Raines took up the harmonica at the age of 17. She left Antioch College to make a musical career. She was fascinated by the sound of Muddy Waters, Little Walter Jacobs, and Sonny Boy Williamson. She was influenced by this blues master. She began to play on the streets and at local Boston clubs. She went to Chicago where she met and played with Pinetop Perkins and James Cotton. She played in Chicagos blues clubs. During this time she developed a style of her own.