Storyteller and alt country/folk musician Kerryn Fields learnt to play the guitar while lying down on a hospital bed.
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It provided her with an escape, at a time when she was coming to terms with the chronic illness that would continue to affect her life.
"I think music has been a wonderful way to manage pain," she said.
"Then there's this wonderful carry-on effect that has happened, as share my songs with the world, I find it really helps other people.
"It really brings you into the present moment, as you realise you're a tiny speck in the universe and you realise you're reflecting in other people and other people are connecting to you."
READ MORE: Candelo Village Festival returns for 2019
She picked up the recorder first, and said she took it very seriously.
"I was a bit of a geek, I still am," she laughed.
Her love of the guitar began watching her mother, a talented player herself.
But her mother was hesitant to encourage her to play the instrument as she did not want Fields to take it up as a hobby just because it was something she did.
"I had to do washing for a week to borrow her guitar for an hour on a Sunday, and I was in a wheelchair at that point," Fields said.
Fields' early years were spent around nurses and doctors as they tried to combat the illness that struck when she was only eight years old - an aggressive form of bone disease that resulted in a loss of cartilage and a hip replacement.
It is a period of her life she describes as harrowing, especially for a child.
"But kids are so resilient, when faced by adversity as a kid you haven't really tackled challenges yet so your brain wires itself more to be able to deal with adversity like that," she said.
"If you have to have a hip replacement when you're 12, it sets you up to have a strong character."
Stories from her life have had their impact on her music and her songs are about human experiences; she can also play the acoustic guitar like she is "ringing a bell".
At her live shows she is also known for trying to make light of the dark with her irrepressible humour.
"You have to take things with a grain of salt and a sense of humour," the 34-year-old said.
"Life is tough and it's only going to get tougher."
As an artist that grew up in a small New Zealand town, she said it took some time to fit into the Australian music scene.
"But I got myself a second hand Akubra hat when I was on tour in Canada, and I felt that was a big ticket in to a lot of new places," she laughed.
Fields will perform a solo show at the Candelo Village Festival, which is on April 26-28.
For tickets click here.