Annie is the middle daughter of folksinger Arlo Guthrie and artist Jackie Guthrie, and had many options for inspiration growing up. At a young age she saw a picture of her grandmother Marjorie, a Martha Graham dancer, which motivated her to become a dancer. Her stubborn personality meant nothing was going to stop her. Eventually a knee injury slowed her down; that’s when Annie’s mother put a guitar in her hands and taught her a few chords. It didn’t take long for Annie to reinvent her love — she still dances, just a little differently now. She recalls her dad teaching her how to finger-pick Elizabeth Cotten’s song ‘Freight Train’. “My dad started off showing me the chords and saying, ‘Okay do this with your thumb,’ and he’d go away for a few months. He’d come back and ask me if I practiced. I was in love and couldn’t put the guitar down, so of course I practiced. Once he realized I wasn’t giving up, he kept adding a new finger and another string.
