| Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Marlee began singing and playing the piano at age three. One of her first memories was of her father carrying her off stage at a piano recital while she cried and screamed because she didn’t want to stop playing even though she’d already done a ten minute improv piece she called “Bob Hope”. Even at that young age, she knew she wanted to make a career out of making music.
Marlee grew up in her parents’ music studio where customers took lessons and also where her father taught her how to play. Marlee performed in various recitals and also competed in piano competitions sponsored by St. Cecilia’s Music Society. By the time she was 12, she’d gone to the state finals twice and won first place in her division for the state of Michigan. She also had experience singing in different school and church choirs and by the age of 13, Marlee had picked up the guitar and taught herself how to play. During this time, she also started to stray from the classical music that she was brought up on and began to dabble in the craft of songwriting. By age 16, she had established a band and played at a few coffeehouses and a summer festival. The band broke up a year later when Marlee left and went away to college.
It was after a semester of Pre-Pharmacy that she really questioned herself and realized that music really was her calling in life, and she changed her major to Music Industry Management, a program that was new to Ferris State University. Marlee then began to start playing out as a solo act. She also became involved in the Music Industry Management Association and eventually was elected External Secretary for the last two consecutive years of her college career. She was able to network with a great deal of contacts during that time, attended two N.A.M.M. conventions in California and landed an internship in New York with Korg USA. She played a few shows in New York at a couple coffeehouses. After the internship, Marlee returned to Michigan and attempted the band scene again with some friends who were also musicians. This effort only lasted a semester as it was soon realized that the band members were on different levels musically, personally and professionally. Marlee was able to record her first solo six-track album during October 2000. She decided to concentrate her efforts on completing her schooling, and she made the Dean’s list both semesters of her senior year and graduated in May 2002. She then went on to take an internship with the Songwriters Guild of America in Nashville, Tennessee. While she was there, she also played at the Bluebird Café for a Songwriter’s Night and a few other venues as well.
After her internship, she thought that a third internship would be beneficial. She got another opportunity to work in Creative Services for Sparrow Records with EMI/CMG, the largest Christian label in the industry. It was during that internship that she was inspired to learn more about graphic design so that she could design her own CD cover and packaging. She then returned to Grand Rapids to take continued studies courses with Kendall College of Art & Design and designed her own CD.
After being in Grand Rapids for a few months, she moved to Jasper, Indiana and officially started her own company, Natural Girl Publishing, to support the release of her first album, “Marlee’s World”. She also took extended study courses in web design in order to build a website for her company and her album, which is now up and running. She also currently has airplay with WITZ in Jasper, 101.9 out of Owensboro, WSWI 820 AM and Radio Golden Flash in Belgium and has had airplay on an internet station as well. She has also recorded and released her second album, “Ready or Not”. She is also currently very busy with her band, Past Forever, an original hard rock venture (www.pastforever.com). At this stage of the game, when she’s not playing with the band and recording her first album with the band, she is looking for venues to play for her blues music and for her band, radio stations that will play her songs and publications that would be willing to review her CD.
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