might include some of his former band-mates on the project.

"(Crooks) said he had some friends in New York who would be perfect for the project," says Blee. "It happened to be Bob Dylan's band."

Crooks, guitarist Larry Campbell, bassist Tony Garnier and keyboardist Augie Meyers have all played with Bob Dylan, and all performed on Blee's 2002 CD entitled Disguise. Another of Crooks' cronies, Soozie Tyrell, also contributed, and Blee returned the favor by playing backup on Tyrell's solo album White Lines, which was recorded in 2003 at Scullville on the Treasure label. Tyrell is a violinist who has toured with Bruce Springsteen and performed on his CDs The Rising and Devils and Dust. Campbell will be playing guitar with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh at the Atlantic City House of Blues on Dec. 9-11. Disguise's all-star cast also included renowned blues player John Hammond and recording engineer Shelly Yakus.

"Working with those people was magical," says Blee. "It was one of those things where you wake up every day and have to pinch yourself before going to the studio. Sometimes you ask yourself, 'Am I going to be able to do this? Am I going to be able to work with all these talented people? How am I going to get through this?' Then you realize that they're the most down-to-earth, spiritually generous people on the face of the earth.

"They cut through the BS," she adds. "They're not trying to impress you, and there's nothing you can do to impress them, so you're like on this even playing field. And whatever you do, if you do it from your heart, they're appreciative of it. That's what struck me most about working with people like that."

Tyrell invited Blee to play at a party at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park following the release of White Lines. While they performed, Springsteen and his wife and band-mate, Patty Scialfa, spontaneously appeared and began singing harmony on Tyrell's song "Lady Genevieve," as they did on the record.

"[Springsteen] is a superstar who doesn't stand on his celebrity like some others might," says Blee. "He's also incredibly down-to-earth and unpretentious. He's well aware of what he means to people, but he seems appreciative of what he has and what he's earned."

Blee also performed with Tyrell on the TV show Late Night with Conan O'Brien during the White Lines promotional tour. Subsequent performances by Blee include opening for Martina McBride ("This One's for the Girls") at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif., and sharing the stage with one of the driving forces from her childhood, Jackson Browne, at the Appel Farm Music and Arts Festival in Elmer, NJ, in 2002.

Another inspirational force from her childhood, her father Mike Burns, is the focus of one of the Disguise tracks entitled "No Such Thing As Goodbye." The song was penned by Blee the night before her father passed away from cancer in December 2000.

Blee's two children, Caitlin and Mike, are upholding the family's musical tradition, and have both taken up their mother's instrument of choice, the guitar. Caitlin, 21, also plays keyboards. Both are proud of their mom's musical success, but Blee says this was never more evident than when Mike, 16, asked her to come through with some highly prized concert tickets.

"There was a concert at the House of Blues that all of Mike's friends were going to, but tickets had sold out," says Blee. "He came to me and said, 'Mom, you're Patty Blee, can't you do something?' I told him I'd see what I could do.

"I've never tried to use my name for special favors, but I was friends with a girl who booked me to open for Martina McBride who worked at the House of Blues here. I e-mailed her asking if there was any chance of getting a ticket to the show. She put me on a [cancellation] list, and I got a ticket for Mike.

"That was the one and only time I was actually told by one of my kids that I'm cool."

Music Scene: Night Grooves

Well, last Wednesday, January 14, Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park hosted the second edition of Writers In The Raw, the brainchild of local singer/songwriter, Gordon Brown and Barry Dorsey, Harry's manager. From what I gathered the basic premise of Writers In The Raw is to bring together the best area songwriters, both national and local, and provide a relaxed and intimate setting for the performers and their fans. The format for Writers In The Raw consists of two segments in which the artists sitting in a circle take turns performing songs and exchanging stories. The first segment of the night features four national songwriters, while the second spotlights local talent.

