“Dana and I decided to make music that we liked,” singer Avery Sunshine said of herself and musical partner Dana “BigDane” Johnson about the process of creating and recording her second album The Sunroom.
“That’s it. If it’s funk, if it’s a love song – whatever it is, we said that’s what we are going to do.”
No subject is off limits in The Sunroom – from intimacy to inspiration, Sunshine bravely dives head-first into an album that has something for everybody with a soft spot for traditional soul music.
Her sound is definitely all her own – yet one that everyone will believe they’ve heard before.
“Somebody heard the first song on the album, ‘Won’t You Try,’ and they were like, ‘That’s a sample, what record did you sample that from?’” Sunshine said. “We didn’t sample anything. It has an Al Green influence, but it is 100 percent original. We tip our hats to Al Green in the record, but we were just making music that we wanted to hear – and that God was giving us.”
She’ll be returning to St. Louis next Friday in support of The Sunroom with an intimate show at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and she’s excited to share the love and life lessons presented on the album.
For her first time in town, Sunshine brought the house down at the now-defunct Lola nearly three years ago.
She had the crowd – plenty of whom had never heard of her before – singing in harmony like her own personal choir as she presented tunes from her self-titled debut and incorporated some staple R&B and gospel into her set.
They crooned along as if they were lifelong fans while Sunshine belted and played the keyboard. Her gift for engaging a crowd is as impressive as her musical talents.
“I started directing choirs when I was 13,” said Sunshine, a native of Chester, Pa.
Back then she was known as Denise Nicole White.
“I had to figure out how to walk into this space and command these people’s attention so they wouldn’t treat me like a little girl and would respect that I was a professional musician and knew what I was talking about – even if I didn’t know what I was talking about,” she said. “I honed that skill back then. I didn’t realize I was preparing myself for what I do now.”
The skill has served her well for the better part of 20 years.
“I was at Royal Albert Hall in the UK opening for BB King – five to six thousand people. I could hear my footsteps walking across the stage. I had to make something happen. I had to do something before BB hits this stage,” Sunshine said.
“It was the first time I felt naked and afraid. I was like, ‘God, now listen. You brought me out here. You’re gonna have to make this happen.’”
Before she was finished, she looked around and saw the audience holding up their cellphones in appreciation of her performance.
“That reminded me: Do what you do and do it well, and you don’t have to worry about it – bottom line,” Sunshine said.
She’s eager to give St. Louis audiences a second helping of her “soul food” music.
“If you want to feel better and you have stuff that you’re dealing with and you just want to get away from that –even if you are feeling good, this is the kind of show that will make you feel even better than when you came,” Sunshine said.
“It will be so infectious that you will want to share it with somebody else. And if you feel like taking off your shoes and dancing – or hollering – you absolutely can do that.”
Avery Sunshine will perform two shows on Friday, August 1 (7 p.m. and 9 p.m.)at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N Grand Blvd. For tickets or more information, call 314-533-0367 or visit http://kranzbergartscenter.org.
