Sunny Sweeney Signs With Thirty Tigers
Country music singer/songwriter Sunny Sweeney has signed with Thirty Tigers and will begin working on her next album.
Earlier this year, the Longview, Texas native was nominated for the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Vocalist of the Year Award. Previously signed to both Big Machine Records and its sister label Republic Nashville, Sweeney released two critically acclaimed albums: Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame and Concrete. The latter album featured the Top Ten hit “From a Table Away,” which was the highest charting Billboard debut single from a female country artist in four years.
“I have long been a fan of Thirty Tigers and the amazing roster of talent they have worked with through the years, and am thrilled to become part of their family,” said Sweeney. “I can’t wait to share my new music with my fans!”
"Most of the time, it’s the managers or attorneys that initiate discussions about artist relationships. In this case, I reached out, hat in hand, expressing how much we'd love to work with Sunny,” said David Macias, President and Co-Founder, Thirty Tigers. “I'm such a fan of hers and I'm incredibly excited that she is joining the family. We're looking forward to working with Sunny, as well as the incredibly talented team of people she's surrounded herself with."
The Austin Chronicle wrote, “Sunny Sweeney's got the chops: a hard-bitten Texas twang that can cut with both coyness and attitude, unapologetic about the kind of country she was raised on.”
In its review of 2011 release Concrete, Country Weekly said, “Sunny Sweeney breaks into the boys’ club that country radio has largely become over the past several months with enough tough-chick twang to rival country’s current purveyor Miranda Lambert. This Texas-bred singer knows how to convey heartfelt and complex emotions with one clever turn of a phrase...But make no mistake, that girl-next-door innocence is short-lived. This singer can turn sassy when scorned… if Music City can handle one more tough-and-tender female country singer, Sunny can surely shine in that slot.”
For more about Sweeney, visit www.sunnysweeney.com or follow her on Twitter at @GettinSweenered.
About Thirty Tigers Records
Thirty Tigers is a marketing and distribution company that has served as a label infrastructure for a client base including The Avett Brothers, Flogging Molly, Ryan Bingham, Jason Isbell, Trampled By Turtles, Elizabeth Cook, and many others in their 12 years of working with Sony/RED Distribution. www.thirtytigers.com
Sunny Sweeney: Songfacts.com
With independent-minded singer/songwriters like Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert making inroads into the country music mainstream, there's hope for the equally feisty and assertive Sunny Sweeney, a talented singer/songwriter from Longview, Texas. Perhaps Sweeney's nomination for the ACM Awards' Top New Female Artist award at the 2013 ceremony is evidence that you don't need to be a supermodel/vocalist, like Martina McBride or Faith Hill, to get The Academy's attention. This is not to suggest that Sweeney isn't also pretty; she just has more songwriting skills under the hood.
Like many great songwriters, Sweeney seems to find song inspiration almost everywhere. Who else but a songwriter would pass by a used car lot and somehow get a love song out of it? Well, Sweeney is just such a perceptive artist.
Dan MacIntosh (Songfacts): When it comes to songwriting, how do you know when you've written a good song?
Sunny Sweeney: When fans say that they like it, that's usually when I think, 'Oh,' because you don't always think every song's great. You kind of have like an idea, but fan validation is the test.
Songfacts: Have fans ever not liked a song that you really liked?
Sunny: Not too terribly vocal about it. But there have been some that have been not as excited about older songs. Fans are so excited to hear new music, because they always want to keep up with you and what you're doing.
Songfacts: Are there songs that you didn't realize were as good as they were until the fans got into them?
Sunny: There are a couple like that. I have one that we do with just me and Jake, who plays the piano, and I knew it was a good song, but people freaked out over it.
Songfacts: Really, what's that?
Sunny: It's called "Carolina on the Line." We're not doing it tonight, because we had to fly here, so we don't have all of our gear. But it's really cool. Fans really like that song.
Songfacts: Do you think it resonated because maybe they're from that region of the country?
