Young EmiSunshine wants to make you happy

Eleven-year-old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist EmiSunshine will perform Thursday at the Cox Capitol Theatre.

A prodigy, Emi began singing pure tones and humming melodies at about 10 months old, according to her website. At a young age, she began singing in church and at age 5 wrote her first song, "My Time to Fly." She recorded her first two albums at age 7 and learned how to play guitar and mandolin at age 9.

Emi counts Buddy and Julie Miller, Dolly Parton and Sister Thorpe among those artists who inspire her, and her performance of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel No. 6" at a flea market went viral on YouTube in 2014, leading to its airing on the "Today Show" and catapulting her career.

Now performing about 150 shows a year, Emi tours with her family, including her father, Randall Hamilton, on upright bass, her brother on mandolin and her Uncle Bobby on drums.

"What makes me want to do this is I just love it. I just really, really love it. I wouldn't trade anything not to do this," she said on her website.

"I love how I get to sing to people and make them happy," she says. "I'm really blessed that I get to do this. It makes me feel amazing, like I'm touching somebody's life."

-- Laura Shirley

EmiSunshine

When: 8 p.m. Jan. 21

Where: Cox Capitol Theatre, 382 Second St.

Cost: $15 advance, $20 day of show

Information: 478-257-6391; www.coxcapitoltheatre.com

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Young EmiSunshine wants to make you happy ."