Sunny Sweeney Gets ‘Provoked’ on New Album
Sunny Sweeney — whose unflinching yet sweetly vulnerable style of Texas honky-tonk distinguished her first two albums, Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame and Concrete — returns with her third, the self-funded Provoked on August 5th. Released in conjunction with Thirty Tigers, the 13-track collection features the audacious new single, “Bad Girl Phase,” co-written by Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon and Shannon Wright. That’s one of only two songs Sweeney did not write on the project. Her co-writers on the other 11 songs include Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley, Natalie Hemby, Brett Warren and Brad Warren. (See the full track listing and songwriters below.)
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Refreshingly candid and often funny as hell (if you’re not following her on Twitter, you should be), Sweeney scored a Top 10 hit in 2010 with the confrontational “From a Table Away,” and since her 2006 debut, her lyrics have drawn comparisons to such country icons as Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn. Still, by her own admission, the path to Provoked has been a turbulent one.
“The album is a journey from nearly hitting bottom and losing everything personally to regaining my footing and being able to find not only my true self again, but real happiness,” she reveals.
Sweeney’s fans helped finance the making of the album through a PledgeMusic campaign. The singer-songwriter is donating a portion of the album’s sales to the non-profit CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
Sunny Sweeney’s Provoked track listing:
1. “You Don’t Know Your Husband” (Sunny Sweeney/Angaleena Presley/Mark D. Sanders)
2. “Bad Girl Phase” (Brandy Clark/Jessie Jo Dillon/Shannon Wright)
3. “Second Guessing” (Sunny Sweeney/Natalie Hemby)
4. “Carolina on the Line” (Sunny Sweeney/Brett Warren/Brad Warren/Lance Miller)
5. “Find Me” (Sunny Sweeney/Buddy Owens/Jay Clementi)
6. “Can’t Let Go” (Randy Weeks)
7. “Front Row Seats” (Sunny Sweeney/Lance Miller/Brett Warren/Brad Warren)
8. “My Bed” (Sunny Sweeney/Angaleena Presley/Ashley Monroe)
9. “Uninvited” (Sunny Sweeney/Natalie Hemby)
10. “Sunday Dress” (Sunny Sweeney/Monty Holmes/Buddy Owens)
11. “Used Cars” (Sunny Sweeney/Natalie Hemby)
12. “Backhanded Compliment” (Sunny Sweeney/Natalie Hemby)
13. “Everybody Else Can Kiss My Ass” (Sunny Sweeney/Brett Beavers/Connie Harrington)