The guitar was the staple accompaniment in 20th-century country music. Country musicians, including Parton, often appeared on stage with a guitar slung around their neck and accompanied their own vocals, signifying that they were good musicians—and naturals who didn’t rely on advanced technology for their appeal. By 21st-century standards, the guitar is a low-technology instrument and a small component of the enormous aural enhancements that go into producing country music. However, in the novel, the three main characters’ devotion to guitars indicates their allegiance to the authentic roots of country music rather than its commercial potential. AnnieLee even distinguishes between her own hands, calloused from fingerpicking, and the smooth ones of the executives on Music Row, indicating that they’re less genuine than her.

Guitars are a recurrent motif in the novel, and the three main characters’ attitude to them reveals their personalities. For example, Ruthanna’s love of opulence is evident in her collection of guitars, while AnnieLee’s life on the run is marked by having to pawn her guitar to facilitate her passage to Nashville and then having to play using instruments lent by honky-tonks until she borrows Ruthanna’s rosewood guitar. AnnieLee’s guitar-less state indicates the desperateness of her situation and the sense that she needs to travel as light as possible in case she suddenly needs to run, but her borrowing Ruthanna’s guitar signifies her aspiration to stardom.