Birdie Lee’s Music Page

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BIRDIE LEE’S HISTORY
Birdie Lee was born in Gassaway, West Virginia into a musical family. In the year 1954 her family, which consisted of her parents and five children, moved to New York State, eventually residing in Lockport, NY. (Niagara County).
Birdie has been singing since she was a young child with her family get-togethers and then in the 7th and 10th grade "Talent Shows". She graduated High School in 1968. She then married a local drummer named Dallas Nutt and had her one and only child a son named Darrell in 1969. (Find his info below.)
Some of the musical groups that Birdie has performed with in the Western New York area are "Western Silver Strings", "Swingin’ Weekend" (the latter two with her husband Dallas) "Sidewinder", "Jerry Moore & The Country Mixers", and "The Stone Country Band."
In 1973 Birdie joined the "Country Mystery" road band from Buffallo, NY which was led by Al "Porky" Witherow. During her stint with this group Birdie Lee got her first "On The Road" experiences which enabled her to travel to most of the Northeastern states including some Canadian cities as well. When they weren’t on the road they performed six nights a week at the "Club Utica" nightclub in Buffalo which was well known for the many famous country singers who regularly performed on stage there nightly. She also recorded her first LP with this band which is entitled,"Comin’ Atcha~Miss Birdie Lee" and her single "Don’t Close The Door", (which she wrote) and the single called "Baby’s Blue Eyes". She also recorded a duet album with "Porky" called, "Duo-Dynamite." (Dallas her husband at that time was the "Nutty Drummer" on these recordings.) The couple performed in a few bands together before eventually deciding to go their separate ways. They still remain friends today.
It was in 1975 after moving to Richmond, VA that Birdie Lee joined the "Donna Meade Band" and in 1976 won the State Championship Female Vocalist Award for the State of Virgnia . After that she performed in several road bands including "The Nashville Kitty Kats", and "Barbara Allen & Lady Luck." and once again touring the Northeastern part of the country and into Nova Scotia, Canada.
She moved to Fort Myers, FL in 1978 and was a member of "The Blue Ribbon Band", who played in the local Fort Myers and Key West area.
In the year 1979 she joined up with "The Sam Thompson Band" in LaBelle, FL and again won the State Championship Female Vocalist Award, this time for the state of Florida.
After moving back to New York in the latter part of 1979 she was the female vocalist/bass player for "CT Plus" from Barker, NY who performed in and around Western New York. This group also traveled to Wheeling, WV to compete in the National Finals for the Seagrams Sponsored Competition and took 8th Place out of 32 acts.
In 1984 Birdie formed a musical group of her own called the "Limited Warranty Band" which included her then 15 yr old son Darrell Nutt on the drums. Check out his site at Darrell’s Myspace page or Darrell’s Web Page to see what he’s been up to.
In early 1989 she was invited to become the bassplayer/female vocalist of the fabulous road band called "The Pistols" who traveled extensively around the state of Florida and other states as well. She found this band to be the most exciting and challenging of all the bands before it. The members of this group were the great Jimmy Dormire on lead guitar, (who is currently with "Confederate Railroad") the multi-talented Dave Jolly (who is probably on a cruise ship somewhere playing his banjo, or fiddle, or his B-Bender Telly) and the amazing Dana Heidemann who was the drummer/lead vocalist, emcee and leader of the band and also a former bandmate of the "CT Plus" band which Birdie had been in 10 yrs. earlier in New York.
In 1990 Birdie and her husband Gary, (Dana’s father and soundman for this talented group of musicians) decided to move to West Virginia to take a semi-early retirement from the constant traveling and nightly performances because of Gary’s ill health. Birdie then paired up with her sister Brenda and formed a duo act called "Sister Sears" and they performed weekends locally in the Sutton, WV area.
In 1991 she and Gary moved to Hendersonville, TN (a few miles from Nashville) where she joined a band called "Milestone." She also did back-up vocals, and demo work in some Nashville studios and performed nightly at Barbara’s on Printer’s Alley.
In 1993 after learning that her mother was very ill and had a short time to live, she and Gary moved back to West Virginia so she could care for her mom. Her father had passed away a year earlier and unfortunately her mother passed away a short time after they returned. (May they both rest in peace.) Birdie and Gary bought a home in Buckhannon, West Virginia and after a short time she formed another band called the "Midnight Rodeo" which performed locally in that area.
Birdie’s loving husband Gary died from heart failure in 1997. (All were blessed in knowing him, may he rest in peace.) Birdie took a leave of absense from music for a while and in 1999 she joined the "Country Just-Us" band led by Jim Bunch and performed every weekend for a short time before reforming the "Midnight Rodeo" band in 2000.
In the year 2005 Birdie moved back to Fort Myers, Florida to live nearer to her son Darrell who also resides in Fort Myers. She has since worked with the bands called "Hard Times", "Northwest Passage", and "Basic Lee Country".
In 2006 she met her boyfriend Marty Stramel (a talented singer/musician & songwriter in his own right) who encouraged her to cut her CD called, "In Focus". Marty, who is her biggest fan, engineered and helped produce her CD and also helped her get her single act together which consists of around 300 songs. Marty also performs locally in a duo act called, "Marty and Boop" and hosts Karaoke in and around the area. To visit his websites go to Marty’s Myspace page or Marty and Boop’s Web Page
At present Birdie is performing her single act simply called, "BIRDIE LEE LIVE" .
Now that you have read some history of "Miss Birdie Lee" you can see that she has done a lot of traveling, relocating, and has had the benefit of working with many versatile musicians which helped develop her into quite a well seasoned musician and vocalist in her own right. Birdie has the talent and personality to win your heart with her strong, heartfelt vocals and her musical abilty to know when and when not to play. Birdie has recently added quite a few "Classic Rock", "Doo-Wap", and "Blues" songs to her repertiore. Try to find the time and a place near you to go out and give this "talented lady" a listen to. While you’re there check out her "In Focus" CD and buy one directly from her. She will be so happy that you showed your support.
If you’re interested in booking her just shoot an email to the address below with all the details.
( Contact: [email protected] )
RECORDINGS:
LP- “Comin’ Atcha”
LP- “Duo-Dynamite”
Single- “Don’t Close The Door”
Single- “Baby’s Blue Eyes”
CD- “In Focus”
PAST PERFORMANCES:
CANADA, NY, PA, OH, VA, WVA, MI, MA, CT, RI, SC, GA, TN, CA, and many major coastal cities in FL. 1974-On “The GRAND OLE OPRY”
OPENING ACT/BACK-UP BAND FOR:
Faron Young, “Little” Jimmy Dickens, The Kendalls, Waylon Jennings, Billy “Crash” Craddock, Billy Walker, Connie Smith, Johnny Paycheck, Kenny Price, The Osborne Brothers, Johnny Rodriquez, The Gatlin Brothers and many more.
PERFORMED ON STAGE WITH:
David Frizzell in place of Shelly West on "You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma" at After Dark Nightclub, Lockport, NY
AWARDS:
1st Place State Championship Female Vocalist Award 1976-State of Virginia
1st Place State Championship Female Vocalist Award 1979-State of Florida