I was fortunate enough to catch the national segment of the night's festivities hosted by Gordon Brown and featuring Jersey songwriters Glen Burtnik of Beatlemania and Styx fame, Soozie Tyrell who performs with Bruce and the E Street Band, Patty Blee a solo artist from southern Jersey and Pennsylvania's Scott Bricklin from the Philly based band 4 Way Street. Patty Blee (acoustic guitar) was at her best on songs like "Till I Get Enough" (cool a.g. and backwater vibe) and "Cry" (great country tune), both from her debut release entitled Disguise, and Soozie Tyrell (violin/keys) chipped in with "Have A Little Patience" (Soozie's best overall effort) and "Clouds" (crowd fave).

Opening up with "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye" (way cool little ditty), veteran singer/songwriter Glen Burtnik had no trouble winning over the crowd with impressive songs like "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" (hot vocal), "Sleeping Here Again" (world premiere of a wonderful tune co-written with Phoebe Snow), "All That's Yet To Come" (show stopping a capella rendition) and "Here Comes Sally" (vintage G.B.). However, when all was sung and done it was newcomer Scott Bricklin who seized the moment and in my opinion stole the show with inspired renderings of "The Healing" (big crowd pleaser), "Rocking Chair" (killer blues # with lots of soul), "Love And Hope" (another crowd fave), "Honey, It Ain't You" (sweeeeeet) and "Angel" (vintage tune from S.B.'s Martin Dam days.)
This was a fine night of music down the Jersey Shore and Gordon Brown, Barry Dorsey, and Harry's Roadhouse are to be commended. You couldn't ask for anything more from singer/songwriters!

I stopped by the Stone Pony a few months ago to hear Soozie Tyrell of the E Street Band - having just purchased her CD and hoping for a Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa appearance. I was not disappointed on all accounts. Soozie was great and Bruce and Patti joined her on stage for two songs. But everyone in the house also got a bonus that night in the way of a performer I have never heard of, Patty Blee. Patty sounds a bit like Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin. Her sound is a mixture of bluesy folk rock and her songs are a painfully honest look at her relationship(s). I enjoyed her performance so much I bought her CD that night. Although all the songs are good the stand out song for me is, Soul Dancing. Along with Soozie Tyrell on the CD other notable artists include Larry Campbell and Tony Garnier from Bob Dylan's band.
Posted by 2003-09-04 on

PATTY BLEE – DISGUISE:

Disguise is the latest release from singer/songwriter and acoustic guitarist Patty Blee. Patty is joined by an all-star processional cast of players whose credentials include Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen. Disguise was engineered by Shelly Yakus who has worked with John Lennon, U2 and Madonna to name but a few. Clearly Blee is well respected in the industry and her thirteen-track collection is a hidden gem. Disguise is masterfully produced and filled with dynamic instrumentation, full bass lines and soulful vocals. Patty has a smooth powerful voice and she sings with passion. Patty writes visual songs about love and life. Patty's influences include Jackson Browne, CSN&Y and Sheryl Crow. Her music is a magical blend of blues, folk, country and rock. Blee's unique sound is a mix of classic rock and country with a contemporary edge. The CD opens with 'Till I Get enough' which merges a solid rock bass line with a down home flavor. Patty's vocals are crisp and clear and the instrumentation is vibrant. 'I Miss The Way' is a poignant song of dying love sung with passion and wonderfully accented with guitars, percussion and emotion. 'Soul Dancing' is another prime example of Patty's diverse soulful vocals and masterful instrumentation, which is the norm on this CD. There is no hiding the fact that Patty Blee and company are a formidable force and hopefully her music will be revealed to a large listening audience!
• Recommended Tracks: (1,5,7) [USA/NJ 2002 - web] (2003 Review by Laura Turner Lynch for Kweevak.com)

Recording a new album with Bob Dylan's band.......

Patty BleePatty Blee writes songs with personality and flair, expressed with a singing voice that sensitively paints her musical picture with emotional depth. This said, it’s no mistake that her latest CD, Disguise, contains musical legends and ones previously chosen by legends to help them reach their own musical vision.

The story of Blee’s adding an all-star cast to the CD began when its executive producer, Jerry Klause, wanted to use Blee in a christening project for the studio he owns, Scullville Studios of Scullville, NJ. Klause is Blee’s friend who accompanies her at performances when a percussionist is needed.

