Okay, guys, go ahead and admit that, during SPEED's coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auctions, you watch for the attractive brunette bidder's assistant just as much as you check out the Mustangs crossing the block. Her name is Amy Assiter, and unless you watch every second of the B-J coverage, you may not know that she also sings the National Anthem to open every B-J event. Building on her notoriety for those performances, she has debuted her first country CD, "My Name is Amy," with all proceeds going to her favorite charity, Mission: Freedom's Children, a non-profit that benefits children of military families.
Even better, Amy and her husband, B-J lead auctioneer Spanky Assiter, own a pair of '08 Barrett-Jackson Edition Shelby G.T. 500s.
During last January's Barrett-Jackson, we had a chance to sit down with Amy to discuss her CD and Shelby.
MM: How did you end up working at Barrett-Jackson?
Amy: Spanky and I have an auction company in Amarillo, Texas, so I was an auctioneer first. We auction real estate, heavy equipment, etc. It kind of wound its way to me being here as a bidder's assistant because they had already assigned their auctioneers, with Spanky as the lead auctioneer. This is my 10th year with Barrett-Jackson, which is kind of cool and monumental.
MM: We understand that you own a Barrett-Jackson Edition Shelby G.T. 500.
Amy: We actually have two, believe it or not. Barrett-Jackson put them out as limited editions and they called to ask if we wanted one. Then someone who had spoke for another one defaulted on it so we just said, "We'll take it too." Spanky's is a stick and mine is an automatic, so we have one of each. Spanky doesn't drive his - all the wrappers are still on it - but I've put about 6,000 miles on mine.
MM: How long have you been singing?
Amy: Since I was a little girl. My dad and I did girl scouts, father and daughter events, talent shows, Rotary Clubs, VFW meetings, that sort of thing. A lot of times he was behind the curtain playing the guitar for me while I sang.
MM: How did the idea for the CD come about?
Amy: For the past 10 years, I've sang the National Anthem at Barrett-Jackson - every morning, every location. Then people starting asking for a recording, so I thought it might be fun recording it. One thing led to another and it ended up being a whole CD.
MM: It's described as a country album. Is that because you grew up in Texas?
Amy: I actually listened to more jazz, especially older jazz like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holliday. But I also listen to country. But the songs on the CD came from everywhere. They're all originals; I co-wrote three of them. The title track, My Name is Amy, was written for me by a friend and another writer in Nashville, so the songs came from everywhere. Some have more of a western swing influence, some have a honky-tonk dance beat, there's a ballad, a little bit of blues. They're all really different and I love it because of that.
MM: It's great that the proceeds are going to a charity.
Amy: One hundred percent goes to our charity, Mission: Freedom's Children. It provides financial aid to military families, specifically children of military families. My family has had a veteran in every war since the Revolutionary War except Desert Storm, which was my generation. I didn't enlist so this is my way of serving. The military is a passion and I just love children, so that's kind of where the focus fell.
MM: How can our readers purchase your CD?