Emi Sunshine
Emi Sunshine will play at Pucketts at 2 West Aquarium Way on Saturday at 9 p.m. This show is for all ages. Tickets are $12 and available here.
Review for Emi Sunshine:
Emi Sunshine is a country music future legend, and Grand Ole Opry star. She has played at the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman, at 10-years-old.
Emi first became famous after a YouTube video of Emi yodeling went viral and she was invited to perform on The Today Show. Tennessee resident Shonna Cline was shopping at the Sweetwater flea market when she heard what she described as "an incredible voice". After investigating, she found nine-year-old talent Emi Sunshine performing some songs and took this video. After contacting the family on Facebook, Ms. Cline made the video public. It quickly went viral, netting over 200,000 shares on Facebook, and TV appearances for the pre-teen performer.
Emi Sunshine's band The Rain includes her father Randall, uncle Bobby and brother John. The Madisonville, Tenn. native grew up listening to classic bluegrass and country singers. Emi defines her music as "Americana Gospel," taking influences from Ricky Skaggs, Amy Grant, Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller. (Note: Yes, Emi just turned 11 and is like a grown up and better as anyone who has seen Emi perform realizes.)
Her mom, Alisha Hamilton, introduced Emi to music at a mere four years old. They wrote simple songs together, then advanced to songs she could play on her ukelele or mandolin. Eventually her dad, Randall Hamilton, and brother, Johnathon Letner, with Uncle Bobby and cousin Robbie, joined her.
Since than Emi has produced three CDs. Emi Sunshine and The Rain's first album was released in January 2014. Horrible Highway was released in September after a woman had told Emi she had fallen bad. This inspired Emi to write the title song Horrible Highway where Emi defines life and love as being like a horrible highway were salvation waits at the end.
The most recent release in November 2014 is Black Sunday '35 where Emi wrote the title song after learning about the drought and dust bowl of the 1930's. Little Weeping Willow, the song Emi sings on The Today Show is the number 1 song on the Black Sunday '35 CD.