Sault singer to perform national anthems at Florida NASCAR event

The Sault’s Annette Bouchard will be singing O Canada and The Star-Spangled Banner at the NASCAR World Series Speedweek event at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway from Feb. 9 to Feb. 17.

For Bouchard, it will be the latest in a series of anthem-singing appearances and opening for other performers.

“I started singing when I was six years old,” Bouchard told SooToday.

“I used to sing at the Airways Motor Hotel when the bands played there. My dad would bring me there to sing. I sang with a lot of our local musicians.”

“I went up as a guest because I was too young to sit in a bar or play in a band at the time. I used to sit in the restaurant then they’d call me up to sing and I’d do a few country tunes,” Bouchard said.

She said traditional country music is her favourite musical genre and that she enjoys listening to Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline and Martina McBride. 

She met McBride - who she called her idol - at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 2008. 

Bouchard’s singing has always benefited her.

As a child, she took part in weekly singing contests at the Airways Motor Hotel.

Contest winners won $25 cash prizes and, after winning four of those events, Bouchard used the $100 she accumulated to purchase her own bicycle.

Her involvement with singing national anthems and race tracks began in her early adult years. 

“We didn’t have a track here then but there were a lot of race tracks in Michigan. I went to visit a track in Indian River, Michigan. Someone there who knew me told the track owner about me. He asked me if I would be interested in singing the Canadian and American national anthems so I did.”

That started a string of anthem-singing performances for Bouchard.

Stating that her reputation as an anthem singer at race tracks spread by word of mouth, Bouchard sang O Canada at the official opening of The SkyDome (now known as The Rogers Centre) on June 3, 1989.

She also sang country songs at Kewadin Casinos in the 1990s, opening for country celebrities such as Tammy Wynette, Mickey Gilley, Janie Fricke and Ricky Skaggs.

A visit to Tennessee led to another artistic life experience for Bouchard.

“I went to Nashville for a four day visit and I just went into a club and asked one of the band members if I could do a couple of tunes. He just looked at me and said ‘do you know how to sing?’”

“I said ‘a little bit.’”

Proving her talent on stage, she did gigs with group Mason Dixon, mostly in Delaware.

“I sang with them when they would call me and when I had time to travel. Sometimes I couldn’t travel but they would call me to sing at a fundraiser show or a little bar scene they were doing.”

She also opened for Sault native and country singer Debbie Lori Kaye at the Sault Community Theatre Centre in 2005. 

Bouchard now regularly sings the Canadian and U.S. national anthems at Sault College Cougars men’s and women’s hockey games at the Northern Community Centre as well as at Laird International Raceway in the summer months.

She said she feels that both audiences and teams prefer live renditions of an anthem as compared to pre-recorded instrumental versions.

“It’s nice to be able to do this. I think it gives the hockey teams a little bit more energy at the beginning of the games.”

“Some of the players have said to the organizer ‘hey, when are we getting our anthem?’” she laughed.

Bouchard is eagerly anticipating her upcoming performances at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway in February.

“Travelling is fun and you meet lots of different people. They see that you're from Canada and they just want to meet you, talk to you and get to know you. I’ve met so many nice people down there in the States. They’re like family to me.” 

Bouchard said that she has been given the gift of a good singing voice and wants to give back through singing anthems and performing at other gigs.

She said she also sings at public events for family reasons.

“Before my dad Peter passed away he said to me ‘please don’t ever give up your singing and don’t ever cut your hair.”

“I had a fantastic relationship with both my mom Emma and my dad. I think of them all the time but when I’m doing an anthem it makes me feel stronger because I know my dad would want me to do this. I’m doing it for myself but I’m doing it in honour of my parents too.”