She spent her junior and senior years of high school at Interlochen. She DID study classical voice there, so she's not a TOTAL n00b. Apparently the Interlochen Arts Academy High School has an opera workshop, so it's quite possible she was in that while she was there. A lot of bios about her say she "briefly considered a career in opera", but she moved back to Alaska and started songwriting instead. Seems to have worked out rather well for her.
~*EvilMezzo*~
