CCM singer/songwriter Michelle Tumes was born in Mt Gambier - a small town in South Australia, and began studying piano at the age of four. While in her teens, she enrolled in a two-year classical piano program, an experience which left her so disillusioned about performing that she instead turned to studying dentistry. At that point, her little sister gave Tumes $40 she had saved from her paper route in order to convince her older sibling to cut a demo; she agreed, sending the tape unsolicited to a variety of publishing companies.