Zoe has been influenced by Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Muddy Waters and Janis Joplin.
[2] By the age of four she was singing accompanied by her father's guitar playing; duly inspired by hearing his blues record collection, Zoe went on to front his band ten years later.
[2][3] Zoe sang in school musical productions and, by the early 1990s, publicly read poetry on Commercial Drive, Vancouver.
[2][4] Hoochie Coochie Woman (2007) featured her versions of other blues musicians songs, with some original numbers Zoe co-wrote with her then-guitarist, Chris Raines.
Zoe toured the United States as a featured artist with Ruf's "Blues Caravan", alongside Tasha Taylor and Ina Forsman.
In addition, Zoe issued her own Breaking Free collection the same year, which was produced by her guitarist Jan Laacks and featured a guest appearance from Sonny Landreth.
The following year, Zoe performed at the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, India, with John Mayall, Coco Montoya and Walter "Wolfman" Washington on the same bill.