At the age of 17, Josie was given an old, Spanish guitar. She started learning basic chords from a Hank Williams's songbook and progressed from there. Josie soon realized that she had to leave New Orleans. "I wanted to form a band and I just couldn't find any musicians that were into rockabilly. I was really into the 1950's lifestyle as far as the music and the clothes were concerned. I left New Orleans in search of a place where I thought I would belong. I felt very alone not being able to have a conversation with anyone about my largest passion---rockabilly and honky tonk music." Her travels soon took her to San Francisco, Austin, and then finally to Los Angeles in 1992 where she was successful in forming an all-girl rockabilly band called Whistle Bait. Whistle Bait played around Southern California for three years and did a few recording sessions, which were never officially released. Josie laughs, "When I'm on tour in the middle of the country, I'm always amazed at how many people come up to me remembering the band Whistle Bait. We never left California or had any record releases but people all over the place still remember that band. I guess we must've made quite an impression." Rumor has it that there is even a Whistle Bait poster up in The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Whistle Bait broke up in early 1996 and Josie has since taken on a solo career.
