Georgia native musical dynamo
Erica Sunshine Lee – and her signature chunky dunk
Erica is a Georgia native from a small town named Elberton. She sang in the church choir early in life and loved the piano, although her family could not afford lessons.
In 2001, Erica worked her way through college, near San Francisco Bay area, graduating from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. While in college, she started singing in local karaoke bars. She met several musicians and was invited to join a group called Rodeo Clowns. She was their lead singer for two years. Later, she formed her own band, learned to play guitar, and started writing music.
Erica’s music and songwriting led her to Nashville in 2012 where she began recording her songs. Her first time in Key West was for the 2012 Key West Songwriters Festival. She said Nashville never felt like home – it always felt like a work trip. Key West immediately felt like a home away from home and she quickly made friends. She loves the beach and ocean, the Key West culture, and the amazing music scene.
She has performed 250-300 times annually since 2007 and travels the entire country when she leaves Key West in late May. She has performed in Europe on several occasions and has been drawn to the islands of the South Pacific and performed in Australia and New Zealand. Erica was the Trop Rock Music Association (TRMA) Female Artist of the Year for four years (2020 -2023) and has released two Trop Rock albums (Same Ship Different Day, Buried Treasure). She still records country music and has released eleven total albums. Her repertoire spans country, outlaw, pop, and trop rock with her sassy southern “don’t mess with me” attitude.
Erica has written over 1800 songs and sold over 20,000 records. In her spare time, she has penned three children’s books. When I asked how do you find time to do all the scheduling, booking, logistics and find time to write and be creative, she responded “you can make excuses or just make it happen.” She also finds time to paddleboard and enjoy the water.
She agrees that New Orleans is the most similar music scene to Key West, with its music community and ethereal mystic draw and inspiration for musicians. She finds it very special to be a musician on Duval St. with the diversity of styles and music from Hog’s Breath Saloon to Irish Kevin’s along with a million tourists from all over the world. New musicians come to town all the time keeping everything fresh. She has friends from Nashville from years ago like Andy Wescott from Homemade Wine now with his own band in Key West. She is amazed that all the cool nooks and crannies with its small town charm and conch pride from the Cuban Coffee Queen to the Bagatelle.
Erica says with a name like Sunshine, it’s hard to get bored. She lives life to the fullest. On her Erica’s America Tour, she bikes in National Parks. She also enjoys hiking in the mountains, taking kayaks tours, and runs river rapids… never a dull moment. During the COVID shutdown, she spent eight weeks at her parents’ home and then was back on the road.
At her first Songwriters Festival, one of her gigs was poolside and she played one of her songs, “Chunky Dunk” (“… if you can’t skinny dip, chunky dunk”). 
After the song, she handed her guitar to someone and jumped into the pool. The next year, they had her playing on Sunset Pier and she did the same thing but that time it was about a ten-foot higher drop into the water. The ‘chunky dunk’ became her signature move that was repeated quite a few times.
One day, Erica was crashing poolside at Casa Marina and was feeling a little under the weather. She was thinking about her dreams to opening for Jimmy Buffett and imagining how cool it would be if she were able meet and hang out with him for a day. She started writing and her “My Buffett List” was born, with lyrics like “Before I kick the bucket, I want to raise one hell of a ruckus, and get ship faced and stoned with Jimmy Buffett.”
They never got to share the stage but Erica is grateful for all the people that Jimmy Buffett brought into her life through the Parrotheads and his amazing music. She feels it was more than his music – he brought healing and much happiness to everyone.
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