Sunshine Anderson

It’s a brand new day for songstress Sunshine Anderson. She's entered a different space since topping the charts with her Top 5 single, “Heard It All Before,” and if you have her tell it, she's a grown woman now - one who respects love and embraces the intricate simplicity that is her life journey. Upon a single listen of her long-awaited sophomore set, “Sunshine at Midnight,” it's evident that she's weathered her share of hardship and has come out stronger, smarter. Here she stands, front and center, ready to sing her song.
Ten-tracks deep, “Sunshine at Midnight” (Shining Star/Music World Music) features Anderson's now-signature raspy alto backed by the production talents of Mike City, Raphael Saadiq, Warren Campbell, Walter Msilap, and Nottz, as well as Dr. Dre. Leading the album out the gate is the mid-tempo groove, “Something I Wanna Give You,” produced by Milsap. As she offers freedom to a lover who wasn't really worth the time, she's very serious when she asks that he grab his coat, hat and knapsack. “A lot of people think of me as the 'anthem girl,'” Sunshine laughs, “but I really do love the brothers. Sometimes, we just have to call them out when they're slipping.”
“My Whole Life,” produced by Nottz, centers on a woman who's ready to throw in the towel after seven years, strong, 'cause she's tired of keeping up with her wayward man - or trying to, anyway. On “Switch It Up,” written and produced by Mike City, Sunshine summons the ladies to the dance floor to let them know that life is not a game of waiting. When she sings, “Girl, don't be afraid to get up and go, staying at home is getting old,” you just might be inclined to get up off the sofa. Then, she flips it on the smoothed-out track, “Wear the Crown.” It's as if you can hear butterflies flutter in her stomach when she sings about finding a man who treats her like royalty. Oh, and the message of “With You Baby,” a classic ballad written and co-produced by Warren Campbell (with The Flintstones) is simple - a woman in love just wants to be with her man, period.
“Problems” will touch anyone who's been stuck and wants to sit out, just for a few. Sunshine's heartfelt delivery is proof that she's been there, felt that, and pulled herself out of the valley. “I've definitely fought through some difficult times in my life, so I can totally relate to the mood of this song,” she says of the Dr. Dre-produced track, which she co-wrote. “I've learned that once you have the strength to ask yourself, 'What am I going to do?' you're already on your way to seeing the light.”
It's been a minute since we've heard her voice…actually more like five years. Back in summer '01, Sunshine Anderson ruled the airways, blessing listeners with the Mike City-produced, can't-get-it-out-of-your-held hit single, “Heard It All Before,” from her debut, “Your Woman.” The song banged from the hair salons to the clubs, triggering her album sales to peak at 750,000 units and reach the #2 spot on Billboard's R&B Chart, #5 on the Top 200. But not unlike many artists who sang before her, Anderson, who found a friend in manager and fellow artist, Macy Gray, seemed to slip off the radar. After being tangled in a web of record company politics, she soon found herself without a label to call home….yet that song never went away, still hasn’t.
When asked to describe her feelings in the aftermath of being dropped, Sunshine is open and honest about the struggles she endured. “After having such success with my first album, it was really devastating to be pushed out of industry,” she recalls. “I took my show on the road, but over time, the crowds paid less attention to what was happening on stage. I remember Macy telling me that I was good as long as folks didn't start walking to the bar, but eventually, my audiences got smaller and smaller.”
Having moved from her family's nest nearly a decade prior, she returned to her Charlotte, North Carolina roots to regroup and regain her footing. “There were days that I barely had the energy to walk downstairs to pay the pizza delivery man,” she notes. “I hung dark curtains at my windows because I needed to block everything out. It was a difficult period, but I got through it.”
Not one to rest on her laurels for long, she packed her car and headed further south to Atlanta to get acquainted with the city's booming music scene. By late 2005, she'd found her way to Mathew Knowles, inked a partnership with his Music World Music and so began her mission to climb back up the charts. The rest is her music history, still in the making.
Much has changed in the music game since Anderson's reign, so where does she hope to fit in, today? “Not to take anything away from the artists who are doing their thing right now, but I can definitely hear that there's something missing, especially in the R&B arena,” Sunshine says. “I'm glad to be back because I want to be the one to fill that void.”
SPRING TOUR 2007
4/27
Oakland, CA @ Paramount
4/29
Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson
5/4
Detroit, MI @ Fox Theater
5/5
Chicago, IL @ Star Plaza
5/11
Philadelphia, PA @ Tower
5/12
Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall
5/13
New York City, NY @ Beacon
5/19
Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park
5/20
Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless
5/26
Charlotte, NC @ Crickett Pavillion
Buy The Ringtones Now!
Sunshine Anderson "Something I Wanna Give You"
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Sunshine Anderson "Force of Nature"
Text FRCE2 to 30303