The past two years have been a rollercoaster ride for Austin-based singer songwriter Sunny Sweeney. On top of the pandemic, the completion of her fifth studio album MARRIED ALONE was delayed by over twelve months following the electrocution of producer Jeff Saenz, who was due to mix it. Further tragedy was avoided quite recently when Sunny and her bandmates were involved in a motor crash that fortunately left them relatively unscathed. However, better times are most certainly on the way with the forthcoming release of her outstanding new album. Sunny has also been offered a weekday DJ slot on SIRIUS XM’s Willie’s Roadhouse Channel, where she now hosts from 6 am to 12 pm, broadcasting from all over the country when she heads off on tour. We caught up with the vivacious and engaging artist who will more or less be on the road until the end of the year.
You played The Midlands Festival about 15 years ago. What do you remember about that trip to Ireland?
Honestly, you know what I do remember in Ireland was going to the Guinness Brewery and drinking there. We are in the U.K. later in the year but won't get to Ireland this time around, though I want to come back really badly. So hopefully next year. I’m Irish, we used to be O’Sweeney. I guess when my relatives came over, they dropped the ‘O’ and it was just Sweeney, but as you can probably tell I'm very Irish, as are my entire family. We all get sunburned easily.
You had a serious motor incident a few weeks ago. How did that occur and did you sustain any injuries?
Well, we had taken my car for a show instead of a van, which we normally take to the gigs, but there are no vans available right now whatsoever. On this particular day, there were just going to be three of us travelling. So, I just decided to take my car to save gas and all that. We left the gig, had played really early and we were going to drive about five hours to go back to Nashville. After about two hours from Nashville, I was just passing someone that was in the right lane. I was going around them and when I went around them there was a two-hundred-pound deer in the road. We just like popped it, obviously the deer didn't make it, and we just kind of skidded to a stop for a couple of hundred yards, it was really scary. Two of us were not hurt at all, just a little burnt from the airbag and my guitar player hurt his fingers, but they're better now. We're looking at a really frightening experience. We talked about it that night, surprisingly, we don't wreck more often because we’re often driving late when there are drunks on the road.
I was very moved by your social media posts earlier this year when a journalist wrote suggesting you were ‘a one-hit wonder’ with your song From A Table Away, from the album CONCRETE, particularly when you’ve since recorded two excellent studio albums and a live album?
You know, some people think that artists don't have a life, they don't exist, and are not successful because they don't get millions of plays on Spotify. That pissed me off, not because of what he said, it pissed me off because he acted like a keyboard warrior, just saying shit that he doesn’t need to say. It's hurtful more than anything else. I have the thickest skin and you can seldom hurt my feelings, and it didn't really hurt my feelings, it just made me mad. I was just like, ‘who is this guy’? He doesn't realise that I'm out there pumping it day in, day out, playing as much as we can: literally blood, sweat and tears.
You have very recently been given a DJ slot on Sirius Radio XM, with a 6 am to 12pm slot Monday to Friday. How did that come about and what sort of additional pressure does that put you under?
Sirius XM is what we listen to all the time. I've been a fan before it was Sirius XM as I had XM back in the day. I have been offered a couple of these gigs over the years and I've always turned them down because the music sucked on the channel and I would never put myself in a situation to promote something that I thought sucked. Anyway, one day, this guy Jeremy Tepper called me and he said: ‘I know this is super random, but we've been passing your name around for doing a radio show on XM.’ And I was like, ‘ok, which channel’ and he goes ‘Willie's Roadhouse’. And before he even got it out of his mouth, I said, ‘yes, I want to do it.’ I didn’t even ask for any details. It’s been really cool and really fun. The format is basically four or five songs and then you talk and then four or five songs and you talk again. I'll tell you, I have turned into an actual machine, I'm actually not a human anymore, but it's doable, it's totally doable. In terms of content, we play all traditional country, mostly 50s to 80s stuff. Today we actually played a duet that I did with Jessi Colter, a remake of Good Hearted Woman, and so it's stuff that's either traditional country or influenced heavily by traditional country.
We had the pleasure of listening to your latest album MARRIED ALONE, which is due for release in September and we love it.
Thank you. It is a little different from my last albums. But then also there is some stuff on it that I wanted to stay familiar with, I didn't want to piss off the country fans that I have, but I also wanted to broaden my horizons and show more of my other influences and stuff.
Tell me about bringing Paul Cauthen on board to co-produce.