“The unique thing about this project is it was going to be just a bare-bones acoustic project,” said Blee, a Brigantine, NJ native.

The acoustic CD wound up in the hands of Klause’s musician friend who was friends with Richard Crooks, the drummer for Bob Dylan’s band. Crooks said he knew some players who might be available. They happened to be Larry Campbell and Terry Garnier respectively, the guitarist and bassist for Dylan’s band.

This dream band became Blee’s supporting cast on Disguise.

“I would sit in the studio with my guitar in front of these legendary luminaries and play my songs and we would just cut it,” Blee said. “It was the most amazing experience of my life.”

“I’m sure they’re very selective about who they work with,” Blee said.

These musicians came up with their own interpretations of Blee’s songs after hearing her play them on guitar.

Crooks also brought Soozie Tyrell, an artist who has toured and recorded with Bruce Springsteen throughout his career, to the project.

Patty Blee“She’s just the coolest lady,” Blee said. “She did the background harmonies and played the violin throughout the record. Just gracious, inspiring people.”

John Hammond, Jr., a modern-day blues legend, met Blee while playing a show at Bubba Mac's in Somers Point, NJ and wound up playing harmonica for one song on Blee’s Disguise. He finished his recording duties before Blee made it to the studio that day.

“I met him the night before at the [Bubba Mac's] show,” Blee said. “He had to catch a plane in Philly. He only took two passes. When you are John Hammond, you can do that kind of thing.”

The musicians took about a week to record and the vocals were slowly added that summer. Blee was pleased with the final overall product. "It turned out better than I dreamed it would be," she said. "I wanted it to be very sparse, acoustic based and heartfelt and I think it came out that way.”

Disguise, recorded for Klaus’s Treasure Records label, features songs that lyrically touch on Blee’s personal experiences and ideals for making it through even the simple challenges life brings. Many deal with the pain of love when it begins to fade and the joy felt from lasting through its tests.

Blee sings with emotion and color clearly reflecting her lyrical message. The group of musicians brought to the project consistently deliver textbook rock motifs in a thoughtful groove.

“[Disguise] so far surpassed what I was thinking when I went into it,” Blee said.

Since its release, she has opened for known artists like Martina McBride and Delbert McClinton.

“I have no illusions of becoming rich and famous or a big country star, but it would be nice,” Blee said.

Blee’s songs mostly write themselves, with flurries of songs coming at certain times and dry spells at others, she said.

“Most of the songs I’ve written come all at once,” she said. “I don’t like to stop until I have a finished product. I like to write honestly and the song has to come from a place in myself where I’ve been touched so deeply that I have to write about it.”

She has tried to get used the patterns in which her songs come about, trying to stay ready when a wave of songs approach her.

“When you catch a wave, you want to ride it as far as you can without riding it too far,” she said.

Songwriting is also about knowing what works and what doesn’t.

“When the lyrics, melody, the hook and the feeling is something I wanted to capture in the first place, that’s basically a defining tool for deciding what I want people to hear when I’m singing,” Blee said.

Patty BleeBlee began playing music at about 10, but never really wrote, kept a journal or diary, until she was in her 30’s. She said she may not have began writing until this point because she was so intimated by the songwriters who inspired her growing up, which included James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Bob Dylan.

She was inspired mainly by the singer/songwriters of the 70’s. Her top four influences are Joni Mitchell, Raitt, Linda Rondstadt and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

“As much as people listen to karaoke, DJs, and computer music, there’s something about a person with a single instrument that people will remain interested in,” she said.

While many may say her music is country, Blee would categorize herself more in the folk vein. Emmylou Harris was among the few country artists she listened to growing up. Her father, an avid country music fan who especially liked Johnny Cash, got her started in music, showing her some guitar chords.

“A lot of [my playing music] had to do with my dad,” Blee said. “He was very much a music lover. It was always something I loved and gravitated towards.”

