Was born on January 28, 1968, in Halifax. She was placed with the McLachlan family, who later legally adopted her.
She played music from a very young age, beginning with the ukulele when she was four. She studied classical guitar, classical piano, and voice at the Maritime Conservatory of Music.
At 17, while she was still a student at Queen Elizabeth High School, she fronted a short-lived rock band called The October Game. One of the band’s songs, “Grind,” credited as a group composition, can be found on the independent Flamingo Records release Out of the Fog and the CD Out of the Fog Too. It has yet to be released elsewhere.