Sunny Sweeney @ Heartwood Soundstage | Gainesville, FL
Schedule
Thu Jun 13 2024 at 08:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Heartwood Soundstage | Gainesville, FL
Sunny Sweeney
TICKETS đïž: https://heartwoodsoundstage.com/event/sunny-sweeney/
DOORS đȘ: 7:00PM
SHOWTIME đ¶: 8:00PM
Thursday, June 13th, 2024
Indoor Show, All ages
Standing with limited seating
Gainesville, FL at Heartwood Soundstage
619 S Main St, Gainesville, FL 32601
---
đ¶ SUNNY SWEENEY đ¶
Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QqET
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gettinsweenered
Sunny Sweeney, a genre-bending, songwriting spitfire who has spent equal time in the rich musical traditions of Texas and Tennessee, returns with Married Alone, the celebrated singer-songwriterâs fifth studio album and the follow-up to 2017âs critically acclaimed Trophy. Co-produced by beloved Texas musician and larger-than-life personality Paul Cauthen and the Texas Gentlemenâs multi-hyphenate Beau Bedford, Married Alone is Sweeneyâs finest work yet, bringing together confessional songwriting, image-rich narratives and no shortage of sonic surprises for a loosely conceptual album about loss and healing.
Married Alone began as most of Sweeneyâs projects do: with a visit to her deep vault of unreleased songs. Since debuting with Heartbreakerâs Hall of Fame in 2006, Sweeney has been a prolific writer, writing whatever is on her heart rather than with a particular project in mind. That habit afforded her a rich well of material for Married Alone, some of which is over a decade old.
âI have a lot of older songs that still make the cut of like, âAm I gonna put this on a record?â And I always start with those songs, songs that have been important to me for whatever reason. And then I try to build around that. It doesn't necessarily have to be around a theme, but sometimes it turns out to be that there is one.â
Opener âTie Me Upâ declares that, despite its loose theme, Married Alone is not a somber record, with Sweeney in full spitfire mode and cheekily declaring to a would-be suitor, âYou can tie me up, but baby you canât tie me down.â Cauthenâs and Bedfordâs production especially shines on the track, which would sound at home at a roadside juke joint or in front of thousands of fans at a festival.
Cauthen joins Sweeney on âA Song Canât Fix Everything,â one of the albumâs rawer moments. âThat song canât bring my mother back to life,â Sweeney sings at the songâs start, before recounting the many ways that music may be able to transport us to the past but can never fix it. âWant You to Miss Meâ is an honest take on the complexities of a difficult breakup, with Sweeneyâs nimble vocal wavering between defiance and doubt. âEasy as Helloâ is Sweeneyâs writing at its finest, channeling the heartache that comes with the end of a treasured relationship, for a track that recalls â vocally and lyrically â the work of Stevie Nicks
âSomeday Youâll Call My Nameâ reads as a break-up kiss-off â and itâs a great one, at that â but the song, pulled from Sweeneyâs vault, was originally inspired by her early days as a musician, longing to be recognized by major country institutions like the Grand Ole Opry. She and co-writer Brennen Leigh reworked their 10-year-old version of the track to better fit Married Alone, and that session helped set the tone for what would become the full album.
The full potential of the album really revealed itself, though, when a friend sent Sweeney a demo of what would become its title track, âMarried Alone.â Though she wasnât a co-writer on the track, Sweeney felt her own story reflected in its lyrics. The song, which features a particularly emotional guest vocal from living country legend Vince Gill, charts the painful moments sometimes experienced in marriages that have run their course.
âThere may be rings on our fingers, but weâre married alone,â she and Gill sing, over weeping pedal steel and reverbed guitar.
âMy jaw hit the floor when I heard that song, because I had just gone through my second divorce, which is also cliche of a country singer,â Sweeney says, with a laugh. âI was still pretty raw about my divorce, but also very candid and trying to find levity in the situation. You have to be able to laugh at yourself at some point and not let it just totally get you down.â
A few months after securing the song and mining her own vault for a track list, Sweeney traveled to Dallas, TX, to record â alongside Cauthen and Bedford â what would become Married Alone.
Sweeney and team planned for Jeff Saenz to mix the album, but in the summer of 2021 â a few days before mixing would start â the widely loved, Dallas-based producer was electrocuted in a freak accident that left him without use of his arms. The group put the album on hold until they had word Saenz would pull through. While Sweeney was anxious to get her new music out, Saenzâs accident shifted her priorities.
âJeff lost his arms,â she says. âHis arms. Jeffâs never going to hold his fiancĂ©eâs hand again, never going to hold his baby again. I had a major, major turning point with his accident, personally, as did most of our friends that know him.â
About eight months later, Bedford had a surprise for Sweeney. When she arrived at the studio for one of their final mixing sessions, Bedford had brought Saenz along. Saenz was able to help the group finish up the album, a full-circle moment that was especially emotional for Sweeney.
âIt was exactly how it should have been,â she says. âAnd it was really, really emotional. Jeff definitely is a part of this album; I really wanted him to be a part of the album. And Beau knew that. So, Beau went and he made that happen.â
In addition to releasing Married Alone, Sweeney is marking a new chapter in her professional life with a brand-new team by her side, most of whom are women. While it wasnât a conscious choice, Sweeney says, she feels like sheâs surrounded by the right group of people, who just happen to be âbadass women.â
Like the narrator of âSomeday Youâll Call My Name,â Sweeney is not the kind of artist you come across then forget. With Married Alone, she further cements her status as one of country musicâs finest storytellers.
Where is it happening?
Heartwood Soundstage, 622 SE 1st St, Gainesville, FL 32601-6768, United States,Gainesville, FloridaEvent Location & Nearby Stays: