She started playing piano at age 3, started formal training on piano at age 7, and continued lessons until age 13. Upon entering Junior High and High School, she started singing in school choirs, special ensembles and jazz choirs, performing all around Western Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Following her graduation from High School, Debbie began studies at Grays Harbor Community College with a Music Major and Business Minor. Six weeks into classes a friend offered her a job playing keyboards in a Vegas style show band, and the rest, as they say, is history...

Debbie played in various Northwest bands as a keyboardist from 1973 until early 1975, when she became the bass player for the very popular all female Top 40 band Thundermama, who had recently moved to Washington from California. 

In mid 1977 she left Thundermama and took a 6 month hiatus from performing. Upon returning to her hometown of Hoquiam, Washington she met and joined Black Velvet, the house band at a resort hotel in Ocean Shores, Washington as their lead vocalist. She sang with them from February 1978 until spring 1979, when she was invited to join the Tacoma based band Pendulum, as a keyboardist, working with drummer Doug Talmadge (currently with Chicken Joe and the Fabulous Cocks) and  singer Shelly Ely (currently with Big Nasty). After some personnel changes and once again transitioning from keyboards to bass guitar, Pendulum became Bar Talk, which lasted until some time in 1985.

Around this time, Debbie moved to Seattle, and became the bassist for one of the most popular and talented Seattle bands of the time...Cairo, with Stan and Kibi Good (founders of other popular NW bands Sweetness and Light and Shakaray). Debbie stayed with them until 1989 when she decided to retire from live music and travel, and try her hand at marriage. She spent the next 13 years trying to be a good wife (twice) and working a regular job, but she missed singing too much to stay away for good.

It was the world of karaoke that lured Debbie back into the entertainment scene. It was there that she really expanded her style and learned to experiment with different vocal techniques.  In 2003 she won the very first karaoke contest she entered and in 2004 she won Evergreen Idol, earning the right to be the opening act for Peter Frampton at the Monroe Fair. Since then, Debbie has won numerous singing competitions, including King of the Mountain, which carried a "$10,000 Winner Take All" prize.

Debbie, along with her significant other Karl Fortner, run West Coast Karaoke, a long running karaoke show at El Pueblito Mexican Restaurant in Gig Harbor, WA. They have been voted the "Best Karaoke on the Key Peninsula" for 5 years in a row. 

Debbie and Karl met Don 'Big D' Swensen and his wife Molly at karaoke, and have developed and enjoyed a great friendship for close to 7 years now. Between Big D's promptings, and Shelly Ely's vote of confidence, Debbie decided it was time to get serious about fronting a band again as a vocalist, so she and Big D joined forces and formed Mojo Overload. This is the first new band that Debbie has been involved with in nearly 20 years, and she is excited to be performing live again.