Entertainment

Sisaundra, TV host and former Voice contestant, debuts joyous new country single

April 5, 2024

By: Brennan Stebbins

As Sisaundra says in the first few moments of her new single: Y’all know I’m a country girl, so let me take y’all back to my church in the groves and sing this old country song for you.

The Florida native and daughter of a sharecropper and pastor started singing in her father’s church when she was just five years old. There were no musicians in the congregation, so everything was performed a cappella with plenty of foot stomping and hand clapping. But Sisaundra’s father was determined that someone needed to learn some instruments––his own children.

“One day, my sister was running down the road as I was getting off the school bus, and she said to hurry up and come home,” Sisaundra recalls. “I’m running down the road, and then they opened up the back of the camper of the truck, and there was a beautiful blue sparkling drum set that he bought for me.”

She came home another time to find a new piano waiting in the living room. She never did master that instrument, but she did “pretty well” as a drummer and went on to play in church for several years.

Now, though, Sisaundra is known for her voice––and for hosting The Sisaundra Show and AFROJams, both shows on AFRO TV––but releasing a country track for her new single might take some by surprise. She toured internationally for years with R&B artist Peabo Bryson, who also toured with Céline Dion. Sisaundra performed for ten years with Cirque du Soleil’s show La Nouba and then went on five major world tours with Dion, who hired her as her vocal director.

But then there came a day when Sisaundra decided she would completely retire from the music business and stay home to take care of her kids. Daughter Rasheedah, though, couldn’t believe her mother was letting her dream as a singer fizzle out.

“My daughter saw me sitting at home relaxing one day and was like what are you doing? You’re a singer, you’re just getting rid of your dream,” Sisaundra recalls. “I said I want to spend time with you guys and she said you told us never give up on your dreams and I’m not going to let you give up on yours.”

Her children came together and encouraged her to try out for season six of The Voice––she went to New York and did just that, performing the Aretha Franklin song “Ain’t No Way.” Each of the four judges: Adam Levine, Usher, Shakira and Blake Shelton, turned their chairs for her, and Sisaundra decided to go with Shelton, the country star, and advanced to the quarterfinals.

And that, in a nutshell, is what inspired Sisaundra’s latest country release. Or rather, the cowgirl boots she was gifted by Shelton. Out of the blue, she opted to wear them to work one day and soon found herself humming and dancing in them.

“Of course, being on Blake Shelton’s team and being so close with someone who’s iconic in the country is inspiring all in itself,” she says. “Once I started singing this song I thought, ‘This feels good.’ And it was not a difficult song to put together. I felt like we were just a vessel for the message, and it really flowed through us. We did what felt natural for us, and that was to deliver the message and the music of this song.”

Sisaundra said the goal of the song is to “warm people’s hearts and lift up their spirits,” and the lyrics speak to a constant presence in her life: her faith in God.

“It’s declaring that He is risen, and He remains the same,” she says. “We can count on Him.”

Musically, she calls it a tapestry of genres.

“I love to say that because I have the country there and then it’s soul, it’s a little R&B and rock,” she says.

Sisaundra and her band have written more than a dozen new songs, and she says to “keep your ears open” for new singles and a full album later this year. In the meantime, fans can catch her and her band weekdays at 7 p.m. on Comcast/Xfinity 1623; the show features plenty of live bands and music.

Stay connected to Sisaundra on all platforms for new music, videos and social posts.

Website: https://www.sisaundra.live