MITCHELL TENPENNY REFLECTS ON GRAND OLE OPRY DEBUT SATURDAY
Tenpenny’s “Alcohol You Later” Continues Add Momentum, Remains One Of Country Radio’s Most-Added Songs This Week
Platinum-Certified “Drunk Me” Achieves A Third No. 1 Chart Slot, Music Video Tops CMT’s Hot Twenty Countdown
Photo courtesy of Grand Ole Opry LLC. Chris Hollo photographer
Saturday evening, breakthrough country artist Mitchell Tenpenny took the stage of the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. Reflecting on his debut on Country’s most famous stage, Tenpenny remarks, “There’s a reason you dream. It’s to inspire and let you live out the ‘impossible.’ I can’t express the feeling of stepping into the circle. It’s something you can’t even relive unless you get to do it again.” He continues, “I just look at this picture and think about picking up a guitar at 12 years old. I see my team that has worked their ass off to let me experience this moment. And I see friends and family that let me keep having this dream until the ‘impossible’ happened. God is good!”
Photo courtesy of Grand Ole Opry LLC. Chris Hollo photographer
Riserhouse Entertainment President Jennifer Johnson; Tenpenny’s manager Kristen Ashley; Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman; Mitchell Tenpenny; Opry Entertainment GM Grand Ole Opry/Sr. Vice President Programming and Artist Relations Sally Williams; 377/Red Light Management’s Haley McLemore; Opry Entertainment Director of Artist Relations & Programming Strategy Jordan Pettit; Grand Ole Opry Director of Talent Scheduling & Logistics Gina Keltner.
| Introduced by Opry member Steve Wariner, the Riser House/Columbia Nashville recording artist kicked-off his performance with his Platinum-certified hit, “Drunk Me.” Tenpenny ended his Opry set with the song “Walk Like Him,” which he dedicated to his father Mitch Tenpenny and grandmother Donna Hilley. Mitchell’s father, who passed away four years ago to a battle with cancer, was the subject of the song. Hilley, who passed away six years ago, was the CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, who Tenpenny acknowledged worked her way from receptionist to the top executive post and was a major influence on him as well as many others in the music industry. |
Photo courtesy of Grand Ole Opry LLC. Chris Hollo photographer
Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman; Musician Dylan Hester; Tour Manager Elliot Haider; Richards & Southern’s Scot Cologne; Tenpenny’s day to day manager JT Pratt; Wiles & Taylor’s Katie Cline; SMN VP of Finance Scott Stachelski; Tenpenny’s manager Kristen Ashley; SMN Tenpenny Marketing Lead Jen Way; 377/Red Light Management’s Haley McLemore; Mitchell Tenpenny, Columbia Nashville Promotion SVP Shane Allen; Columbia Nashville Promotion Specialist Christy Garbinski; SMN Media & Operations Coordinator Katie King; SMN Manager of Release Planning & Production Candice Surrency; Sony/ATV’s Dane Schmidt; Riserhouse Entertainment President Jennifer Johnson; SMN SVP Media & Corporate Communications Allen Brown; Musician Rafe Tenpenny.Download hi-res image HERE
Photo courtesy of Grand Ole Opry LLC. Chris Hollo photographer
Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman; Musician Dylan Hester; Tour Manager Elliot Haider; Richards & Southern’s Scot Cologne; Tenpenny’s day to day manager JT Pratt; Wiles & Taylor’s Katie Cline; SMN VP of Finance Scott Stachelski; Tenpenny’s manager Kristen Ashley; SMN Tenpenny Marketing Lead Jen Way; 377/Red Light Management’s Haley McLemore; Mitchell Tenpenny, Columbia Nashville Promotion SVP Shane Allen; Columbia Nashville Promotion Specialist Christy Garbinski; SMN Media & Operations Coordinator Katie King; SMN Manager of Release Planning & Production Candice Surrency; Sony/ATV’s Dane Schmidt; Riserhouse Entertainment President Jennifer Johnson; SMN SVP Media & Corporate Communications Allen Brown; Musician Rafe Tenpenny.
This past weekend, Mitchell Tenpenny’s “Drunk Me” music video reached the top slot of CMT’s Hot Twenty Countdown. The clip was directed by Justin Nolan Key and produced by Ben Skipworth. In addition to reaching No. 1 on CMT’s weekly video chart, “Drunk Me” topped the Mediabase/Country Aircheck airplay chart as well as Nielsen’s Country On-Demand Audio Stream Chart.
Tenpenny’s new single, “Alcohol You Later,” continues its rapid accumulation of radio adds this week. The song, which was written by Tenpenny, Michael Lotten and Sam Sumser, who also produced the track, garnered 43 first-week stations on impact the week prior.
Featuring “Drunk Me” and “Alcohol You Later,” Mitchell Tenpenny’s Telling All My Secrets album released December 14 and earned the best country first-week showing for a major label debut album of 2018, amassing 20,000 units. The 11-song project is available to download and stream HERE.
Named by The New York Times as one of the Best Songs of the Year (all genres), “Drunk Me,” has accumulated nearly 200 million streams, and has made multiple Amazon Music “Most Played” and “Best Of” year-end lists. The smash track, which remains a streaming chart Top 5, fueled a breakout year for the entertainer. Tenpenny was the only country up-and-comer included in Pandora’s 2019 Artists to Watch list, and was also dubbed one of MusicRow‘s Next Big Thing honorees and The Tennessean‘s Next Nashville Stars for 2019.
On Feb. 1, Tenpenny concluded his “Telling All My Secrets Album Release Tour” which took the celebration of his album release to his long-supportive fans cross-country. He will join Old Dominion’s “Make It Sweet Tour” from Feb. 27 through April 27 as a special guest.
About Mitchell Tenpenny
Mitchell Tenpenny is a rugged individualist who operates with confidence in the space between contradictory themes. Multiplicity is also reflected in his diverse musical taste and soulful vocal delivery, which is gaining an ardent audience. An authentic, fearless songwriter and performer, Tenpenny has toured with Maren Morris, Jake Owen, Brett Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Dustin Lynch among others, and he penned the Top 5 hit “If the Boot Fits” for Granger Smith. In January, Sony Music Nashville and Riser House announced Mitchell Tenpenny’s signing to Riser House/Columbia Nashville, as a result of a new joint-venture. Tenpenny was the flagship artist for Riser House, founded by Matt Swanson, Jennifer Johnson and Mitchell Tenpenny. A month later, he released his Riser House/Columbia Nashville self-titled EP.
For more information, visit www.mitchell10penny.com.