Music
An accomplished singer, songwriter and musician. Marlee has always had music.
She has a deep, rich, soulful voice and plays piano, guitar, bass guitar and bongo drums.
The Journey
Born into a show business family in Vancouver, Canada, Marlee began public live performances at age fourteen, joining her well-known siblings, Judy Ginn and Jim Walchuk.
However, her earliest memory of being onstage was singing "Red Roses For a Blue lady" with Wayne Newton at the Cave Supper Club in Vancouver.
By seventeen, she had toured clubs across Canada and opened for Ricky Nelson and Jim Neighbors at the Vancouver 16,000-seat Coliseum.
Los Angeles
At eighteen, she moved to Los Angeles with her brother and sister to train at the world-renowned acting school, The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, and was even able to learn from Lee Strasberg himself.
"It was like living in the movie, Fame.
Going from film acting class to singing performance, to dance, to scene study, it was a full-time, artistic boot camp!"
Two years later, Marlee returned to Vancouver. There wasn't a film industry or major theatre opportunities so she brought her new skills to enhance her stage performance and began singing lead with a seven-piece horn/rock band called "the Visitors" hitting all of Vancouver's A List Rock Rooms.
A Hit Song
Marlee would spend the next 6 years, in bands, duos, trios, learning to play piano and guitar while working steadily in Vancouver's thriving club scene. She eventually ventured out on her own mixing comedy with original songs and covers and won
"Vancouver's Best Solo Rock Act."
During this time, she recorded and entered one of Judy and Jim’s original country songs, "God Bless the Woman" in the Canadian Song Festival and it won first prize. The song was put on a compilation project with the other category winners and ended up becoming a national Canadian country music hit.
Marlee was nominated for five BC Country Music Awards and was asked to perform on the live show.
Entering a North American contest a few years later with another of Judy and Jim’s songs, "Family Bible", Marlee took the Best Vocalist Award in 1999.
Television & Mistress
The studio became a big part of her life, singing on commercials and as a BG vocalist for other recording artists. She guest starred on TV variety shows such as the Jim Byrnes Show, The Irish Rovers, The Fame Game and Music, Music, Music.
She was chosen to travel to Holland with government officials to represent and sing at a ceremony in Vancouver’s, sister city, Coevorden. She and was the voice of the Home Show for Vancouver for 4 years and then for the Ideal Home Show in London, England in 2000.
With the popular, all-female pop/rock band Mistress, she toured the US and Canada opening for acts such as Darby Mills and the Headpins, The Northern Pikes, Thomas Dolby and the Pursuit of Happiness and left that project just as the DJ’s began replacing live bands.
It was at that time, she went back to her first love, live Musical Theatre, with lead roles in Angry Housewives, 18 Wheels, Little Shop of Horrors, Four Strong Winds, and numerous touring projects.
Back to Country & to Germany
In the late 90's Marlee was asked to do 3 tours of Germany, 2 of them promoting her first full studio album called "One More Chance." The wonderful audience response gave her confidence in her own songwriting and she was nicknamed, "The Voice."
She returned to enjoy some solid, Canadian airplay and performed at the popular, Merritt Mountain Music Festival.
Frequent convention work even had her singing with Micheal Buble when he was starting his career.
Australia & Sugarbeach
In 2001, Marlee moved to Sydney, Australia for love. While there, she performed regularly with a band called Safari who were made of of members from the popular, "Party Girls." She went on a songwriting binge and returned to Vancouver in 2006 with the love of her life, Nathalie Callender, they married and they formed an original dance/pop duo, Sugarbeach.
They would release 2 CD’s of their own original music and 4 singles which all soared to number one on the GLBT music charts in the USA.
Sugarbeach was the winners of 3 Pride In the Arts Awards in the U.S. including Favorite Group of the Year and nominated for an OUTmusic Award in 2009 in New York City and for 4 more awards in 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sugarbeach are known worldwide for their anthem, Living Out Proud which they wrote for the 30th Anniversary of Vancouver Pride and also launched both Whistler and Vancouver Pride houses for the 2010 WinterOlympics.
In 2011 they wrote and performed the theme song for the 2011 North American Outgames, Come On Out, which was also the #1 Song of the Year on the Outvoice 2011 Top Ten Countdown in the U.S.
They played Pride festivals in New York City, the U. S. and England as well as the National Women’s Music Festival and BOLDFest.
Hall of Fame &
RightOutTV
Seeing a need for a platform to promote LGBTI original music artists, Marlee and Nathalie created the promotional site, RightOutTV and Global Awards, RightOutTV Music & Video Awards which were judged by many prominent music industry professionals.
Same-sex marriage was still illegal in the USA and in most countries and they saw this exposure to queer-themed music and its makers as something they could do to help forward LGBTI rights.
Marlee Walchuk and Tully (Nathalie) Callender were inducted into the GLBT Hall of Fame in January, 2014 for their creation and management of RightOutTV and the impact and resource that website have been to the GLBT arts community and community at large.
Marlee is currently singing R&B and soul with the 12-piece band, Souled Out and also with her acoustic retro folk trio, the Porch Chops and she is acting in film and TV.
And when she’s not doing all of that, she paints.
Check out her Etsy Shop!
