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Not many acts more colorful than Baby Dee drop by Phoenix.
Dee, sort of a cross between The Dresden Dolls (who she’s toured with) and Joanna Newsom (just because of the harp), is a transgendered Clevelander-turned-New-Yorker-turned-Clevelander who really has no interest in talking about her life’s story. A protege of Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Dee gets a lot of ink from classy outfits like The Chicago Tribune, who quoted her as saying:
“Lieder is an apt comparison, but this is just how my obsessions from my 20s — the composer Palestrina, renaissance music — are coming out in what I wrote much later,” she explains. A Book of Songs is largely work composed in 2002-03 for a limited release of 150 copies. “I am not into Schubert — my influences are much more arcane.”
I’m not going to pretend that doesn’t go a bit over my head. Still, what Dee does will likely appeal fans of the classically-oriented indie “rock” of Newsom, et. al. Check out “Lilacs” for free here.
CONTEST: Dee’s Phoenix show is Sunday at Trunk Space. We’ve got a pair of tickets for anyone who can summarize why I hate Bonnie “Prince” Billy in 140 characters or less. Enter by tweeting the answer @PHXmusicdotcom by Thursday evening and I’ll toss your name in a hat.