Blee learned how to play by ear, as oppose to formal theory. While attending the University of Delaware, she played with others at its bars, and continues to play presently after working her day job.

“When you do this for a living, you get paid to travel and you do this for free,” she said.

Her following, she said, is folk-based. Blee has received opportunities from a booking company that promotes national touring concerts called West Creek Music Group, opening for the acts it brings in, she said.

“I keep getting asked back to play places,” she said. “Some of those places, I’ve been playing for 17 years.”

She plays solo acoustic shows, as well as shows backed by Klaus, on percussion, and a guitarist. Blee plays covers for more lucrative opportunities, averaging three to four gigs per week.

Upcoming performances include a possible opening slot with Tyrell, who recently released her own CD on Treasure Records called White Lines.

With opportunities continuing to arise, the possibilities for this Jersey veteran are endless.

[ Website: www.pattyblee.com ]


Josh Davidson [ contact/bio ] is Managing Editor of Chorus and Verse.

Born and raised in Brigantine, NJ, East Coast resident Patty Blee is an acoustic guitar-playing singer/songwriter whose influences range from Bonnie Raitt to Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, and Lucinda Williams. Blee's earthy roots rock and pop/rock aren't country or folk, per se, but there are country and folk influences in her writing and she has cited country-pop favorite Emmylou Harris and folk-pop icon Joni Mitchell as early inspirations. Growing up in Brigantine (which is on the southern New Jersey Shore near Atlantic City), Blee started listening to, as she puts it, "acoustic-based singer/songwriters," at an early age. In addition to some of the abovementioned female artists, Blee was a big fan of male folk-rock favorites like Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. In the '90s, Blee became an admirer of Crow, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin (although she has a grittier, more rugged approach than Colvin and doesn't get into the type of girlish, waif-like singing that Jewel and Suzanne Vega are known for). Performing along the South Jersey Shore in the '90s and early 2000s, Blee performed covers as well as original material; in some Jersey Shore clubs, covers are obligatory (or, at the very least, greatly encouraged). But she exclusively performs original material on her debut album, Disguise, which came out on the Somers Point, NJ-based Treasure label in 2002.

Patty Blee is a native of southern New Jersey. Her husky voice is very similar to that of Canadian country singer Michelle Wright, and the rock-country-blues sound this album goes for suits her perfectly. She is backed by a stellar cast of backing players who combine for a sound that is polished but not overly slick. To drop some names, John Hammond plays harmonica, Augie Meyer plays accordion and Soozie Tyrell plays violin and sings. This is clearly an album that is aimed at the radio.

Blee wrote all of the songs on Disguise. The liner notes say that the album is intended to follow the course of a relationship, so all of the songs are love songs of one kind or another. Blee's writing focuses on the intense emotional side of love and not its mundane details. "Soul Dancing" is a good example; it is an idealized vision of an encounter with a soul mate. On the other side of the balance, "Cry" is written in the voice of a woman who is ready to walk out of a long marriage if her husband can't bring himself to cry.

Disguise tends to lean toward the poles of a relationship: some songs swear eternal devotion while others lament that the magic is gone as the narrator heads for the door. Those who find the most interesting parts of relationships to be the gray areas between the poles of utter joy and utter heartbreak will not find much here between those extremes.

Having said that, Blee's voice, the songs' catchy melodies and the good playing may have listeners humming along in spite of themselves. The gritty "Till I Get Enough" (which opens the album) is an ode to getting away from it all and heading for juke joints and dirt roads. "Couldn't You Feel It?" and "Lucky Ones" have soaring choruses while the slinky defiance of "Cry" draws the listener into the song even if one questions its scenario. "No Such Thing as Goodbye" was written for Blee's father the night before he died and it is as intense as anything else on the album. The liner notes include all the lyrics.

Disguise is well-executed, without a doubt; if there's any justice its radio-friendly sound should get airplay. Blee's performance is also excellent and her supporting cast does a great job. Those who prefer their love and loss songs leavened with some different material may find this album lacking, however. It will be interesting to see what Blee comes up with for a second act.