Her father was a big band musician and World War II veteran;[1] her parents divorced in 1946, and both remarried.
[4] Clemmens worked as a pediatric nurse in California, and sometimes played her guitar or banjo for her young patients.
[5] Back in Chicago, she taught guitar and banjo classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
[6][7][8][9] Her first album, Sing a Rainbow (1965), and another, We All Have a Song (1977) featured children's music, and she performed in schools as part of Urban Gateways, a non-profit program to bring cultural programs to Chicago city schools.
[10] In 1976 Clemmens started her own label, Open Door Records, and released several more albums.