Real name: Debbie Dierks Montgomery

Effective period / Period of releases: 1984

American singer/songwriter and musician from Kansas City.
Daughter of Kay (Irene) Johnson, Orlene's sister. Niece of songwriter/record label owner Orlene Johnson.
She's been singing since she learned to talk. She grew up harmonizing with her family while her mother sang and played guitar. Her mother and twin sister had been live radio singers/entertainers known as 'Kit and Kay' during the 1930's-40's. Debbie was fascinated by her mother's musical background and grew up imagining herself as a professional singer just like her mother.
Debbie began singing in talent shows and school concerts. She learned to play the piano and the guitar and spent many hours singing and writing songs. Throughout high school and college, she was active in school choral groups, musical revues, and sang in church choirs. When her father died, she wrote a song for him entitled 'Daddy's Little Girl.' With this song and several other songs she had written, she and her mother and aunt headed for Nashville. Debbie was nineteen when she recorded her first country album, 'Lucky Chicago'. To promote the album, Debbie put together her own band and spent a few years traveling and playing clubs and fairs. During this time, she opened concerts for Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr. as well as for Hank Snow and for T.G. Shepard.
After being on the road for a time, Debbie became disillusioned with the competitiveness of the recording business and decided to go back to college. She completed her master's degree in business and met and married her husband. She maintained her love for music and chose to volunteer her services to her church. As a Sunday soloist and congregational song leader, she became more and more appreciative of Christian music. She once again began to write songs, but this time she found that she was inspired to express herself in a much more spiritual way, which resulted in Debbie's CD release, 'According To Thy Will.'