FIRST LISTEN: Sunny Sweeney Feels Right At Home On The Road In New Track “As Long As There’s a Honky Tonk”

Where she feels most at home: In a honky tonk.

Sunny Sweeney has built up quite a reputation as one of the best artists in the Texas country scene. She’s had some mainstream success along the way, releasing quite a few singles along with five albums and an EP. Her 2022 album, Married Alone, really showcased her authentic country sound while leaning heavy into the heartbreak of a divorce, while she focused more on healing with her 2024 album Still Provoked. And it’s no stretch to say that it was some of the best music of her career.

But now she’s gearing up to release her next studio project, Rhinestone Requiem, a project that finds the Texas country legend moving on from the heartbreak while still leaning into the same hardcore country sound and thoughtful lyrics that have made her such a mainstay over her two decade long career.

Speaking on the new album, Sunny says that she hopes to showcase her vision for authentic country music:

“We have been working on this album since last fall, so I’m just so excited for the world to finally get to hear what we have been working on. It’s my attempt at showing people what I think country music should sound like.”

And where better to show off that fiddle and steel-soaked country sound than in a honky tonk?

Listening through the album for the first time, one of the songs that immediately got my attention was “As Long As There’s A Honky Tonk.” The groovy, piano-driven ode to life on the road finds Sunny reflecting on the place she feels most at home: In the honky tonks and barrooms playing real deal country music.

“I got a rambling heart, beating on six strings
Highway life’s not paradise but it’s just right by me
You can’t grow roots rocking and rolling down the road
As long as there’s a honky tonk I’ll always have a home”

Tell me that doesn’t take you straight to your favorite honky tonk.

Speaking to Whiskey Riff on the standout track, Sunny says that the beer-soaked music halls have always represented somewhere that she feels comfortable performing – so she decided to write a song about it:

“I’ve always felt comfortable in a bar…I guess that’s what 20 years of playing will do to you. I thought making a song about that subject matter would be appropriate, considering it’s where I feel most at ease. The people you meet in those bars can sometimes feel like family, like-minded souls, usually. Then getting Mickey Raphael to play harmonica on it sent it over the top for me.”