"I found my first guitar in an old tin wardrobe in my basement. Its bridge was broken but it was love at first sight, as if I found a buried treasure in my backyard. The room spun and everything. I glued the bridge back on and never looked back." On songwriting Annette says, "It feels like diving for pearls. I sink down and don't know what's going to happen. Usually a combination of emotion, melody and phrasing opens the way for the lyrics."

"A dead solid perfect singer/songwriter putting out material straight from the heart, the words, the music and voice all come together so perfectly...Killer stuff." ~ Chris Spector, Midwest Record

Annette's performances are marked by her compelling alto and moving songs that "touch you to the bone". In the tradition of the poet songwriter, with rich tones reminiscent of Linda Thompson or Natalie Merchant, she weaves a spell both startling in its intimacy and expansive in its vision. Her songwriting influences include Jane Siberry, Lucinda Williams and John Prine to mention just a few. Both down to earth and deeply atmospheric, Annette’s songs are explorations into longing, love, loss, God, home, homesickness and hope.

In her late teens and twenties. Annette was performing in local cafes, small venues and eventually festivals. When her daughter was small, Annette took a break from performing to attend her family and grow her healing practice. Now she is out performing again and becoming known in the DC area and nationally as a powerful songwriter and performer. Annette's debut CD, Songs from the Talking House, was awarded Contemporary Folk Recording of the Year by the Washington Area Music Association in April 2016. She also won Honorable Mention for her song Don't Look Down in the 2016 MidAtlantic Song Contest. Her January 2020 release, Love & Fire, is her first album on the Azalea City Cooperative label. On release, it landed at #6 on FAI Folk DJ chart and #1 on the NACC chart and ended up #40 for the year. 

"​A stunning songwriter. Love & Fire is a masterpiece." ~Tom Prasada-Rao​

In 2019, Annette created a new concert series, Local Cream, to showcase the best local and regional songwriters. At the end of 2020, her song, “The World is on Fire” was the closing song in Chicago Folk DJ, Lili Kuzma's, 3-hour Folk Festival year wrap-up, saying this was the song that spoke most compellingly of the year we had been through. 

In the spring of 2022, her song "Almost" was a finalist in The Great American Song Contest and won "Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting" Award. Her song "Horizon Line recently was a finalist in the 2025 MidAtlantic Song Contest.

"Annette has the whole universe in her voice."  ~ Barbara Ireland

Annette has been writing songs ever since she found a Sears Silvertone abandoned in a tin wardrobe in the basement when she was 14.  "Songwriting," Annette says, "is like diving for pearls. I sink down and let my emotions lead into melody which leads to phrasing and lyrics. Later the editing comes in." She began performing locally but when her daughter was small, Annette stopped, turning her focus to building a massage practice and caring for her family. Later when she was able to turn her full attention to her music, she dug in. Her debut album, Songs from the Talking House  won Contemporary Folk Recording of the Year from The Washington Area Music Association in 2016. Her 2020 recording, Love & Fire released at #6 on the FolkDJ chart and #1 on the NACC chart and landed #40 on Folk DJ chart for the year.