Ione grew up in a small town near Sioux City, Iowa, called Sergeant Bluff. From a young age, she was an avid classic rock fan. “I used to ride around in my dad's convertible during the summer with the top down, singing along with the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac,” she says. From there, Ione dabbled in musical theater, although she switched gears after a sixth-grade talent show, where she sang “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin. “Some older boys who were in seventh and eighth grade played an instrumental set,” she recalls. “And they were like, ‘We need a singer for our band.’ That was the beginning of it all, performing and being in a band.”