Being the daughter of country songwriter Randy Sharp (who wrote hits for Clay Walker, Patty Loveless, and others) helped give Maia Sharp a leg up on her way to a musical career. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley of the '70s didn't hurt, either; that was the era of Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, and Rickie Lee Jones, and music was in the Southern California air. By age 12, Sharp was noodling around on the piano, saxophone, oboe, and guitar. Fast forward to her early twenties, and she could be found on-stage at one of L.A.'s many acoustic venues performing her own jazz/folk songs to an engaged throng of fans. When not on-stage, Sharp was collaborating with artists such as Carole King, Jules Shear, Lisa Loeb, and Jonatha Brooke.