Baby Dee (born 1953) is an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio.

Early career

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 The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus was founded in 1995 by Keith Nelson and Stephanie Monseu. Initially, the duo was named "Fireplay. They toured the world with a mix of circus and sideshow. In 1999, the company became a non-profit organization incorporat ...

. She also became known for a street act in which she played harp while atop a high-rise tricycle in Manhattan. In the 1990s, Baby Dee met fellow

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

musician and performance artist Anohni. 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 David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he a ...

, founder of the music group

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

. Tibet contacted Dee, encouraging her to record an album for his label,

Durtro Durtro was a British independent record label established by the British poet, singer, songwriter, and visual artist David Tibet in 1988, to publish his own work and that of fellow friends and musicians. It was replaced by one of Tibet's earli ...

The Durtro Years: 2000–2006

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 also garnered little attention. In 2007, the out-of-print albums ''Little Window'' and ''Love's Small Song'', along with ''Made for Love'', a 2005 three-song EP, were re-released in a 2-CD compilation, '' The Robin's Tiny Throat''.

Drag City: 2007–present

By 2006, Baby Dee had grown tired of recording and returned to private life at her Cleveland home. Unfortunately, Dee's tree climbing career was cut short when a tree she was doctoring fell on a customer's home. The incident left Dee jobless and in need of money. Soon, though, Dee came into luck when she met musicians

Will Oldham Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

and

Matt Sweeney Matt Sweeney (born July 2, 1969) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan. Early life and education Sweeney was born in New Jersey. His father was John D. Sweeney, a professo ...

, who were both fans of her work. They offered to produce an album for her, and while initially hesitant, Dee soon agreed. In 2008, Dee released her third official studio album (and her Drag City debut), '' Safe Inside the Day''. The album was her first to feature collaborators, including producers Oldham and Sweeney and fellow eccentric personality/singer-songwriter

Andrew WK Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual performance artist, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michigan, Wilkes-Krier began his mus ...

. The album garnered significantly more attention than its predecessors and was well-reviewed by most. In 2010, Dee released her fourth album, '' A Book of Songs for Anne Marie'', a re-recording of a limited-edition book and CD originally released by Durtro in 2004. The recording significantly expanded on the original version, adding chamber orchestration and three additional songs. The album also featured Dee, for the first time, predominantly using harp as opposed to piano. Following in the path of ''Safe Inside the Day'', the album gained the artist further visibility and recognition. It was released on the Drag City label in America and on Tin Angel Records in the UK. In 2011, Baby Dee released her fifth album, '' Regifted Light''. The album was recorded in Dee's home and produced by friend and collaborator Andrew WK. It featured mainly instrumental tracks performed on a Steinway D grand piano with a small backing band. In 2015, Baby Dee released her sixth album, ''I Am a Stick'', on

Tin Angel Records Tin Angel Records is a British independent record label. History Tin Angel Records has founded in 2007 with Devon Sproule's '' Keep Your Silver Shined''. The album received critical acclaim and led to Sproule appearing live on Later... with ...

. "Working in what often sounds like a free-form style, the band's instrumentals punctuate Dee's piano arrangements, adding an element of unpredictability that's definitely more 'experimental' than anything she's done before".

Collaborations

Baby Dee has worked with

Antony and the Johnsons Antony and the Johnsons is an American music group presenting the work of Anohni and her collaborators. Career British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Anohni's music through his Durtro label ...

, and many other artists on the New York City scene. She has toured extensively with

, playing piano and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

. She has also toured with

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...

and

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; ad ...

. In 2010 she toured with

Little Annie Ann Robie Bandes (born c. 1961), better known as Little Annie, Annie Anxiety or Annie Anxiety Bandez, is a New York-born singer, songwriter, painter, poet, writer, performing and recording artist, pastor and stage actor. Career Early career: ...

. In 2016 and 2017 she toured with

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

and later appeared on their 2019 album ''

Leaving Meaning ''Leaving Meaning'' (stylized as ''leaving meaning.'') is the fifteenth studio album by American experimental band Swans. It was released October 25, 2019 on Young God and Mute. A double album, ''Leaving Meanings songs have been mixed separately ...

''.

Personal life

Baby Dee is a

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. Her sister, Mary Norris, is a copy editor at ''The New Yorker''.

Discography

Albums * '' Little Window'' (Durtro, 2001) * '' Look What The Wind Blew In'' (Durtro, 2001) * '' Love's Small Song'' (Durtro, 2002) * ''A Book of Songs for Anne Marie'' (Durtro / Jnana, 2004) * '' Safe Inside the Day'' (Drag City, 2008) * '' A Book of Songs for Anne Marie'' (Re-Recorded) (Drag City / Tin Angel, 2010) * '' Regifted Light'' (Drag City, 2011) * '' I Am a Stick'' (Tin Angel, 2015) EPs * ''Baby Dee'' (Durtro, 2001) * ''Made for Love'' (Durtro / Jnana, 2005) * ''The Robins Song'' (Durtro / Jnana, 2008) Compilations * ''The Robin's Tiny Throat'' (Durtro / Jnana, 2007) Live Albums * ''Live in Turin'' (Precordings, 2006) * ''Love Is Stronger Than Death / Baby Dee & John Contreras '' (Bragagild, 2008) * ''Baby Dee Goes Down To Amsterdam'' (Tin Angel, 2011) Singles * "The Robin's Tiny Throat" – Little Window * "Calvary" – Little Window * "So Bad" – Love's Small Song * "Dance of Diminishing Possibilities" – Safe Inside the Day * "Safe Inside the Day" – Safe Inside the Day * "As Morning Holds A Star" – A Book of Songs for Anne Marie * "Regifted Light" – Regifted Light