A fourth generation entertainer, Kristine W has certainly come a long way since her childhood days in the farming community of Pasco, Washington. Defiantly going against the region's big-city infatuation with all things rock and country, Kristine W fondly recalls her musical youth. "I would call information in New York City, requesting phone numbers for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, and my main idol Donna Summer," she laughs. "I really wanted to talk to one of them to find out how to become famous as a singer. At the time, I couldn't understand why their phone numbers where unlisted."

Unable to get Diana Ross on the line, Kristine W did the next best thing: she bonded with the other musical misfits that dotted Pasco's multi-hued ethnic landscape. Together, Kristine W and her friends embraced disco, soul, and jazz. "Chaka Khan, Ella Fitzgerald, and of course, Donna Summer, we listened to it all."

"While attending college (she received a Bachelor degree in TV production), Kristine W honed her skills as a singer on the stage of the various hotels that lined the neon-speckled streets of Las Vegas strip. "I've played 'em all," she says, smiling. "These places offered me a stage, a spotlight to shine in. This is where I was discovered. Like rock artists who tour and tour for years, perfecting their craft, the stages of Las Vegas offered me the same thing. Working the stages of Las Vegas taught me one very important lesson: the courage and strength to persevere."