Cory Marks

Cory Marks treads the divide separating outlaw country from hard rock, projecting the image of a sturdy contemporary Southern rocker calibrated to the present decade. Equal parts active rock and backwoods country inform his approach, which he crystallized by titling his first single “Outlaws & Outsiders.” The track assembled country vet Travis Tritt alongside Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, thereby mapping the stylistic territory Marks claims. His fluid movement between metal and country shaped the 2020 debut Who I Am and drew listeners from both sides of that divide.

Born in North Bay, Ontario, Cory Marks studied drums in childhood yet devoted his teenage years to hockey and pilot training. Aviation remained a pastime, hockey became a career, and music stayed an avocation pursued during intervals at the Royal Military College of Canada. He eventually committed fully to songwriting, refining a hard-rock-and-country hybrid across a decade of performances under his given name Cory Marquardt. The independent album This Man appeared in 2015 and attracted producer Kevin Churko, with whom Marks co-wrote “Outlaws and Outsiders.” After signing to Better Noise Music, the singer worked with Churko’s engineer son Kane to complete Who I Am.

The star-laden single “Outlaws & Outsiders” reached hard-rock listeners in late 2019, topping Billboard’s Top Rock and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales charts while also peaking at number seven on Country Digital Song Sales. “Better Off” followed, then “Blame It on the Double,” “Devil’s Grin,” and “Drive” arrived before Who I Am’s release in August 2020.