Sunshine & Whiskey is the second studio album by American country music artist Frankie Ballard. It was released on February 11, 2014 via Warner Bros. Records.[1][2] The album includes Ballard's debut single "Tell Me You Get Lonely" and "Helluva Life," which became Ballard's first number one hit.[3][4] Unlike its uptempo version on the album, "Don't Tell Mama I Was Drinking" was previously recorded as a ballad under the title "Don't Tell Mama" by three artists: Ty Herndon on his 1996 album Living in a Moment, Gary Allan on his 1999 album Smoke Rings in the Dark, and Doug Stone on his 2007 album My Turn.
Sunshine & Whiskey received generally positive reviews from four music critics. At USA Today, Brian Mansfield rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that Ballard's "got an appealing rock delivery, and the songs get more thoughtful as he goes along, right to the tragedy at the end."[8]Gary Graff of The Oakland Press rated the album three out of four stars, stating that it is "evident throughout these 11 songs [are] highly contagious", and they "go down like a well-aged single malt."[6] At AllMusic, Steve Leggett rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, saying that "most contemporary country fans should love this album, and there are tracks here where Ballard hits everything right, rising above the commercially generic with energy and intelligence."[5] Matt Bjorke of Roughstock rated the album four stars out of five, stating how Ballard stays true to himself on the album.[7]
The album debuted at No. 5 in the Top Country Albums chart, and No. 35 in the Billboard 200, with sales of 11,000 for the week.[9] As of June 2016, the album has sold 105,000 copies in the US.[10]
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