Avery Sunshine knows how to light up a stage. The consummate entertainer has been performing for more than 15 years and has built an enviable body of work. The songstress-pianist-composer got her big break as a soundtrack vocalist for the Paramount Pictures movie, The Fighting Temptations, and was then asked to be a keyboardist for Tyler Perry’s stage play, Meet the Browns. In 2007, she was sought out by vocal great Jennifer Holliday to be choral director for the theatrical production of Dreamgirls.
She’s traveled the globe. She spent a month in Europe, performing in Paris, Scotland and London, where she opened for and shared the stage with B.B. King. A self-proclaimed musical therapist, Sunshine says, “My style is a fusion of R&B, church, soul and jazz. It reflects most
of the music that I feel connected with.”
The “connection” is from her lips to fans’ ears. Her veracious lyrics will ignite a fire inside you. The enlightening verses and your dark emotions are like soul mates. Heed them and your soul will heal. Listening to her song, “Ugly,” on her album titled Summer, Sunshine reminds us that once in a while, a songwriter can write something so simple yet pure that it will forever remain in memory. “It’s just that ugly part of me. I love you and I don’t want you to leave me.” Equally, melodic and foot-tappin’ worthy is the song “Pinin’” about the one unforgettable man in every woman’s life. “I’m still pinin’, sitting on the corner wishing you were mine.” Yeah, Sunshine knows a woman’s heart and thoughts.
Tapped to perform at four private events during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, in 2008 and the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, Sunshine counts artists “Rachelle Ferrell, Ledisi, Stokley [of Mint Condition], B. Reith, Charlie Wilson, Michael McDonald, Marvin Winans, Melody Gardot [and] R. Kelly” as influencers.
