Born in Matthews, North Carolina near Charlotte, Brasher was raised among a family of singers performing in the Baptist Church – albeit one with a twist. “My family is from the Dominican Republic so it was an all-Spanish congregation, much different than you would imagine a white Southern Baptist church to be,” she says. Brasher came up studying the powerful spirituals of Mahalia Jackson and the close harmonies of Lennon and McCartney, got her showbiz start appearing with her family on local televangelist programs, then fronted a series of rock bands in high school. But Brasher found her true creative direction when she moved away to college in Chicago and began studying the roots of American music. Brasher went directly to the source devouring the earliest Delta Blues sides: Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas, Son House, Leadbelly. “And, in a way, that led to Bob Dylan, because Dylan took from all those people,” she says. “I fell in love with Dylan and the way he was able to write pure folk songs – songs for the people.” She soon picked up a guitar and began teaching herself how to play. “What happened was my own songs started flowing out, and they kept coming every single day.”

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