Ipi Hello was born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains in and around Floyd, Virginia. She has a great love for her region, its many traditions, and a passion for passing them on. Ipi stared playing guitar in the local JAM program when she was 12 and since then has learned to sing, play banjo, fiddle, flatfoot dance, and call square dances. She has taught in the local JAM program and for the Handmade Music School Youth Get Together.