Courtney Jaye was born Courtney Goldberg in northern Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., where she attended Fox Chapel Area School District until the beginning of her freshman year in high school. She spent her later teens in Atlanta. According to her MySpace page, it was in Pittsburgh that she found her first musical influences other than "hair metal" (in the form of The Grateful Dead). It was in Atlanta that she wrote her first song, in response to a friend's death. On graduation from high school, she moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where she worked as an acupuncturist and joined her first band.

Jaye left Arizona with a one-way ticket to Kauai, Hawaii, intending to stay for a month or two; she stayed for a year, surfing, soaking up the island's musical style, and writing songs.

Jaye's next stop was Athens, Georgia, where she continued to refine her musical style, and fell in love. This relationship took her to Austin, Texas, but ultimately ended there, providing Jaye with a