Kathie Baillie

Country vocalist Kathie Baillie had a long and successful career in the music along the way to the release of her first solo album in 2007. Kathie Baillie was born in Morristown, NJ, in 1951, and spent most of her childhood in Orange, CT; her parents encouraged her youthful enthusiasm for music, and when she was a teenager she started performing at local coffeehouses and school functions, playing acoustic guitar and singing folk and singer/songwriter-oriented material. In 1973, Baillie met fellow singer and guitarist Michael Bonagura, and the two hit it off both personally and musically; they began playing folk clubs together, and would eventually marry. Baillie and Bonagura added their friend Alan LeBeouf to the act, forming an acoustic pop trio called Bittersweet; the band worked steadily on the East Coast club circuit and scored a record deal with the Atlantic-distributed Big Tree Records label, though they also did session and jingle work, putting the skillful harmonies to work to help pay the bills. In 1982, Baillie and Bonagura relocated to Nashville after Baillie had landed some gigs singing backup on country sessions in Music City; after adding harmonies to recordings by Randy Travis, Moe Bandy, and Lynn Anderson, Baillie and Bonagura became a trio again when LeBeouf joined them in Nashville, and Bittersweet began earning a potent reputation in Nashville. After playing a number of live shows, Bittersweet came to the attention of RCA Records, who signed the group to a recording contract in 1985 and changed their name to Baillie and the Boys. The group's first single was released in 1986; "Oh Heart" became a hit, and Baillie and the Boys became a consistent presence on country radio for the next several years. Baillie and the Boys' near-constant road work led...