Run, Rose, Run

Born Rose McCord, the character who introduces herself to Nashville as AnnieLee Keyes is an instinctive musician and songwriter who needs little more than her guitar and her own voice to make music. Both her real name and pseudonym are homonyms of the musical terms chords and keys, enhancing her association with music. Other characters identify AnnieLee as “a natural,” both in terms of her voice—which encompasses the sublime contrast of angelic and diabolical dimensions as well as the storytelling quality of her songwriting. Unaware of sound-enhancing equipment such as loop pedals and pop filters, AnnieLee emerges as a natural talent because she doesn’t rely on technology like more manufactured stars do. Ruthanna enhances this impression in her description of how AnnieLee has “been writing and singing songs for as long as I can remember, but as far as I can tell, her audience must’ve been a bunch of trees and some squirrels” (116). Although Ruthanna exaggerates for comedic effect, she’s not far off the truth, given that AnnieLee hails from rural Arkansas and literally grew up in the obscurity of the woods. In this respect, she resembles author Dolly Parton, who was raised near the Tennessee Smoky Mountain range.