Sunny Cowell is a singer, songwriter, viola player and guitarist. Growing up in the household of her jazz composer and musician father, Stanley Cowell, Sunny began singing and writing music at an early age. She wrote her first song, “Hear Me One” at 5 years old which became the title tune on one of Stanley Cowell’s albums in 1997. At 8 years old, Sunny began classical training on the violin. By 12 years old, she had begun classical study of the viola. Sunny was featured as a jazz violist and vocalist at the Montreal International Jazz Fest in 2004. She was also featured on a week-long music tour in France which included Sunside Club in Paris, Festival La Seyne Sur Mer, and Jazz Festival Foix in 2005.
While attending Swarthmore College, Sunny was a vocalist and composer in Essence of Soul, Swarthmore’s R&B and Soul a cappella group, and she was a member of the Fetter Chamber Quartet. During her time in college, she began teaching herself to play the guitar, adding it to her arsenal of musical instruments. In 2010, Sunny was featured as a singer and violist on Stanley Cowell’s album “Prayer for Peace.” In 2014 she appeared on a Mezzo Live HD TV, France show on vocals and viola. In 2010, upon graduation from Swarthmore College, Sunny attended the University of Maryland School of Law, and served as the Music Director for the school's a cappella group, Legally Sound. She continued to perform and write her own music for voice and guitar while obtaining her J.D. In 2015, Sunny released her first solo EP-CD "Insecure.”
Now, Sunny is also a practicing attorney as well as a musician. Sunny graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2013. In 2019, Sunny started her collaboration with Baltimore-based artists Mighty Mark and TT The Artist on the single “Center of Attention”. The audiovisual for this song won Best Music Video at Indie X Film Festival, Los Angeles. Sunny’s next single “Nothing Else” featuring TT The Artist and Mighty Mark will be released on December 10, 2021 on Club Queen Records, TT The Artist’s independent label which represents female artists of color. Club Queen Records will also be releasing Sunny’s full album, Anthology of Love in 2022. This project features the iconic sound of Baltimore club music, with catchy melodies, multi-harmony voices, acoustic instruments- flute and viola, and a soulful lead vocal. Anthology of Love is executive produced by Baltimore’s own Maquis Gasque (AKA “Mighty Mark”), a pioneer of Baltimore Club Music. The album is a love story that acknowledges the perspective of the writer (Sunny) who copes with anxiety while she is learning and discovering what constitutes a healthy relationship.
Sunny is admittedly an R&B artist, but she continues to occasionally dabble in other genres of music. In March 2020, cl released “You Belong Here”, a future bass collaboration with EDM crossover artist SATVRN (now Neil Nines) aka Neil Paul. Sunny continues to maintain an active music career. Airplay and radio interviews include KPFA-FM Radio Berkeley CA, WKCR-FM Columbia University NYC, WPFW-FM Washington DC, WYPR-FM and WEAA-FM in Baltimore MD. Recent performances include An Die Muzik (Baltimore), The Village Vanguard (NYC), Howard University (DC), The Contemporary Art Museum (Baltimore), The Baltimore Museum of Art, Smoke Jazz Club (NYC), The Monterey Jazz Festival (CA), Keystone Korner Baltimore, Motor House (Baltimore), and the Center Club Baltimore.
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Sunny and her music have been featured on ABC-WMAR 2 News, Roku channels in a segment by Hearst Media, WEAA 88.9 FM, and the Living a Rich Life Talk Show on BeExposedRadio.com.
