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I came from a huge extended family of musicians.

My family was very musical. My brother is an opera singer; my parents both sang.

Both my grandfathers and my mother's brother were musicians.

My father was a classical musician and my mother was a writer.

My mom was a folk singer and Celtic harpist. My dad was in a barbershop quartet and my great grandma was an opera singer. As I grew up, I discovered pop music and Top 40 radio, but it was in the '90s, so music was very different then - it was really lyrical.

Nobody in my family was musical. I had no idea you could be a songwriter and make a living at it. It was all discovery. It was all just thrown at me.

I grew up with music very much in my life. I achieved success by combining my training as an accountant with my family upbringing and love of music.

I think I was just lucky to be brought up in a very musical family. My two older brothers were, and still are, very musical and very creative, and music was a big part of my life from a very young age, so it is quite natural for me to become involved in music in the way that I did.

My grandfather was a massive influence in my music. Growing up, he would play a lot of old-school records to me. A lot of jazz and swing music, actually, growing up.