Trixie Smith was born in Atlanta, Georgia and is reported to have studied at Selma University in Alabama. Sometime around 1915 she moved north to New York to work in show business. At first she worked in minstrel shows and on the TOBA vaudeville circuit. It was in vaudeville where she became a featured vocalist. In 1922 Smith made her first recordings for the Black Swan label and later that year she won a blues singing contest in New York sponsored by the White dance team of Vernon and Irene Castle, beating out Lucille Hegamin and some other lesser known singers with her song "Trixie's Blues". Smith is best remembered today for the excellent Jazz bands that accompanied her on her records. The records were often released under the name of Trixie Smith and her Down Home Syncopators, which was usually either Fletcher Henderson and his Orchestra or the White group The Original Memphis Five. Trixie recorded a fine session for Decca in 1938 that featured Sidney Bechet and an additional song in 1939, but her recording career had for all practical purposes ended by 1926 when she recorded with Jimmy Bythe and his Ragamuffins. As her career as a Blues singer waned, Smith returned to her theatrical roots and worked in musical revues, Broadway shows and appeared the four films. She died in 1943.