Baby Dee
| Baby Dee | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953 Cleveland, Ohio |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-Songwriter, Musician, Performance Artist |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano, Organ, Harp, Accordion |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | World Serpent Distribution, Durtro, Drag City |
| Associated acts | Current 93, Andrew WK, Antony and the Johnsons, Marc Almond, The Dresden Dolls, Rufus Wainwright |
| Website | www |
Baby Dee (born 1953) is an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio.
In the 1970s, Baby Dee began her musical career as a street performer, but soon decided to take work as an organist at a Catholic church in the Bronx. Ten years later, after Dee had begun her transition into life as a woman, she left her job at the church and returned to her earlier occupation as a performance artist. She performed as an accordion-playing bilateral hermaphrodite in Coney Island leading to a stint as the bandleader for the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. She also became known for a street act in which she played harp atop a high-rise tricycle in Manhattan.
In the 90s, Baby Dee met fellow transgender musician and performance artist Antony Hegarty. The two became friends, and Hegarty later invited Dee to perform harp on her 1998 debut album, Antony and the Johnsons. During this time, Dee returned to her childhood home in Cleveland and took up work as a tree surgeon. Never having envisioned herself as a recording artist, Dee gave Hegarty songs she had written in hopes that she would perform them. Hegarty, instead, sent them to her friend David Tibet, founder of the music group Current 93. Tibet contacted Dee encouraging her to record an album for his label, Durtro.
In 2001, Baby Dee released her debut album, Little Window. The album was composed and produced by Dee and featured only her, singing and playing piano on seven songs bookended by two accordion instrumentals. Though the album went largely unnoticed at the time of its release, the few reviews it did receive were often positive.
Dee released her second album, Love's Small Song, in 2002. This album was recorded in much the same fashion as the first, with Dee acting as the sole producer, composer, and performer. This time, though, the album contained more varied instrumentation with layered tracks of vocals, piano, accordion, and harp. Dee even set the entire album against a recording of birdsong. Still, while the album received a few very positive reviews, it, too, garnered little attention.
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Wikipedia