Sunny Sweeney ACM Nomination Is Validation … in the Box
Sunny Sweeney grew up watching "Saturday Night Live," and counts 'SNL' greats Gilda Radner, Molly Shannon and Kristen Wiig among her comedic heroes. But it wasn't until the singer received her first ACM nomination that she realized she could actually fit right in on the long-running sketch comedy show.
Sunny was floored when she got the call that she was nominated for ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year. But the lead-up to the phone call was a bit tense. "My manager, Steve called me and said, 'When your husband gets home, call me. I've got something to talk to y'all about,'" she recalls to The Boot. "I had all these bad scenarios in my head; it freaked me out. So Jeff got home, and we put Steve on speaker phone and he says, 'I'm just gonna cut to the chase here: you have an ACM nomination for New Female Vocalist.' We were screaming so loud, it was the craziest feeling in the world. My first show was almost ten years ago, so all the stuff I've worked for up to this point, the culmination is amazing."
Sunny's creative wheels immediately started turning, as she plotted a campaign for the fan-voted award. Nominees in different categories over the past few years have made funny viral videos, pleading with fans for their daily votes (i.e., Taylor Swift explaining the ACMs to her cat and "S--- Thompson Square Says.") So, the Texas native knew she wanted to use humor and enlisted the help of her honey.
"My husband goes, 'I have an idea, but you're going to think it's crazy.' After he tells me, I am belly laughing. I'm like, 'That's either the most brilliant thing I've ever heard, or the stupidest thing I've ever heard ... I don't know!'"
That brilliantly stupid thing is a video parody of "D--- in a Box," a digital short starring Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake, which appeared on "Saturday Night Live" in 2006. Sunny's "Click the a Box" channels the hilarious musical skit, with lyrics altered to entice fans to go here to vote. Watch it below.
Sunny is currently working on new music that she hopes to release later this year. She assures fans that the new songs will all be derived from true stories, as per her entire catalog, but she just may have a few more love songs than normal this time around. The 36-year-old beauty tied the knot a little over a year ago and lights up when she talks about her new hubby.
Come back to The Boot next week for more of our exclusive interview with Sunny Sweeney!
Watch Sunny Sweeney's ACM Video, 'Click in the Box'
Watch Sunny Sweeney's 'From a Table Away' Video