The summer of 2020 froze life for everyone. The pandemic of 2020 caused everyone to go home and be still for many months. And for entertainers, like AverySunshine, it not only stopped her from performing but also made her re-examine her life.
The business of show business can be brutal for those who travel the globe to entertain. The constant movement can blur the days, time, and even years for some musicians. For Sunshine, it did a little of everything.
“I got into the habit of moving from place to place and just going through the routine of performing. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I forgot how to write music,” Sunshine said.
The pandemic changed that because she sat at home and began to experience life again. She had the space and time to really pour her soul into her writing. For Sunshine, it took her back to being eight years old, when she discovered her talent for music.
Sunshine was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, to Ruth Eleanor White and Irving Cyril White. She began playing piano at eight, after she saw a classmate perform, and learned to read hymns before beginning to study classical music at 11. At 13, she expanded her repertoire to include jazz and had her first recital.
Three years later, her aunt, a church choir director, asked Sunshine to fill in for her during a Sunday service at a Catholic church; she was subsequently hired by churches of all denominations, including the AME Church, where she performed with the award-winning Wilmington/Chester Mass Choir.
For Sunshine, knowing her WHY incredibly early meant living in it when very young.
“I knew what I wanted to do at a very early age, and that gift scared me sometimes because I didn’t always know how to honor it,” Sunshine said. “I knew I loved music, but I sometimes questioned if this is what God wanted me to do with my talents.”
While in college, Sunshine met Maia Nkenge Wilson, a vocal major, and together they formed a gospel and R&B singing duo, DaisyRew. In addition to performing in Africa, DaisyRew performed at churches in the area and at clubs, including the Apache Café, which was noted for launching the careers of several prominent artists, including India Arie.
Wilson was cast in a Broadway role following college, and Sunshine was hired as the Minister of Music at the St. Paul AME Church in Atlanta. DaisyRew continued to perform when Wilson, on break from her theatrical career in New York, returned to Atlanta.
In 2005, Sunshine and Johnson recorded “Stalker,” a neo-soul song, which a friend, Chris Brann, set to a house beat. The track became a dance hit on a Japanese record label, which led to a series of live dates in Japan.
Sunshine and Johnson began work on what became AverySunshine’s self-titled first album, released in 2010 on their own label, BigShine. Recorded at Sunshine’s home, the record included guest appearances by the pianist Takana Miyamoto, the vibraphone player Roy Ayers, and Christian McBride. The record was praised by the media, with USA Today calling it “refreshingly original” and The Washington Post describing it as “a radiant brand of soul.”
Sunshine, a single parent of two, focused on AverySunshine, but also accepted jobs as a keyboard player with artists including Tyler Perry and Jennifer Holliday and worked as a choral director for Atlanta performances by artists such as Michael Bublé, Anthony Hamilton, and David Foster.
From 2010 until late 2013, Sunshine toured consistently and developed a following throughout the US, the UK, Europe, and Africa. She began recording a second album, The Sunroom, in November 2013, which was released in May 2014 through a partnership with Shanachie Records. In 2017, she released her third album, Twenty Sixty-Four.
Today, Sunshine tours the US and has slowed down to appreciate moments on stage where she can take in her audience’s appreciation for her music.
“For me, the gift of life has so much more meaning than it did before the pandemic,” she explained. “I now understand that living in the moment, absorbing all of the wonderful things I have been blessed to do, is really what it’s all about.”
The lessons of life can be amazing if you’re a fan in the audience or if you’re the singer performing. Sunshine understands, post-pandemic, she has fallen back in love with writing her own music, performing her own songs, and enjoying them with an audience of people she connects to on a nightly basis.
The world would be a better place if we could all listen to Avery Sunshine. ●
