Culture
Sunny Sweeney talks evolution with Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, and new album ‘Rhinestone Requiem’
By: Ian Saint
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LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WOUB) – When Trisha Yearwood set out to create her first album made entirely of co-writes — this summer’s The Mirror — she told GRAMMY.com, “The only writer I sought out and called myself was Sunny.”
That’s enormous validation for Sunny Sweeney, who feared her career was over when Big Machine Records abruptly dropped her in 2012. This came despite Concrete (2011) reaching No. 21 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums, its single From a Table Away breaking into the Hot Country Songs Top 10, and receiving an Academy of Country Music nomination for New Female Vocalist of the Year.
Sweeney rebounded on her own terms, launching Aunt Daddy Records, distributed by Thirty Tigers. She went on to release three acclaimed studio albums, culminating in a feature at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame in the 2023 American Currents exhibit on Texas Country, alongside Charley Crockett, Cody Johnson, and Parker McCollum.
Now touring behind Diamonds and Divorce Decrees – her fourth self-released album distributed by Thirty Tigers since 2014 – Sweeney plays the Winchester Music Tavern (12112 Madison Ave.) Sunday and Columbus’ Woodlands Tavern (1200 W. 3rd Ave.) September 24.
Ahead of those shows, she spoke with WOUB’s Ian Saint. A transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
IAN SAINT: I recently interviewed Vince Gill, who duetted Married Alone on your previous album. How was collaborating with Vince?
SUNNY SWEENEY: The most surreal moment of my musical career. He’s my friend, but I was nervous to ask. What if he says “no”? Then I called and asked “would you mind singing this with me?” And he said “oh, I’d love to.”
You just released Rhinestone Requiem. The instrumentation is fantastic — who’s in the band?
SWEENEY: I produced the record with Harley Husbands on guitar; he’s on the road with me. The rest of the band is all Texas guys I’m friends with back home: Tommy Detamore on steel, Brad Fordham on bass, Tom Lewis on drums, Henri Herbert on piano, Jake Clayton on fiddle. My road band learned all the parts impeccably — everything sounds exciting, and I’m having a good time out here.
I enjoy your Erin Enderlin co-writes. How did Is Tonight the Night and I Drink Well With Others manifest?
SWEENEY: Erin’s one of my best friends; we’ve probably been writing together 15 years. We often bring another person into our co-writes. Erin started Is Tonight the Night; then she brought in Ben Chapman, and we finished it. I brought Gary Nicholson on I Drink Well With Others; it’s just a silly song I ended up loving, and now it’s one of the biggest deals at my show — we’ve got I Drink Well With Others merch. It’s crazy when songs you wouldn’t expect go over so well.
You and Erin co-wrote Goodnight Cruel World on Trisha Yearwood’s The Mirror, and she brought you on tour – I loved catching that in Texas. Given her candor about confronting decades of songwriting insecurity at 60, what’s it like helping a world-famous icon tap into that talent?
SWEENEY: The weirdest thing is we looked at Trisha as a massive star — untouchable, nothing could get her down. Then to hear her say that, makes her even more real than we already knew she is. It’s not something that just we struggle with. When Trisha asked me about co-writing, I said I’d absolutely love to write with her. Then every time we had plans, she’d cancel. I’d wonder, what’s going on? She was really nervous — so it’s flattering that she’d even consider me someone she feels comfortable writing with.
I love Trisha and her husband (Garth Brooks) so much. They’re so kind, welcoming, and supportive. And when that comes from the top, (songwriting) is comfortable and fun. Me, Erin, and Trisha spent most of the time laughing, because we’re all demented and our personalities are wild.
That’s funny, I wouldn’t have pictured that dynamic while imagining Goodnight Cruel World’s creation.
SWEENEY: Exactly. That’s the greatest part about writing, though, Ian. You can hang, then work on ideas we’d talked about — some heavy, some laughing about silly stuff. Erin brought up Goodnight Cruel World with this beautiful melody, and we were all into it because the world is very weird right now. That’s how the best products come out: when everyone understands the assignment.
When you performed Diamonds and Divorce Decrees on Trisha’s tour, I was amazed that you were telling thousands of strangers about sore subjects like divorces, rent struggles, moving back in with Mom — and made it hilarious.
SWEENEY: We all struggle; that’s what makes you human. My goal is to make music that other people see themselves in, even if it’s not necessarily something I’d meant — I have a love song about my dog, but other people use it as a wedding song. Music is subjective. I used to get stressed-out about singing songs that made me flashback to bad parts of my life; but then fans would be like, “this song reminds me of my Mom when I was a little kid.” That isn’t what I meant in the song at all; but that’s amazing, because it gives me different angles to look at.
Does hearing how your Big Machine songs have impacted people help soften the sting of revisiting those years?
SWEENEY: Yeah. I’m so grateful for my time on Big Machine, but it was a dark time in my life because I just wanted to make music; and I learned the hard way, very quickly, that not everybody has your best interests at heart, unfortunately… but also fortunately, because now I can help other people — young girl artists, especially, hit me up for advice. I honestly feel that things have been put in my way to learn, so that I can go forward in my life and help other people.
Taylor Swift’s Big Machine album debut was within just a few months of yours. I can’t think of any artist who parallels Taylor’s record debut so closely as you.
SWEENEY: She’s one of the nicest humans I’ve ever met. I haven’t seen or talked with Taylor in a long time, but we used to do label events together — she was so smart, and much older (mentally) than 16 when we’d met. Watching her (evolution) is incredible, because we started on the label at the same time. It proves that everybody has a different path; (we’re) no exception, and you just have to take the path that you’re given and work with what you have. This is so far-fetched, but my goal is to have Taylor reproduce my Big Machine records as “Sunny’s Version.”
That’d be fantastic.
SWEENEY: I think so, too. I love putting stuff into the universe and seeing what happens. You never know.
For Sunny Sweeney tour dates, visit https://www.sunnysweeney.com/tour.