Most guys strumming a guitar outside on a wintry day are probably hoping some kindly passersby will throw a few coins in their yawning instrument cases.

It was certainly cold Thursday on the grounds of Bride Brook Health and Rehabilitation Center in East Lyme. But Braiden Sunshine, the 20-year-old singer-songwriter, Old Lyme native and former finalist on "The Voice," who was on hand to perform for room-bound residents, was not playing for tips.

On the contrary. Sunshine was there simply to provide a little music in arduous times. And, given the understandably strict regulations about civilian access to a nursing home during the coronavirus, the idea was that Sunshine would be positioned on the exterior of the facility so folks in the building could look out their windows and see and hear him sing.

In fact, given the geometric layout of Bride Brook, Sunshine did four separate mini-sets at various strategic positions on the perimeter so a maximum number of residents had visual contact no matter which wing they reside in.

Braiden has performed at Bride Brook before as part of their ongoing series of music programs but not, obviously, during a pandemic. And if playing outside in a hopscotched series of impromptu stages was the way to do it, he was ready.

"The Bride Brook residents are the sweetest people. They love the musical performance programs there and have been so kind to me," Sunshine says. "But it's hard. They're isolated. They haven't ceased to exist. And when (Bride Brook director of recreation) Julie (Boros) reached out with this idea, I was happy to help. Plus, I'm isolated, too. I'm happy to get to play and practice my craft."

Boros said the idea for the rotating outdoor performance actually came a few weeks ago from another familiar local musician, Kipp Sturgeon, who participated regularly in the Bride Brook music programs before the virus curtailed such activities.

"We've been trying so hard to keep our residents upbeat and engaged," Boros said. "This is such a tough thing and anything we can do to make it a little easier and fun is important." Boros said Sunshine immediately accepted the offer to play and that he's a favorite at the facility.

Whirlwind 'tour'

For Bride Brook, Sunshine and his mother, Elizabeth Sunshine, had charmingly and resourcefully adapted Braiden's childhood wagon into a small platform for amplification and power, and towed it from one performance spot to the next. Boros was also on hand, and all were properly masked and gloved and maintaining safe distance. The building is three stories high, and the design is such that Sunshine set up facing into right angles where one wing meets another.

Residents were clearly visible, waving and smiling through windows poignantly decorated with cutout paper hearts carefully marked with respective room numbers to provide identification to loved ones whose only way to visit is from outside.

The temperature was in the low 40s, and menacing gray clouds hovered like prison guards. On one of the trees near Sunshine's first set, an actual icicle hung from a branch near a patch of frosted bark. Sunshine, in jeans, boat shoes and a hooded jacket, and with a neatly trimmed beard that would probably amaze fans across the country who came to love his boyish charisma during his long run on "The Voice" in 2015, kept flexing his fretboard hand, trying to get it warm.

"It's brisk, I'll tell you that," Sunshine said over the microphone after calling out greetings. He tried a few chords and laughed. "OK, it's really cold. But it's gonna be fine."

And with that, he broke into Jim Croce's "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" and was off. He played three or four songs at each stop, ranging from oldies like "Blue Moon," "Summertime," "The Girl From Ipanema"  and "Fly Me to the Moon" to newer standards including "Mrs. Robinson," "Oh Darling" and "Sweet Caroline" — the latter of which resulted in some residents doing the Fenway Park sway and helping out with the vocal "Ba-ba-ba" punctuations on the chorus.

Between songs, Braiden shared anecdotes and messages of positivity and appreciation. He waved at various faces peering from windows and reiterated what a privilege it was to play for them.

Making new plans

Sunshine was in his sophomore year at the University of Connecticut when the virus shut things down. He started as a music major but is now undecided. "My goal is to have a career in music," he said in a separate interview, "but I want college to provide something I can fall back on."

He's now at his parents' house, where he's continuing classes online and has built a functional studio/rehearsal room. After "The Voice," Sunshine toured nationally and utilized his exposure to gain valuable experience. He also said, "I had a complete blast, but I've been a working musician since I was a kid. And because of that, I didn't socialize normally, so I wanted the college experience to just experience life and go to school for a while."

He's writing and recording new songs with the idea that, when COVID-19 passes, he'll have an album ready as well as a set plan in place for performances and approaches to music industry folks. It's been rewarding work, and he's kept up with school, but he's very much missed performing.

"I haven't played out in a month," he said. "Julie's call (to play Bride Brook) was like a gift. I've loved playing there because it reinforces the fact that music is a gift. Music helps people and age doesn't matter."

"I enjoyed it so much," said 91-year-old Bride Brook resident Claudia Shapiro. "I opened my window so I could hear better, and it was cold but it was worth it. It made me want to go dancing. My husband and I used to go dancing every Saturday night and this reminded me of that. It's so nice of Braiden to do this and he's so talented. We all love talking about him and then here he was!"

David Lewis, whose mother is a Bride Brook resident, heard that Sunshine was coming to perform and was very grateful. "We've all got to do what we can in these times," he sais. "Julie does such a wonderful job at Bride Brook and she called my mother and said, 'Braiden's coming,' and then mom called me. Mom really enjoys music and you can tell when something like this has happened because she's so uplifted."

Along the way

Over the course of an hour, as Sunshine performed, he and his mother would converse as they moved from one "stage" to another. Then, while he played, Elizabeth would get on the phone. During the next set break, they'd talk more. It turned out they were finalizing plans with Rod Cornish, owner of Hot Rod Café in New London, to provide a Friday lunchtime delivery of some meals of hot wings to medical personnel at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London.

"Braiden is a great kid," Cornish said. "When he told us his idea for donating money to help provide meals, I remembered three loyal customers, Darlene Davis, Ron Twitty and Theresa Donatelli, who had left money with me to help people in need of food."

Cornish combined the customers' donations with the Sunshines' and delivery and cooking help from his own staff to make it happen.

"It's something that just seemed like a good idea," Braiden said. "And it just happened to come together (on Thursday)."

With that, the multi-tasking musician prepared for the fourth and final set, which took place by the facility's rear entrance just as it was time for an employee shift change so that they got to watch, as well.

"This was so great," Braiden said. "You know, I live 500 yards from my grandmother. I can't hug her or visit her, and I'm not sure she understands why I can't do that. I thought about that a lot while I was playing today and looking at those faces in those windows. This thing we're going through is bizarre and no one knows how to navigate forward. Maybe we have to be distanced physically, but we don't have to be emotionally. We have to be together any way we can."

r.koster@theday.com