Born and raised in Hollywood, California, Tahni began playing piano at the age of eight, eventually switching to guitar after being smacked with a book by her piano instructor (Mr. P, a hot-headed Italian, she remembers). She almost immediately felt the pull of music as a career and a safe haven for her soul. From an early age she loved the soulful blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the era of rhythm and blues deeply influenced her writing. "It was my refuge, my dream. I always knew I was going to be a musician, even when those around me didn't believe that music was a real profession", Tahni says of her childhood days. As she grew older, the pressures of family struggles and heartache sent Tahni to her music to escape the world which swirled around her. She fled the pain in her young life by creating another world within her music.

At the age of 17 Tahni left home for good and took to city to begin her music career. At one point she enrolled briefly at California State University, before seizing upon an opportunity to join all-girl heavy metal band Tantrum as lead guitarist. She spent the next four years opening for bands like Ratt and Queensryche and sharing practice space with Mötley Crüe. Tahni and the band also appeared in the 1983 Allan Arkush film "Get Crazy" with Malcolm McDowell, Lou Reed, Lee Ving and John Densmore. That movie has since become a cult classic. She played regularly on the world-famous Sunset Strip and around Los Angeles, at legendary places like Gazzarri's, The Whiskey, The Country Club and The Troubador during the 80s glam heyday, sharing the bill with bands like Exciter and Y & T. During these times, even though the trends in music were loud and extreme, she continued to find solace in her song-writing about life.

In 1994 Tahni enrolled in GIT (Guitar Institure of Technology), looking to expand her palette of styles and generally improve her skills as a player. That experience coincided with a change in attitude, as she vowed to leave behind a string of day-jobs to pursue music full-time. That period was a turning point in her career. Not long after graduating from GIT, Tahni found herself wanting to get away from the rat-race of the city. She packed up her guitars and started driving north from Los Angeles with only a note on her dashboard, describing her dreams for the place she wanted to settle. In the Lake Tahoe area the note blew out the window, and that seemed to be a sign that the next chapter in her life was to begin there. After settling into her new home, Tahni’s earlier rhythm and blues roots emerged in the new music she wrote. A strong Beatles influence also surfaced. She put together many projects, among them "Tahni and the Tonics" and "The Willies", (named after her dog, Willamina). While in Lake Tahoe, she discovered long-lost family and built a network of trusted friends, all of whom influenced her life and her music.

The new millennium brought into Tahni’s life a major change: her greatest love - her daughter Emme Lou. "Having my little girl changed my life - and my music," she says. Around the same time, a series of dead-ends and life-altering decisions became the impetus behind Tahni’s decision to move to Austin, Texas. Driven by intuition and the lingering influence of Stevie Ray Vaughan, she made the long pilgrimage to Texas, leaving friends and family to embark on yet another chapter in life. The vibrant music scene and abundant creativity in Austin spurred Tahni to write and record her first album, “Back Again", which she co-produced with local troubadore Woody Russell. It's a reflective, vocal-oriented album and somewhat Beatlesque (yes, that's a word now!). The album creates an intriguing melodic journey, fusing blues, indie pop, folk, sensual Latin rhythms and a thread of down-home country. The confessions of a lover, sassy come-backs of a brassy broad, and the tenderness of a new mother are all personas that emanate from the lyrics and meandering minor keys. The fifteen songs chronicle a spiritual journey through life, from failed bands and relationships with too many wrong turns, toward a new life built on integrity, strong values, and the knowledge that the key to faith is freedom. One of those songs says it well: "I need my freedom to keep my soul alive".

Now, with her 2nd release, SweetSpot, Tahni has stepped into what promises to be another major chapter in life. “Everyone has a SweetSpot – something that when you feel it or hear it or taste it – it's the coolest thing there is – when everything just comes together for you. Some people call it synchronicity but I think of it as when your soul just comes alive. So I wanted to create an album that reflects that part of people”. "My producer and good friend Mr. Dony Wynn was my other half for this project. I remember the first thing he said to me was, 'You play guitar like an old black man', and that's when I knew we were meant to make this album together". SweetSpot is a more kickin' album and features some of Austin's finest players, including Dony Wynn on drums, Chris Maresh on bass, Riley Osbourne on keys, Danny Bennett on lap steel, Ted Roddy on harmonica, and Billy Harvey and Larry Chaney on guitar. Also integral was engineer Boo MacLeod, who was recently involved in mixing Robert Plant's latest album. "This was a very spontaneous album," Tahni says, "... a moment in time.... one of my own biggest SweetSpots besides my little girl, Emme Lou".

Tahni recently finished a video with Richard Whymark at API productions, featuring Emme Lou as one of the primary characters. "It's about coming out of the dark and into the light". You'll be seeing it on METV soon. She is currently rehearsing new songs with a new band and beginning to book shows in and around Austin, TX (look for Tahni and the Toneheads).