Country musician EmiSunshine is only 15, but her talent is way beyond those years. At nine, a YouTube video landed her a spot on the Today show. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine named her one of their “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know.” She’s already shared the stage with Loretta Lynn and Vince Gill. Her new album Family Wars is deep and emotional and beautiful. Legend Jim Lauderdale even stepped in for a song.
EmiSunshine spoke with CL recently, about her new album, her inspirations, and advice for any artist starting out. Turns out her talent isn’t the only thing beyond her years, her wisdom is up there too. You can catch her on Jan.15 at The Attic in Ybor.
IF YOU GO
EmiSunshine
Jan. 15. 8 p.m. $15-$25.
The Attic, 1510 E. 8th Ave., Ybor City.
When you go on tour, does your family go with you?
Oh, yes, my whole family comes with me. My band is actually my family. We all go together. My dad plays bass, my brother plays mandolin and my Uncle Bobby plays drums.
When did you realize that you had such a unique musical talent?
Well, music has been in my family for a very long time—I kinda grew up with it-it was pretty normal to start singing, and playing and to start writing as well. So for me, it was just a normal thing until that video went viral, and then we decided we wanted to travel and play music.
You have some pretty deep songs—I remember being your age and feeling real feelings. Do you feel like sometimes adults try and push your feelings aside because of your age?
I think more so adults can do that when it’s not something that they want to hear. When it’s something they want to hear, yes, it’s fine. But once it’s something different than their own opinion it can cause a little bit of controversy there. I think that a lot of time you’ve got to realize just because someone is young doesn’t mean they can’t have the knowledge or know what they’re talking about.
Where did “Family Wars” come from? Did it come from personal experiences?
No actually, it’s all other people’s experiences. I do a lot of eavesdropping on people, and it kind of inspires my songs. When I overhear these conversations from others form all the traveling that I’ve done it sort of inspires me and it gives a lot of different stories I can fit into a song or whatever I’m working on at the moment.
Any advice you have for any struggling artist or any young person that wants to do what you do, or just anyone in general, that is just trying to live out their dream?
I would say, just really try and be your genuine self. I know it’s cheesy, and people have said this before but it’s very, very true. Do not try to be someone else. People are going to see through that. Being yourself is your best option, and if people don’t like it, it’s their problem. That is something that I’d say to people my age, is finding your identity and finding who you are as a person and as an artist and what you want to talk about to make this world different. And get your views and opinions out. Because that’s okay. That is something that is valued. That is just something that I think is very important when you’re starting out, is knowing who you are.
I also want to say…I don’t have it all figured out. Nobody has it all figured out. Life is a journey and you’ve got to just keep going with it and roll with the punches and see what happens.
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This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2020.