Up & Coming New Nashville- Sunny Ledfurd

This week's Up & Coming New Nashville column will be a little different- we're letting the artist highlighted write their own reveal. Enjoy a little history on an artist named Sunny Ledfurd.

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunny Ledfurd Greatest Hits 2003-2009. I know a lot of you may be saying, "Greatest Hits? I've never even heard of him." Well...while I haven't been a staple on radio or seen on MTV, CMT, or what have it, I have been making music for over a decade and will continue to do so until the clock runs out. As my shows around the country began to attract bigger and bigger audiences, I thought it would be cool for new listeners to have an opportunity to buy just one CD instead of five or six different ones. With that being said, let me tell you a little about myself to bring you up to date. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and raised in Cramerton, North Carolina, I taught myself guitar at the age of fifteen. I knew then that was how I would make a living. Two things were for sure: I could pick a guitar and I knew a lot of songs. Never considering myself a singer, I said screw it and jumped right in. At age seventeen, I began to play in many of the local bars whenever I could. I learned to play all kinds of songs. I can now play songs for days, without repeating a single one. I don’t know how many days or songs, but it’s a lot. The bars taught me to appreciate a good song and good times. To me, until this day, the small bars are the best place to play and listen to live music. There may be smoke, but no smoke and mirrors. It’s just you, the guitar, and whoever is in there. I will always play in bars.

I grew up listening to my Mom's records, Glenn Campbell, Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, The Carpenters, etc... As a teenager I graduated to Guns n Roses, Snoop Dog and David Allan Coe among many. I love to mix genres and push the envelope. I've always liked artists that you can tell they have something to say. They're not just singing some words 'cause it sounds cool. Every song I sing is about ninety percent autobiographical. I can write about partying and drinking because I do it. I write about beautiful women and bitches because I’ve dealt with them. After numerous rejections in the early 2000’s from every major label from Los Angeles to Nashville, I finally made the decision that if I was going to make it I would have to do it myself. All the labels kept telling me was that I couldn’t say this or that. I was like why not? Have you ever listened to David Allan Coe, Tupac, and Eminem? How the hell did they ever put anything out? It was like because I was white and played an acoustic guitar I was supposed to make some type of yuppie music. I wasn’t going to be a monkey on a string singing songs about falling in love,broken hearts and drinkin’ a six pack. I was chasing girls and getting hammered. I knew if I wanted to do what was really in my heart, where my head was at, I would have to go at it alone... but I wasn't alone as I would come to find out.

Using money from acoustic cover shows played in bars all over the Carolina’s, I built a home studio. I had to be able to record whenever I wanted…when the inspiration came. These songs you’re hearing, those are the actual first takes. They’re not the most professional recordings but the feeling and energy is there.

From 2003 to 2009, I released six albums in which I started to gain listeners from all walks of life and all over the country. It's the feedback I got during this time from people at shows and on the internet that have continued to inspire me to stay the course. There has been no middle man in these songs. They are straight from my garage to your ears. So once again, thanks for listening and I hope to see you soon in a bar, honky-tonk, or arena near you.