Her musical style consists of a combination of folk, rock, jazz, and blues; which she developed while writing and performing in the Greenwich Village area of New York City.

[2][6] Born into a musical family, her teenage years were influenced by a constant flow of diverse artists, writers and musicians.

[7][2] She developed her songwriting style while writing and performing in the Greenwich Village scene,[2] In the mid-1990s, Sloan began a collaboration with guitarist Stephen Murphy.

They assembled a band, and Sloan released a self-titled debut CD in 1996, 'Sloan Wainwright'.

The third band release in early 2001,The Song Inside, merged traditionally-based folk music with more eccentric variations.