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Miko Marks Collection

Freeway Bound: A Debut Album Birthing a New Country Star 

Miko Marks’ debut album Freeway Bound (2005) catapulted her country music career. Many items including a handwritten lyric sheet, artifacts from the music video “Mama,” press, and correspondences surrounding Ms. Marks’ Freeway Bound album can be found in the Miko Marks Collection, MSS.1110. Join us as we go back in time using items from her collection documenting the success of Freeway Bound.  

Miko Marks was born in Flint, Michigan, and received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Grambling State University in 1994. In the early 2000s, she launched her country music career, releasing Freeway Bound in 2005 and It Feels Good in 2007 and attending CMA Fest between 2006 and 2008. Over the next decade, Marks focused on her family while also participating in local shows and joining the Bill Pickett Rodeo. In 2020, she started putting out singles again, and she released Our Country in 2021 and Feel Like Going Home in 2022. Marks has received several honors, including membership in mtheory’s Equal Access Development Program and CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2022. 

The Miko Marks Collection, 2005-2024, consists of papers, photographs, audiovisual material, and artifacts of singer Miko Marks. View the finding aid using the QR code or request the collection for viewing in the Jean and Alexander Heard Library Special Collections reading room. For questions or to request a collection, contact specialcollections@vanderbilt.edu 

  • [Music Scene, Alameda London Square.] Reproduction, March 2006. Miko Marks Collections. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.
  • [The Gramblinite.] Reproduction, November 2006. Miko Marks Collection. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.
  • [Tennessee Tribune cover.] “New Country Singer Makes Her Mark” -entertainment section. Reproduction, June 2006. Miko Marks Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

[Handwritten lyrics to “Find My Way home.”] Song for the debut album. Reproduction. Miko Marks Collection. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

  • [Boots from Bill Pickett Rodeo and seen in “Mama” video with Erykah Badu.] Reproduction. Miko Marks Collection. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.
  • [First Cowboy Hat – Shady Brady (medium) from Freeway Bound, Bill Pickett Rodeo worn throughout the years and seen in several photos.] Reproduction. Miko Marks Collection. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

[Promotional Cards.] Reproduction. Miko Marks Collection. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.

[New Music Award 2006 – Country New Artist of the Year.] Miko Marks Collection. Reproduction. Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives.