Growing up in Stockton, Ca. Helen remembers running barefoot to piano lessons when she was 7. Her family relocated to the Bay Area, and at 14 she helped form her first all-girl band, “the Sonnelles” which was a hit at school dances and county fairs.

Her interest in guitar took root while an art student and political activist in the late 60’s. After a year traveling around Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Helen landed in Williamsburg, Va. It was there that she studied voice and guitar while working as an 18th century troubadour. Judged by Hampton Jazz Institute Faculty members, she won first prize in the 1975 Strawberry Banks Coleen Day Talent Contest in Hampton, Va. and opened for Doc and Merle Watson at the Williamsburg Folk Festival.

Helen spent 6 months living in London and performed at pubs and wine bars in Chelsea. After a few years in Philadelphia and Denver, she returned to California. She performed solo, with Blues and Jazz bands including “the Heartbeats” and as a duo or trio with various artists including Ron Brunswick, Dave Elsdon and Elaine Herrick and Tommy Thomsen in Sonoma and Napa counties.