Well, I've known Paul forever, we used to play at the same clubs back in Austin a hundred years ago. He used to be in a band called Sons of Fathers and I followed that band. I loved that band. And then he did his own thing for a while. His voice has always captivated me and his individuality has always captivated me. He is wild as hell but he’s got such a good attitude. To me, he's like a cheerleader, almost like a giant cheerleader. I didn't want to use the same people again on this record, I wanted to go outside of the box. I know how to make country music but needed and wanted some direction to go a little bit outside the box. Paul’s name got tossed around and I thought ‘yes, let’s do it.’ and use Paul. Using Paul also brought Beau Bedford and Jeff Saenz into the mix. So, you know, you’ve heard the album, there's a couple of songs that are like completely out of the box for me, as well as the country ones.
You recorded the album at Modern Electric Sound Recorders in Dallas?
Yes. Dallas is only three hours from Austin, where we all live, so it made it really easy because it was recorded during COVID. We didn't want to get sixteen hours away from home in Nashville and then somebody gets COVID and then not be able to go home and have to be stuck in a hotel in Nashville for you know, two weeks or whatever.
Over how long was the album recorded?
It was over a few sessions in the studio. A full week first, Monday through Friday, long, long days. Ten in the morning till two the following morning. We had the rough mixes for ten songs completed then and we were going to start mixing the record after we did some overdubs and emailed people all over the world who were adding bits as everyone has their own home studio now. We were supposed to start mixing on June 6th 2021. On June 1st the guy that was going to be mixing, Jeff Saenz, got electrocuted and he lost both of his arms. The story is truly amazing and he is pretty damn inspirational. Anyway, when that happened, I kind of just was like: ‘You know what, stop everybody, just stop and get your priorities in check. Who do we think we are? This is Jeff's life, our music is so insignificant compared to anything that he's going through.’ And so, we stopped everything and I just didn't worry about it for like months and was thinking that it'll happen when it happens, I'm not worrying about this anymore. Jeff’s accident was just so eye-opening to me and is still to this day, it makes me realise how fragile everything is. Anyway, we decided finally about six months later to go back in and do two more songs and make it a twelve-song record instead of ten.
Who did you get on board for that final mix?
Ok, so here’s the story. We decided to get Beau Bedford, who was the other producer, to work on these extra two songs, How’d I End Up Lonely Again and Want You To Miss Me. Beau was also going to take over where Jeff left off and mix the whole record. Beau, Jeff and Paul are all close friends and work very well together. On the very last day of mixing, we went up to Dallas and were just hanging out in the studio and waiting for Beau. He had called me that morning and he said ‘hey, I'm gonna be about ten or fifteen minutes late, I’m really tired and can you go to Starbucks and get me two coffees.’ I was thinking that it was a bit weird to ask for two coffees but we got them anyway. But what had happened was that he had gone and collected Jeff and brought him in to finish the album, which was amazing. That was like the last week of December last year and I feel that if we had put those original ten songs out, it would have come out during 2021 when things were still really wild. It's like a two-and-a-half-year process from when we started it. But the timing is probably perfect and I do believe in everything happens for a reason.
You have some big hitters singing with you on the album. Vince Gill, Jim Lauderdale and Courtney Patton all sing alongside you.
Yes. Courtney sang on All I Don’t Need and Jim sang on Someday You’ll Call My Name, which I wrote With Brennen Leigh, who is one of my best friends. That song has actually just gotten into a movie by the way. It’s in a BJ Novak movie that’s actually not out yet, but I saw the preview of it. It's out in July and it's called Vengeance. It's like a whole minute of the song in there, which is pretty cool.
And you have Vince Gill duetting with you on the title track?
Yes. I didn't write the title song Married Alone, but I have had it on hold for two and a half years. I basically fought that nobody would take that song from me because I knew I wanted it. And so anyway, after we recorded it, I just couldn't picture anything else except Vince singing on it. So, I just got a wild idea and I went out and called him and asked him if he would sing on this with me. He said ‘yes’ before he even knew what it was, saying that he trusted my judgment. So, we sent it to Vince there and then and we're all just like sitting there going ‘YES.’ When it came back, it was just mind-blowing to hear his voice with my voice because I've been a fan of his literally my entire life.
You’re due to go back on the road soon?
We’re gone now until mid-August. We are home for five days and we go back to Europe then for a month. And then we'll be back for five days again and back on tour pretty much for two months. We're pretty much gone from July to mid-December.
What players will you have on tour with you?
I have my guitar player Harley Husbands and I have a female bass player, Amanda McCoy, a drummer, Brandon Barnes, and a steel guitar and lap steel guitar player, Steve Nelson. Oh, and also my little yorkie, who is completely spoilt.
We won’t get to see you play in Ireland this year but we will get to see you perform at Americana Fest in September?
Yes, we’re playing and Brennen Leigh. Kayla Ray is also playing, she will blow your mind, her songs are so good. Brennen, Kayla, Courtney Patton, Jamie Lin Wilson and Erin Enderlin, that’s like our little circle. Make sure and come and say ‘Hi’ at Americana Fest when you’re over.
Interview by Declan Culliton