Described on her official website as having "an East Texas accent so pronounced you could pick her out in a crowded honky-tonk from across the room," Sunny Sweeney certainly has plenty of attitude and down-home swagger.
Her debut album, Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame, was, according to Allmusic reviewer, Michael Berrick, "a refreshing slice of traditional honky tonk enlivened with a dollop of rock & roll energy" and was in stark contrast to many pop-country albums released at the time.
Sunny Sweeney's Country Influences
So who are Sunny's main influences? "I really don't have that many influences outside of my old-school Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard," she replies. "I just love them."
"Out of the new country, I love Josh Turner," she continues. "I love his voice; I think he's a great singer. My main Nashville influences are Guy Clark, Radney Foster, Darrell Scott, those kind of people."
The Beginnings of a Life Spent Entertaining
Born in Longview Texas, Sunny initially had rather different ambitions and moved to New York to pursue a career in comedy.
"I did improv comedy in Austin and then moved to New York, did stand up, did improv and then moved back," she recalls. "It was fun, but it's not like a main thing in my career, or anything. All I can say is that I use that sometimes, still now, on stage."
Does she see any similarities between being a comedienne and a country singer?
"Yeah, there are," she replies. "Improv is like playing with a band and if you're doin' stand-up, it's like if you're playing solo acoustic. I'd much rather play with a band and I'd much rather do improv than stand-up. It's like a security thing where you can be surroundered by people."
A New Direction: From Comedy to Music
Who encouraged Sunny to try her hand at singing professionally? "One of my comedians," she answers. "He was my mentor and he said 'try singing, start a band'. I was like 'you can't just start a band' and he was like 'sure you can, do it'. So I did."
Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame was a mixture of covers and original songs, three of which were penned by Sunny herself. What does she plan to do for her second album?
"I'm actually gonna write more for the second album, whenever that may be," she says. "I think I have good taste in music and that's one of the compliments I get in reviews, that I pick out good songs. I don't care if I wrote it, or if you wrote it, or whatever. I just want it to be the best."
Future Collaborations
Being such a fan of more established country artists, is there anyone in particular she would like to duet with on her second album?
"Merle Haggard," she replies with a nervous laugh." Does she think it will happen? "No - I mean I hope so," she says. "We haven't asked him yet."
Sunny Sweeney is clearly someone who loves what she's doing and doing what she loves. Her passion and enthusiasm for country music is infectious and can clearly be heard in her music, whether she is performing a song of her own, or injecting new life into a country classic.
In an age when so much country music is manufactured, Sunny Sweeney is, most definitely, a real honky tonk girl.
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