EmiSunshine

Emilie Sunshine Hamilton was born on June 8, 2004 in Madisonville, Tennessee to Alisha and Randall Hamilton. Her great-grandparents and grandparents were musicians who lived in the Appalachian Mountains. Her parents are also musicians. She has an older brother, John Letner. When she’s not touring around the country, Emi loves to draw, paint, and hula hoop. She said that she picked up hula hooping after attending various music festivals.

EmiSunShine came from a musical family and its musical lineage can be traced back to three generations. It was only natural that Emi was inclined towards music at a young age. She started singing early and even composed songs along with her mother when she was just four. Soon she began performing in public and formed her own band to take part in a talent contest. Emi evolved her style and performance over the years by focusing on songwriting and learning new instruments.

At the age of nine, she was leading her family band that comprised her father, brother, and uncle. She was a regular performer at local events and often picked up several compliments for her commanding talent.

Emi’s gained worldwide fame due to YouTube. When she posted her cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ on her channel, it quickly touched the 1-million-view mark and was covered by many local media channels. Soon, her cover of Jimmie Rodger’s ‘Midnight Turning Day Blue’s’, sung at a local market, also became viral and was rapidly shared across all social media channels. She was racking up followers on Facebook by the thousands. The news channels covered her as a child enigma whose clear and strong voice could be compared to that of many established musicians.

The Today show decided to air the clip in March 2014, and this proved to be a pivotal point in Emi’s music career. She later appeared in the Today show to sing her original ‘Little Weeping Willow Tree’ along with her ukulele. These performances attracted Kenny Vaughan who decided that such talents must be noticed worldwide. After this, Emi was invited to play at The Opry, a country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee. Emi’s first performance at The Opry received a standing ovation and captivated the audience. Since then, Emi has been a regular performer at different fests and events.

Emi’s meteoric rise to stardom is also reflected on her YouTube channel. She currently has over 27,000 subscribers with over 3 million views overall. She also successfully hosted her YouTube series, ‘Americana Corner’, which features several musicians, including Holly Williams and Tanya Tucker. The episodes were a huge hit and was even mentioned by the Rolling Stones magazine.

Emi has confessed that she hated lullabies as an infant. Her role models include Johnny Cash, June Carter, Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks, and Jason Isbell.