Brooke's career began while she was a student at Amherst College in the early 1980s when she and fellow student Jennifer Kimball formed The Story. The Story reased two albums, Grace in Gravity (1991) and The Angel in the House (1993). Both albums featured dissonant vocal harmonies to an extent not found in most albums in the genre.
After The Story broke up in 1994, Brooke released her first solo album, Plumb (1995). This was followed by 10 Cent Wings (1997) and a harder-rocking album, Steady Pull, in 2001.