A little girl’s library book leads to a song about Annie Oakley

May 26, 2026

By John Boit

Singer-songwriter Amy Love. Courtesy photo.

When singer-songwriter Amy Love was a little girl, she took out a library book about American sharpshooter Annie Oakley “so many times it filled up the library card.”

Oakley wowed audiences in the traveling Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, shooting a cigarette out of her husband’s mouth as part of the act. Oakley had met her husband in a shooting competition, besting him.

“I always loved the story about how she met her husband, Frank. It just stuck - so years later, I wrote the song, ‘Annie and Frank,’” said Love, who lives in Gouldsboro.

Love’s music blends folk, old-country, bluegrass, and Americana. She performs throughout the Midwest and Northeast, and has been a featured guest on community television and radio, as well as a selected musical artist for festivals and workshops.

Love also teaches songwriting and voice, and has enjoyed working with local arts organizations like Bagaduce Music. Learn more at her website.

Take a listen to “Annie and Frank” from Love’s 2021 album Coming Home.

The Rising Tide welcomes artistic endeavors from our community, and showcases them here in our “Create” section. If you have something you’d like to submit—a poem, a painting, a photograph, a song—send it to info@risingtide.media. We’d love to publish it and give you an audience for your creativity.