If anyone has the bona fides to be country music’s loving, defiant standard-bearer, it’s Sweeney. In addition to releasing 5 critically acclaimed albums since her 2006 debut Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, she has become a trusted song curator and advocate for other artists as the host of her SiriusXM shows The Sunny Side of Life on Outlaw Country and Sunny Side Up on Willie’s Roadhouse. Sweeney keeps adding new feathers to her signature hat: She and her longtime guitarist Harley Husbands produced Rhinestone Requiem and are working as producers on additional projects. “We both have very strong points and very strong opinions,” Sweeney says of Husbands with a laugh. “But we work very well together.”  

Born in Houston and raised in East Texas, Sweeney made her home the road before settling down in the hills of Hendersonville, Tennessee, a couple of years ago. The release of Rhinestone Requiem represents another milestone. “This is the first time I’ve made a record when I don’t have relationship problems,” Sweeney says, smiling. “My last album, ‘Married Alone,’ was made right after my divorce. I’ve lived some life. Not all of it’s been pretty. But I feel like that’s what makes really good music.”  

Sweeney takes her calling as friend to the hurt and alone seriously––and Rhinestone Requiem shines because of it. Recorded at Tommy Detamore’s Cherry Ridge Studio in Floresville, Texas, the album is a compelling snapshot of an artist who knows who she is and what she loves. “I really wanted this album to be a mixture of all the old styles of country music: Jerry Lee Lewis, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn,” Sweeney says, ticking off a list of some of her idols. “I make music for myself and hope other people like it.”