Nashville, TN (Big Machine Records) -- Sunny Sweeney may have shed a tear after tangling with an honoree or two from the Heartbreaker's Hall Of Fame--that's the title of her honky-tonk-heavy debut disc, slated for a March 6, 2007 release--but the young Texas singer had a big smile on her face yesterday as she signed with Nashville's hit-making Big Machine Records. Founded in late 2005 by promotion veteran Scott Borchetta, the label has charted three Top 10 (including a Number One) and five Top 25 singles since its inception just over one year ago.

"I'm so excited to be working with Scott Borchetta and Big Machine," Sweeney says with an effervescent twang. "It's nice to finally find a label and a team who are willing to support and invest in REAL country music!" Borchetta, too, is enthusiastic about the partnership. "We're thrilled to enter into this licensing agreement with Sunny," he notes with a grin. "I just love her record and her personality. She's a firecracker getting ready to bust out of the southwest. This is going to be a blast." Rounding out Sweeney's team are music business veteran John Lomax III (Kinetic Management) Steve Hoiberg (Third Coast Artists Agency, Inc.), and Americana radio promoter Leslie Rouffe (Songlines).