Mitchell Tenpenny has paved the way for several country artists by becoming a staple on social media, going viral on TikTok which further extended his music career. The country singer-songwriter was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and has some sensational releases including his 2018 Telling All My Secrets album which managed to get him on the charts with his single "Drunk Me." Written by Tenpenny and Jordan Schmidt, the song peaked at No. 2 No. 6 on the Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts. The song was certified 2x Platinum by the Recording Industry Associations of America selling over 210,000 copies as of April 2019. The single received a nomination at the CMT Music Awards for Breakthrough Video of the Year in 2019 and earned Tenpenny an ACM Award for New Male Artist of the Year.
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"'Drunk me' changed our lives, it got us started, it allowed us to do things we only dreamed about," Tenpenny told Wide Open Country. "Getting to sing that song and hearing people singing it back no matter where you are -- that's why you pick up a guitar! It's one of those moments every single time. That song means a lot to me for a lot of reasons. It started it all, and I'll never forget that."
But, that was only the beginning for TenPenny, who has worked with talented country artists like Chris Young, Cold Ford and RaeLynn. On Sept. 10, 2021, the country singer released his latest 8-track project, Midtown Diaries, which includes hits such as "To Us It Did," "I Can't Love You Anymore, "She Hates Me Too," and TikTok sensation, "Truth About You."
The singer stated he wanted to record an album that could resonate with his audience no matter the genre, writing about things he had learned after the release of Telling All My Secrets.
"It's been a long time coming to get another project like this to get out there. I wanted to have a bunch of different styles of songs so that people could find their song on the record. Something that resonates with them the most," Tenpenny says. "I know for me, growing up, I always had those songs on records where one of them was specifically my song. So I wanted people to find that in there [Midtown Diaries] and a lot of it was about life and things that I learned in the 3 years since the last record."
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To promote his original music, the singer had decided to post some of his songs on TikTok, which instantly earned him attention from users who became obsessed with his lyrics. "The Truth About You" became one of Tenpenny's biggest songs to date, instantly turning into a viral sensation and earning over 2.5 million streams in the first three days of posting the video.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the singer had to put off touring which is why he decided to share his content online as a way to connect with his fans. He stated, "Tiktok was definitely new to me this past year but it was a great way to reach out and communicate with people when we were not allowed to go out or tour, and for me it was awesome. I was able to put demos of songs that I had written up and let people hear some parts of the chorus. "Truth About You" happened to end up resonating, and so we picked it as the single because of what it did on TikTok. That's the reason why it's on the country radio now."
As far as what's next for the singer, Tenpenny revealed he had just left the studio (despite him just releasing a Christmas album in October 2021, Naughty List.)
"I'm just working on the next record. It's just music -- music, music, music, we're constantly going to be releasing stuff this year," Tenpenny says.
Personally, I can't wait to see what he's up to. Something tells me it's only the beginning for this talented singer.
Cheers to you, Tenpenny.
