In his relatively short 18 years, Old Lyme resident Braiden Sunshine has done exceedingly well with his musical career.The Voice came calling, providing an opportunity that several other Connecticut residents - including Javier Colon and Sawyer Fredericks - have also capitalized on successfully.Sitting In At ReedThe Newtown Bee, which opened talking about his image - particularly his eyewear. Glasses on, Braiden exudes an appealing Buddy Holly kind of charm, but glasses off, he transforms into a more mature looking teen heartthrob.The Voice, but he has amassed an album's worth of new material since then, and he plans on breaking out at least a couple of those new tunes on May 20.Branching OutThe Voice, I've been giving serious thought to acting, especially screen acting."visiting his website and Facebook page.

It is even more impressive when you consider that besides some earlier singing in a local choir, he gathered some like-minded friends and self produced his own album at the age of 12, following up a year later with a second solo album, and going on to perform up and down the East Coast, opening for national artists like Huey Lewis and Blues Traveler.

Then in 2015, the star making television series 

The Voice and kept on rising.

His turn on the show in 2015 saw the young artist bloom from a confident contender to a performer who deserved to go so much further than semifinalist status. But Braiden took all that he learned and the national fame he gained on 

For the next two years, according to his bio, Braiden began work on a new album, releasing his first three songs digitally with enthusiastic reaction from his followers and fans on YouTube, and hitting the Top 50 on iTunes with his single, "Reality."

While he is taking a year off to prepare for entering Berklee College of Music in 2019, Braiden is keeping his performance skills sharp by playing shows on weekends.

His latest single, "Heartbeat," is available now, as well as his first self-titled EP, and Newtown residents can see him up close and personal as he headlines the free 2018 Celebrate Sandy Hook concert on Sunday, May 20. The concert will be happeneing no matter what the weather may bring, according to organizers.

That annual event in the park behind Village Perk Cafe, 3 Glen Road in Sandy Hook, is presented by Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity (SHOP). It begins at 6 pm and will conclude with Braiden welcoming some special guests to the stage: students from Reed Intermediate School and Monroe's Jockey Hollow Middle School.

On May 9, a group of roughly 20 Reed students gathered in the one of the school's music rooms to meet and rehearse with the artist. Music teacher Michelle Tenenbaum introduced the students when he arrived, to which he replied: "I'm Braiden Sunshine, and I've been singing… since I was younger than you guys," he said.

Braiden told the students to push themselves and not listen to anyone who tells them they cannot do what they dream to do.

"I know you can do it," Braiden said.

He treated the Reed students to a selection of songs before rehearsing for the upcoming show in Sandy Hook. Shortly before visiting Reed, Braiden had also rehearsed with students at Jockey Hollow.

The next day, he sat down for a quick phone interview with 

So does he have an image consultant?

Voice judge] Gwen Stafani," he said. "I wear the glasses because I actually can't see without them. I have contacts, but they bug me. I normally go with the glasses on, but it depends on whether I'm going out playing in a bar, or if I'm playing at a gala where I have to be all dressed up and suave looking. That's when I put the contacts in. Maybe working with an image team is a great idea."

"No, I'm not working with an image team. The only person I worked with was [

Attendees to the Sandy Hook concert will absolutely hear several of the original songs Braiden performed on 

"I'll definitely be playing a couple of new songs in Newtown," he said. "The new album is in the works, and the whole project is coming along well. It's all original so far, although I've been thinking about doing some collaborations."

Braiden said his creative process lends itself to writing snippets of lyric or music whenever the inspiration strikes, but he has also disciplined himself to make time for writing even when he may not feel the urge.

"I've done both," he said. "But most of the time it's when the inspiration hits because I'm so scatterbrained, that when I sit down and force myself to try and write something, I get distracted and veer off doing something else."

The young artist said while he plays other instruments, but he enjoys writing music primarily on guitar.

Anyone who has seen his stage presence in concert or on television might wonder if Braiden has ever considered expanding his creative pursuits to professional theater.

"I've given that in particular a lot of thought," he said. "When i was younger I used to do a lot of musical theater because my uncle owned a playhouse. So I would go out and audition for things. My issue is that I'm a very poor dancer, so I'm afraid that's where I would get hung up doing musical theater. But since i got off

Braiden said he really looks forward to opportunities like working with the Reed and Jockey Hollow students.

"Honestly, I really love it when I get to do something like this [Sandy Hook concert] because i get to work with so many other great musicians," he said. "And these kids are so good. There was an eighth grade pianist who was absolutely outstanding, and she will be playing [John Lennon's] 'Imagine' for us.

"Just being able to work with these students is a privilege in my eyes. And being able to sing with a larger ensemble behind me adds so much more perspective and so many layers to the song - I see it as a really cool thing, because I don't get to do it very often."

As he completes his general education credits as a freshman UConn Husky, Braiden said he can not wait to get up to Boston and begin exploring other aspects of the music business and broadening his knowledge base at Berklee.

"I'm going to UConn this year to get my Gen Eds out of the way and then to Berklee next year," he said. "I've been a performer for most of my life, but I feel like pumping my songwriting chops up will make me a much better musician in general. But I'd also like to study music production, so I can produce my own stuff and maybe help other people in the future. I'd like to come out of Berklee a much more well-rounded musician."

The Celebrate Sandy Hook concert is free thanks to sponsors Maplewood Senior Living, Ingersoll Auto of Danbury, Webster Bank, The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, KICKS 105.5, Your Connecticut Realtor - Andy Sachs, and PennSMART.

Learn more about Braiden Sunshine by

Check out Braiden Sunshine performing "Amazing Grace"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH5xCd6uDos

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Braiden Sunshine wowed The Voice judges with this audition rendition of his original song, "The Mountain Wins Again"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv-iZzWRcmI

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