The Soulcialista: Avery Sunshine

::RECAP:: SUMMER SPIRIT FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 10 YEARS
by Daniel Harris
Photos by Edith Williams

In its 10 year history, the Summer Spirit Festival has featured an amazing lineup of R&B, Soul and Hip Hop artists. Names like Common, The Roots, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Sharon Jones have all taken part in the annual summer festival at Columbia, Maryland's Merriweather Post Pavilion. In years past, the festival has experienced record number attendance and this year's festival was no exception.

The Merriweather Post Pavilion was jammed packed both under the pavilion and on the lawn with concert goers waiting to hear Phony Ppl, Avery Sunshine, Estelle, Junkyard Band, Tony Toni Tone, Floetry, Anthony Hamilton and Erykah Badu. The full day of music was a great experience for the area.

The festival started promptly and the first act, Phony Ppl, was ready to go and give a great show. That they did. The Brooklyn, NY fusion band (jazz, hip hop and R&B) were a great start to the entire day. Their energy and stage presence helped those who decided to come early, prepare for the day's activities.

As up and coming artists, Phony Ppl were tight, polished and engaging. Three things you look for when attending a major concert. As the band wrapped their set and as more people begin to fill Merriweather, it was becoming clearer why this is one of the area's biggest events.

Next to take the stage was Avery Sunshine. In a simple statement, Avery Sunshine is an artist full of life and her energy and presence was literally her namesake, Sunshine. Beginning her set with her hit, "I Got Sunshine," very fitting. Her best quality (besides her amazing voice and wonderful lyrics) was her ability to engage a large festival crowd, at one point, teaching the entire crowd parts to "I Got Sunshine."

As her set progressed, Avery took time to give
thanks with a soul stirring renditions of "The Lord Is Blessing Me" and "Safe In His Arms." Both songs showed her deep appreciation for her faith and the opportunities her gifts and talents have afforded her. The concert crowd was moved and it showed this reviewer that Avery is able to reach and meet her audience on a spiritual level.

As the afternoon began to transition to early evening and the Merriweather began to seemingly reach Estelle took the festival stage. The "American Boy" singer was well received by the crowd as she took the stage. Her blend of Hip Hop, R&B and Soul was the perfect vehicle to bring the audience with her on a journey of love both its triumphs and defeats.
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As she progressed through her set, which included hits like "Thank You" and "You Are," it became apparent that Estelle prefers a more intimate setting. Frequently pausing her set until the crowd got involved (even calling out a fan for his low energy dance moves) was a hold not only to the crowd's enjoyment but to the overall schedule of the festival. Gradually, she won the crowd over and was able to progress through her set.

Perhaps one of the major highlights of the evening was the performance of Washington, DC legends, Junkyard Band. Go-Go as a music form has its roots in DC which aided JYB in the anticipation of their set. The band didn't disappoint at all. When it came time to hit a Go-Go classic like "Sardines," the festival crowd (already at a fever pitch) pretty much took over delivering the lyrics. JYB's performance was a true testament to the genre's history and roots in the area.

The time came for CD Enterprises to reveal their special guest to the audience. Prior to the festival, people were wondering who this guest could possible be. To much anticipation, legendary R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! hit the stage to a very warm audience reception. Rightfully so, during the late 80s and early 90s, Tony! Toni! Toné! electrified audiences all over the world.

As the group moved through classics like "House Party II," "It Never Rains" and "Feels Good," the
crowd's energy began to change. The novelty and nostalgia began to fade as the group realized that one important Tony! was missing. Lead singer Amar Khalil did his best to carry the burden of front man.

However, the shoes of the group's first front man, Raphael Saddiq, are hard to fill. Maybe one of the most oddest moves during the group's set was having old music videos play in the background as they performed. The music videos only served as a reminder to the crowd that Saddiq was not performing with the group.

As the sun set, the evening progressed and temperature began to drop, the festival stage was just beginning to heat up. Following Tony! Toni! Toné!'s lackluster performance, a group whose reunion has been years in the making was set to take the stage. 8 years ago, Floetry announced that they would no longer perform together. This announcement came as a shock to many fans as the duo was beginning to hit their stride in the industry.

While Natalie and Marsha enjoyed some solo success, it was really good to see them back together as Floetry. Truthfully, it didn't seem like they missed one step. They are still as in sync as they were since their debut. While performing hits like "Sunshine," "Getting Late" and the crowd favorite "Say Yes," you got the sense that they've put the past behind them and are moving forward. Hopefully festival performances and concerts will lead to new studio material? One can only hope.

Under the night sky, the heavy traffic of festival goers to support food and merchandise vendors slowed as Summer Spirit welcomed two of music's biggest stars. First, Anthony Hamilton, who seriously knows how to put on a show. The way he commanded the festival stage, his ability to
engage the audience under pavilion as well as on the lawn, showed why Hamilton personifies cool.

The best moments of his set were the moments between he and his background vocalists. Those
moments gave his set a level of depth that hadn't been felt all day. The background vocalists are amazing artists in their own right and their chemistry with Hamilton made for an amazing evening. Anthony Hamilton's set, which included hits like "Charlene" and "Pray For Me," was enough to end the entire evening.

