Rosie Hamlin was born in Oregon and grew up in Alaska and California. She loved music from early childhood, when her father would accompany her singing with his guitar. She recalled in the “autobiography” section of her website that both her father and grandfather had a “vaudeville type background,” which in turn influenced her. “I can remember being 4 or 5 years old,” she writes, “standing on an old box in the yard pretending it was a stage.” It did not take her long to find a real stage to occupy.