As a child, Bahia sang in choirs, took dance, piano, and voice lessons, and played the clarinet.

Her first public performance was a dance recital at age six on the paddle boat, the SS Admiral (1907), on the Mississippi river in St. Louis, Missouri.

She attended the Plan II Honors Program at The University of Texas at Austin, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.

She worked for a number of years as an attorney, moonlighting as a jazz singer with a residency at Café Claude in San Francisco.

[15] Bahia is a founding member of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, with which she toured internationally and sang backing vocals on Linda Ronstadt's, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind album.

[33]In 2020, Bahia's songs Every Heart One Love and It's All Good, were finalists in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.