shallots bio
shape-shifting INDIE FOLK
SHALLOTS are an indie folk band from Chicago featuring a rotating cast of singers and musicians with songs written and produced by Jerret Cortese.
Shallots came to be by accident. I was recording an album at Electrical Audio and brought in a few musicians to help out. One of them was Carolyn Engelmann, an established Chicago-based keyboard player (The Handcuffs, Chamber Strings). Carolyn had tracked backing vocals on a few of my songs, and as I was mixing them I became increasingly captivated by her cool, nonchalant delivery. It became clear that my vocals were simply in the way, so I pulled them out and made her’s the lead. Clouds parted! I released two singles this way, Can’t Make Up Your Mind and She Knows as Shallots.
Lesson learned: stop singing! After releasing the final The Gothtones album in 2025, which included tracks from the aforementioned Electrical session, I knew that the next record I put out was going to feature a female vocalist. Once the songs were demoed I reached out to a singer I’d worked with once before – when she was six years old! Ivy Bona is the daughter of a close friend and I recorded her and her brother at my home studio when the family was over for dinner one night. Cut to her twenties, Ivy moved to LA to pursue music and acting. She’d released a couple records that I was really impressed with (I still think her track, “Gold,” could have been a hit in the right marketing hands). Anyway, I reached out to Ivy asking if she’d take on the vocals for my next record and within a month we had everything tracked.
The result of our collaboration is Death Ray, ten songs that span from moody folk to glam rock, all featuring Ivy’s breathy, beguiling voice. The tracks are built on a foundation of: acoustic guitar, bass, and the drone of my latest favorite instrument, the harmonium. Jason Batchko, a very in-demand local musician plays drums on all tracks and really livens up the songs.
Death Ray is hands down my favorite of the nearly twenty I’ve written and produced over the years. Connect with us via social if you’re inclined – and stay tuned for possibly some live shows this fall.
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Jerret S. Cortese
Producer
In addition to Death Ray, Jerret has written and produced 18 studio albums. Unfortunately, he also sang on them — a drawback that makes this collab with Ivy quite special and appreciated.
Jerret’s discography includes records from Laundry, Seattle’s punk lounge trio active in the 90s, four albums from The Gothtones, a post-punk outfit based in Chicago, several eponymous albums, a couple electronica releases, a record as folk-rock trio, Blunderown, and even a kids’ record as Rumpus Grumpus.
He is currently working on Swans, an album of chamber pop, slated for release in the spring of 2027.
Ivy Bona
Singer
Ivy Bona is a Chicago born, Seattle raised, LA-based singer/songwriter. Her musical expressions are existential ponderings with richly layered harmonies, somewhat cinematic, somewhat folksy, and often haunting.
Ivy writes and records her own songs as well as singing vocals in collaboration with other artists. She has also written and performed songs for films.
She is grateful for the opportunity to record vocals once again with Jerret. They worked together previously, when Ivy made her first studio recording at 6 years old: “I Don’t Know What You’re Talking About”.
Gravity Studio
Drums
Shallots thanks Gravity Studio in Chicago for squeezing us in to record drums. Special thanks to Raina Villareal for the mad engineering skills.
Last, not least, thanks to Jason Batchko for banging out the beats!