The sublime bawdiness of Baby Dee

Baby Dee, surely one of the more haunting and unusual voices in popular music, is on the road…and by all accounts, much more interesting live than on the record even. (The record’s pretty good, too.) She’s kind of in the Antony family of high-voiced, gender-indefinite caberet singers, with a rather wicked growl and swagger lurking among ineffable mysteries. Anyway, I wrote this preview for the Philadelphia Weekly, but there are a bunch more dates in other cities.Be open-minded…it’s good for you.Baby Dee Sat., Feb. 2, 10:30pm. $10. With Meg Baird + Ex Reverie. Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. 215.928.0770. www.tinangel.com With a high, trembly voice pitched somewhere between male and female, transgendered performance artist Baby Dee, often self- accompanied on piano or harp, borrows as much from church music as Weimar cabaret or vaudeville. Her rendition of the hymn “Idumaea” was one of the highlights of Current 93’s Black Ships Ate the Sky. Still, she isn’t afraid to descend into bawdiness, singing about big-titty bee girls, and childhood roughhousers doing the “dance of diminishing possibilities.” Seeing Baby Dee live is as much about the stories as the songs—heartbreaking, funny, surreal intervals as a harp is tuned or a song put into context. (Jennifer Kelly) A complete list of datesFeb 1 - Joe’s Pub New York, New York Feb 2 - Tin Angel Philadelphia Feb 3 - Lily Pad Cambridge, Massachusetts Feb 5 - La Sala Rossa Montreal, Quebec Feb 6 - The Drake Toronto, Ontario Feb 7 - Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois Feb 8 - Bryant Lake Bowl Theatre Minneapolis, Minnesota Feb 10 - Media Club Vancouver, British Columbia Feb 11 - Triple Door Seattle, Washington Feb 12 - Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon Feb 14 - Chicken John’s House San Francisco, California Feb 15 - Hotel Utah Saloon San Francisco, California Feb 16 - Kuumbwa Santa Cruz, California Feb 17 - The Echo Los Angeles, California Feb 19 - Trunk Space Phoenix, Arizona Feb 21 - Lambert’s Austin, Texas Feb 22 - TBA Dallas, Texas Feb 23 - One Eyed Jack’s New Orleans, Louisiana Feb 24 - Bottletree Brimingham, Alabama Feb 25 - Eyedrum Atlanta, Georgia Feb 26 - The Icehouse Lexington, Kentucky Feb 27 - Waldron Theatre Bloomington, Indiana Feb 28 - Rumba Café Columbus, Ohio Feb 29 - Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, Ohio Mar 8 - Salon Teatro Santiago de Compostela Mar 10 - Teatro Calderon Madrid Mar 12 - Sala Oasis Zaragoza Mar 13 - Groove Bar Tarragona Mar 14 - Sala Apolo Barcelona Apr 20 - Roadburn Festival Tilburg