Julie Mack may well be, as she claims, a Southern California girl through and through, but the Encinitas singer-songwriter first found her love of music while growing up on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

"I was born on what was a USAF base in Thakli, Central Thailand during the Vietnam War," Mack wrote in an e-mail response to questions sent to her earlier. "My dad was enlisted working on planes and my mom was from a farm village to the north. She was working in Bangkok, their paths crossed and through broken Thai and English fell in love, got married and popped me out."

After her father's military service was finished, the young family moved to San Diego to be near family. But when Mack was just 8, her father moved the family overseas again, taking a job in Indonesia's offshore oil fields.

"I grew up as an expat kid in the international school system on the island of Sumatra. Indonesia in the '70s was a pretty raw Third World country. It was cool and crazy all at the same time. We got back to the States (San Diego) when I started junior high."

It was while attending the international schools that Mack discovered her muse.

"I was inspired by an older cousin to play music. She played guitar and sang. I thought that was cool. I started on the piano and organ, but my parents decided it would be easier and a lot less expensive if I played guitar. I think I got my first guitar and guitar lessons sometime around fifth grade."

But the formal instruction didn't last, she wrote.

"I didn't do well with lessons (I don't know why) and ended up teaching myself from books, mostly Journey and Fleetwood Mac covers."

Even being thousands of miles from the United States, Mack said she was surrounded by the popular American music of the day.

"I think I bought my first Olivia Newton John and Karen Carpenter albums at around the age of 8. That was followed shortly thereafter with albums by Foreigner, Journey and Styx.

"I think the music comes from my dad. He had an ear for music. For as long as I can remember he always had music in the house, especially on the weekends. A lot of Hank Williams (Sr.), Charlie Daniels, CCR, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, then the Commodores, Earth Wind and Fire -- I'm a child of the '70s, obviously."

While she wouldn't begin performing professionally until college, Mack wrote that she knew as early as fourth grade that music would be her avocation.

"I used to hide in my room and perform with a brush as the mike in front of the mirror. It looked funny but it felt normal."

And it wasn't until 2002 that she felt she had learned enough about singing and had written enough songs to strike out on her own.

Since then, she has become a mainstay of the San Diego acoustic music scene, and released her first CD last summer.

For 2007, Mack wrote that she is busy at work on her follow-up album, playing as many shows as she can to build up her fan base, and aiming for a second tour of Ireland (she went over last fall for the first time). With a young son in tow, Mack said her first priority is motherhood, but the music is also a driving force.

"I might not get to places as fast as I'd like, but, trust me, I'll get there."

Julie Mack

When: 8 p.m. March 10

Where: E Street Cafe, 128/130 W. E St., Encinitas

Tickets: Free

Info: (760) 230-2038

Web: www.myspace.com/juliemack