Sunny Sweeney - Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame
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Free Music Notes for Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame
Free Music Review: Traditional Country - a rare find
Hit: 5 Stars
Every song on the album is great. There are so few performers doing this kind of music. George Strait and Alan Jackson being some of my favorites. Lots of steel guitar and fiddle with strong vocals. Mama's Opry and Lavender Blue were instant favorites.Free Music Review: Indie honk- tonk album with good selection of covers
Hit: 4 Stars
This is one of my favourite albums of 2006 (and 2007, now that it has been reissued). Sunny Sweeney has made a really impressive debut, collecting together 12 great songs, mostly uptempo and honky tonk (9 covers and 3 originals). Her voice reminds me of Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines, like the previous reviewer, but unlike him I have no reserves about her singing, which I find fresh, energetic and twangy, the right combination for this kind of music.
Sweeney's main musical influences are Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Townes Van Zandt, Loretta Lynn, Jim Lauderdale, Dwight Yoakam and Iris DeMent and you can hear every bit of them in the album. Actually, this album can be seen as Sweeney's homage to her favourite artists. Some of them are explicitly present: two covers are taken from Lauderdale's catalogue (they are "Refresh My Memory" and "Please Be San Antone") and one from Iris DeMent's songbook ("Mama's Opry"). Lauderdale also nicely duets with Sweeney in "Lavender Blue". Sidebar: in the original the duet was between Keith Sykes and Iris DeMent: could it be another (indirect) way to pay tribute to one of her favourite singers?
The other covers are equally good, even though I hadn't heard of their authors before. Particularly enjoyable are "East Texas Pines" by Libbi Bosworth and "If I could" by Tim Carroll: their quick-paced rhythm should make them favorites at live shows. I also like the ironic and self-deprecating "Next Big Nothing" by Audrey Auld ("I'm gonna be the next big nothing, you won't see my name on MTV").
In my opinion, the originals are one step below the other songs and Sunny seems aware of that, when she says "I've heard it said before that good cover songs are better than bad originals". Nevertheless, they are worth listening to, from the country-rock of "Ten Years Pass" to the traditional "Slow Swinging Western Tunes" to the ironic honky tonk of "Hearbreaker's Hall Of Fame".
All songs feature heavy doses of pedal steel and fiddle and the occasional harmonica, but it's the band as a whole that does an excellent work. Actually, my only regret is that I can't listen to them live. That should be fantastic, and even more so, if Sunny assures us that "on my CD, I just wanted to have great songs and a cool sound. My main thing was that I didn't want it to be something I couldn't replicate at a live show. [..]. I think we can and do sound like our CD."
My suggestion: if you live in Texas, go see her live and then, if you like the show, buy the CD.
My prediction: her next album will be on a major label, since I'm sure more and more people will get aware of her music.
Free Music Review: Another terrific Austin singer-songwriter
Hit: 4 Stars
In my parallel universe, the country charts would be filled with artists from Austin while Nashville pop/country would be just a footnote to country music. Sunny Sweeney is yet another Austin-based singer-songwriter that deserves much larger name recognition. Her terrific, powerful voice and honky-tonk attitude from another decade make for one great record. Love the songs, love the sound, love this album.Free Music Review: Crucial Country
Hit: 4 Stars
I absolutely love Sunny Sweeney and this CD! The video for "If I Could" came across my path on YahooMusic one nite and I loved it. The CD has some tracks that are worth the 'price of admission' each by themself, including "East Texas Pines", "If I Could", and "Next Big Nothing". Great vocals, great pedal steel, strong guitar work. This album has revitalized my interest in singing again.Free Music Review: Down Home Texas Country
Hit: 4 Stars
Sunny Sweeney, an East Texas girl, has put forth a fantastic collection of songs, some written by her. Sweeney has a rather unique voice which comes across as so natural. The selection of songs she choose is perfect for this Big Machine CD release. This is one of those CDs that really deserves to be heard. This is a talent that should not get lost in the maze of new artists.