Corinne Harmon was a native of Williamsburg, Whitley County, Kentucky, and spent much of her early life in London, Laurel County, Kentucky. Corinne displayed a talent for the piano at an early age, and with her mother's encouragement developed into a concert pianist who eventually played at the White House on two occasions, in 1914 and 1916. She went on to teach piano at her own studio in Boston.