Erica
Sunshine Lee Interview and Album Review
Erica
Sunshine Lee Interview and Album Review
Erica
Sunshine Lee’s star is rising quickly, because she has matured as an artist. She
still writes the fun songs such as, “All My Bucks Go To Starbucks,” and “”How
‘Bout Them Dawgs,” but she also writes and sings heartfelt and vulnerable songs
like “Train Wreck,” and “The South Will Rise Again,” the title song from her new
album. Lee is one of the hardest working artists in America today, relentlessly
touring coast to coast and internationally and one gets the sense that shestands on the precipice of suddenly being thrust into the national spotlight, as
she breathes new life into America’s somewhat cloned Country Music scene.
Listeners feel the urge to dance to her songs and to sing along to them, but
most of all they have fun with the up-temp ones and they identify with the
vulnerability of the duet “You Saved Me.” All of the songs on the new recording
The South Will Rise Again are
original tunes.
The first three songs on the current album, “Girls Night
Out,” “Georgia For This,” and “Everyone Loves A Country, Girl,” are very quick
moving and get the party started early. The opening track “Girls Night Out,” is
a party song, about the ladies having fun, dancing, turning heads and closing
down the club. “Georgia For This,” this writer’s personal favorite from the
record, good naturedly pokes fun at the California lifestyle, while reminiscing
about what the singer-songwriter truly cherishes about her Georgia roots. Eamon
McLaughlin’s fiddle spices up the guitar driven tune.
About the song “Georgia For This,” Erica Sunshine Lee
says, “I was hanging out in Nashville with my friend Joe Denim and we were
discussing what I experienced while living in California. I told him how people
in California tend to watch what they eat and how I love food too much to sit
around and eat salad, how I would rather eat steak or fried catfish. I mentioned
that California diets consist of tofu and avocado and he said, ‘Tofu and avocado
don’t make a meal.’ (the opening line of
the song)”
As Lee and Denim continued to talk, their conversation
would eventually become other lines to the song. She says, “I told him how I
missed going out to the lake catfish fishing, eating fried chicken, frog
giggin’, tires spinning in that Georgia day, muddying up my Chevrolet. He loved
it and the rest (of the song) flowed out in about an hour.
When we finished writing the song at my home in
Nashville, we went across the street to Elm Hill Marina, to Pirate’s Cove and we
celebrated with fried catfish, french-fries and sweet tea. My favorite song,
“Georgia For This,” was born!”
Lee talks about choosing the name
The South Will Rise Again, for her
album and the poignant song that bears the same name, “This album’s title track
“The South Will Rise Again,” is extremely special to me, because I was touring
in Alabama, with my friend and talented co-writing buddy Wayne Mills (and we
were in) his hometown right after it was hit by a tornado.
The family that we were staying with had
the only home on the street that still had a roof. They were talking about the
tragedy and how people in the South come together to rebuild, after tragedy
strikes. It was a very emotional
time and I sat down and wrote this song. I had no idea at the time that Wayne
would be killed (he was shot and died in Nashville in 2012), but the album means
even more now as a tribute to his friends and family. It is not only about
rebuilding after natural disasters, but it is about (experiencing) a personal
tragedy in my own life, relationships and losing a friend.
The album represents my southern roots. I come from a
small town in rural Georgia, where people genuinely care about others and our
faith in God gets us through life’s ups and downs. “
We are not sure if we have ever heard Erica Sunshine
Lee, sing a song more emotively and with more vulnerability than she does with
“The South Will Rise Again.” This is a beautiful song, sung tenderly by a singer
whose love for people and love for the South inform the lyrics and the vocals.
As for the song “Everyone Loves A Country Girl,” Lee
says, “I’m really excited about this song, because I wrote it at my home in
Georgia with my daddy sitting in the living room. It is one of the most
memorable songs I’ve written, because it’s my favorite riff on the guitar and it
has a fun upbeat party vibe to which all country girls can relate, whether they
are from the southeast or not. I’ve met Country girls in California, Arizona,
New York and Australia and we all share common threads, down to earth girls who
love the outdoors and who enjoy the simple things in life!”
Erica Sunshine Lee notes that her fans and a lot of her
close friends love “Everyone Loves A Country Girl,” and count it as their
favorite song.
There are so many good songs on this album and they are produced wonderfully by
Kent Wells (Dolly Parton) and this is definitely the best that Lee’s vocals have
sounded. She also surrounded herself with a wonderful cast of musicians, too
numerous to name. “Train Wreck,” a relationship coming to an end, showcases
beautiful vocals by Erica Sunshine Lee. Anyone who has experienced the
heartbreak of a relationship ending will feel the pain, as the singer walks out
the door, because “I can’t watch this
train wreck no more.”
Australia’s Viper Creek Band accompanies Erica Sunshine
Lee on the song “You Saved Me,” as she sings a duet with band member Damien
Bagley. The song “You Saved Me,” was inspired by a conversation between Lee and
Bagley.
Lee explains, “I asked him what got on his nerves about
his wife and he replied, ‘Nothing, she’s an absolute angel and she saved me.’ We
wrote about their relationship, how they met, the struggle with him partying and
living a different lifestyle and how that all turned around after they met. It
is truly a beautiful love story!”
Georgia’s Erica Sunshine Lee has arrived. She has
several albums to her credit, but The
South Will Rise Again, is clearly her best album to date. It is well
produced, her vocals are better than they have ever been and her songs are well
crafted. She is ready for the next big step in her career, more prominent venues
and more significant media attention, and we are predicting that will happen
sooner than later.
Please visit the
Erica Sunshine Lee website
This review / interview, published January 2014 by Joe Montague is protected by copyright © and may not be reproduced in print or on the internet or through any other means without the written permission of Riveting Riffs Magazine, All Rights Reserved