Knowing that Erykah Badu was next and would round out an entire day of great music still filled the festival with as much energy as was present at the beginning of the day. Erykah took the stage to thunderous applause and cheer that pierced the night sky. What else would you expect? Erykah Badu has been a Summer Spirit Festival favorite since the beginning. She is staple, ending the festival with one of her signature shows.

This year was no exception. While her set wasn't perfect (by her own admission), Erykah was real, honest and raw. These are all qualities that fans have come to know, love and respect about the soul star. And don't get it twisted, even on her worst day, Badu is still near flawless.

New arrangements and takes on hits like "My Life," "...And On" and "Cleva" reminding the audience that the nearly 20 year veteran still has what it takes. Right before her performance of "Danger," she reminded the crowd that she is the original 'Trap Queen.' What an amazing way to end a perfect day of music and fun.

Overall, The 2015 Summer Spirit Festival proved why it is the area's favorite and most successful festival. CD Enterprise selects great artists to fill its lineup. With such skill, it is easy to see why the DMV and surrounding areas flock to this festival. The Summer Spirit Festival will be around for a long time, further solidifying its position as a staple event in the area.

Avery Sunshine lit up the stage in Annapolis, MD at Ram’s Head Tavern. She opened up for Rahsaan Patterson, to a packed audience. The audience sang with her, as she directed them from behind the keys. Gypsy and I caught up with Avery before her performance and talked about her cd.

Special thanks to Frank Sheffield

Photos by Edith Williams

Shani: So, you have a new, self titled cd out?

Avery: My cd came out last year, and I’m still pushing it. Still touring and doing everything that we can. I’m glad to with Rahsaan.

Shani: You have been having an awesome year. Jet recently named you as one of the top 5 artists to watch for 2011. The cd is being well received. You just won an award with SoulTracks.

Avery: Yes, I won SoulTracks’s “New Artist of the Year”. It’s a really great award, I’m really excited. We were nominated for three awards, and we got one. It was great!

Shani: I was going through your discography, and one of the songs was, “Stalker”.

Avery: (Avery laughs) That was one of the first songs I had done. That was years ago, it’s a house tune.

Shani: How did that song come about?

Avery: I needed to write a song and I sat down, wondering what am I going to do. I came up with this tune, next thing you know, I had hook. I called my partner, Dana and said you have to hear this hook I have. I know it sounds crazy, he called me back thirty minutes later and he had written the rest of the song. We knew it had to be fate, we went ahead and recorded it. That tune ended up taking me to Japan. It was a really interesting tune, a great tune.

Gypsy: Do you play any other instruments other than piano?

Avery: No, I wish! I was talking to Rahsaan about that. It’s hard, it seems that if you don’t learn to play as a kid it becomes harder. But, we can do it! Hopefully the next time I see you, I’ll have a guitar and I’ll be playing it for real!

Gypsy: How did you learn to play the piano?

Avery: I was eight-years-old, one of my class mates was playing the piano. I told my mother , “Mom, I want to do that.” I had never touched a piano before. She said, “Look, If I buy this piano you gonna play it.” So, she brought the piano. Believe it or not, we only have had two pianos. The first one, we had for four years. The second one, we have had God knows how many years. When my parents moved to Atlanta with me, they brought the piano down, so that piano is now in my house. So, that’s how I started playing.

Shani: Some of the other songs listed were “Blessin Me” and “Pinin’”. For those who don’t understand, what is Pinin’?

Avery: (Laughter erupts again) I moved from Philly to Atlanta and never heard of the word before in my life. I was in the church parking lot gossiping and one of my homeys said, “You know that girl is still pining over that man!” I said, “Pining”, what the heck does that mean? Well, I looked it up, it means to long for. I was like, “Oh! I have pined. I’m pining right now!” So, I wrote a song about it, I thought it was great. A lot of people see the title on the album and say, “Is that pinning?”

Shani: So, how many tracks are on the cd?

Avery: The cd has

Shani: If you had to pick your favorites song off of the cd, this very moment, what song would it be and why?

Avery: It would be “Pining” because it pokes fun at that very thing that is so real. It has us up late at night, when your pining and that thing is hurting you. When you’re able to poke fun and look at the bright side. As women, we love hard and we hurt so intensely. Sometimes it’s too intense, let’s laugh about it. That’s why that one has such a special place in my heart and makes me feel good when I sing it.

Shani: What are some of the subjects we will hear when we listen to your cd?

Avery: Parenting, my love for my children, my love for God, my desire to be married again. My utter disgust with the man that I was married to, and coming out and still being ok.

Shani: You mentioned writing a song about the man you want to love.

Avery: Absolutely!

Shani: So, is that going back to pining?

Avery: Not really. The man that God is going to send me, loving him before I even meet him. You know what I mean? Loving everything about him, how about loving me first. I think that’s one of the things we have to go into relationships with, I didn’t do before with my kids’ dad. I used to put a lot of responsibility on him for the marriage dissolving but I had as much to do with it. Did I come into the marriage saying, “I already love you. Let’s make it work”? No, I was like, “Look! You prove to me why I should love you.” You can’t do that. You got to go into it, “I love you like I love myself. We’re going to do this thing together and make it work.” I’m not going to go into it like that anymore. There is a song on the cd called “Like This”, it talks about being in love from the first kiss. Not him making you fall in love with him.