Beth Thornley was born in Birmingham, Alabama and attended the now closed L. Frazier Banks High School.
After graduating, she decided she would like to explore the world of rock and roll, so she moved to Los Angeles and joined the music scene.
Her influences include The Beatles, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello, Ben Folds and Lucinda Williams.
According to the biography on Thornley's web site, when she first moved to Los Angeles she took advice from a vocal coach who told her "There are a million singers out there.
My Glass Eye had a wider group of musicians and singers including Cairns (drums, bass, guitar, synth, keys, accordion, backing vocals), Thornley (piano, accordion, tambourine), Sheldon Gomberg (bass), Mark Browne (bass), Disner (guitar), Michael Bluestein (piano), Jeff Lane (backing vocals), Richard Dodd (cello), Daphne Chen (viola), Leah Katz (viola), Patricia Thornley (backing vocals) Mark Ferik (backing vocals), plus Robert Kelley (clapping), and Paul Trejo (clapping).