Sunny: I think it's just a relatable song. And it's totally different from anything I've ever done. Shock factor had something to do with it, too.
Songfacts: Because it's quieter?
Sunny: Yeah.
Songfacts: Okay. I'm going to ask you at the risk of asking a mother to choose her favorite children, if you could talk about some of the favorite songs that you've written?
Sunny: Well, that's one of them, "Carolina on the Line." There's a new one called "Used Cars" that I really like. One of my favorite songs ever is off my record Concrete called "Amy." I love that song. I love "Drink Myself Single." There's a couple that I really love.
Songfacts: What can you tell me about "Used Cars"?
Sunny: I was married before. I got divorced and I just didn't think I would want to get married again. Then I didn't think that I would ever find someone that would be really good for me - it seemed like more trouble than it was worth.
There's a used car dealership next door to this shithole that I played in Austin. I just happened to be driving by, and I saw it, and there was this one shiny car on the lot. I thought, 'Huh.' So I kept that title for a really long time, and then I was writing with my friend Natalie Hemby one day and I said, "Had this weird idea. I don't know if you'll think it's cool or if there's even anything to it." And I told her, and she's like, "Yes, we're writing that." So it's about finding love again, basically.
Songfacts: And so it's like that diamond in the rough. Like you don't expect to find anything good?
Sunny: That's the beginning of the song. "Diamond in the rough, there's a gem waiting in the junkyard." It says that.
Songfacts: Interesting. Now, as a songwriter, do you have a radar; like, if you see something or you see someone and you say, 'Oh, that just looks like song material?'
Sunny: Oh, every day, all day.
Songfacts: Do you drive your friends crazy?
Sunny: All day. I drive myself crazy because I don't have enough time to write as much as I want to.
Songfacts: You said that you co-wrote that song. How often do you co-write songs?
Sunny: Pretty much all the time now. I used to only write by myself, but once I started co writing, I really enjoy it. It's somebody to bounce something off of all the time.
Songfacts: I know that some people, it's their babies and they don't want anyone else to touch it.
Sunny: The people I write with are really talented. And so I very rarely have not gotten the song that I thought it would be when we went in to write it.
Songfacts: Do you have go-to co writers?
Sunny: I have a couple that I always write with. And then I love writing with new people, too.
Songfacts: And you're okay with being thrown into a strange situation?
Sunny: Oh, yeah.
Songfacts: When was the last time that that happened that you really came out with a good song?
Sunny: Writing with a stranger? Like, completely didn't know 'em?
Songfacts: Yeah.
Sunny: Probably the most recent one that I didn't know would be probably Will Hoge or Natalie Hemby.
Songfacts: What did you write with Will?
Sunny: I just wrote with him last week, and it's called "Bad Actress." It's a pretty cool song.
Songfacts: You have great titles for your songs. Does it have to start with a good title to be a good song or can it be a good song and then think of a title later?
Sunny: I usually start with a title.
Songfacts: It's almost like a movie trailer
Sunny: Totally. I think so.
Songfacts: What are you working on right now?
Sunny: I'm writing a ton and I'm playing shows and we're going to start planning the next record soon. So.
Songfacts: And are you excited about the ACMs?
Sunny: Yeah.
Songfacts: Do you like getting all gussied up?
Sunny: Oh, yeah. Every girl loves that. Put on your nighttime eyelashes.
Academy of Country Music Awards - Sunny Sweeney
ACM Week Memories....
Sunny enjoyed a great ACM weekend in Las Vegas and here are just a few more of the highlights....
Las Vegas Weekly
On Friday night I headed down to the Fremont Street Experience to catch Sunny Sweeney as part of the free ACM Weekend shows. As is often the case with free concerts on Fremont, the crowd was a mix of interested fans and curious gawkers who stopped to see what the fuss was about. Sweeney, the first act of the night, won over much of the crowd thanks to her affable charm and rollicking, attitude-filled songs.
Photos Courtesy of Getty Images/Courtesy Academy of Country Music