CMA New Artist of the Year Nominee Spotlight: Mitchell Tenpenny

2024 Stars For Second Harvest Featuring ERNEST & Friends

Source: Mitchell Tenpenny performs for the 2024 Stars For Second Harvest at Ryman Auditorium on June 04, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Mitchell Tenpenny has been active in the Nashville country music scene for around a decade, starting as an independent artist, releasing his first record, Black Crow, in 2015. He signed on with Riser Records in 2016, and then entered a joint venture with Riser House and Columbia Nashville in 2018. He’d go on to make his major-label-record debut with Telling All My Secrets later that year.

The Nashville native has been around country music for his entire life, as his family has been around the business for decades. His grandmother, the late music publishing executive Donna Hilley, introduced him to songwriters Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, sparking an interest in a young Tenpenny that’s turned into a fully-fledged career.

Known for his typically light-hearted songs, Tenpenny’s style has influences from rock and pop, giving his country music elements of both genres. Heavy drums and guitar on several of his tracks lend itself to his background in being part of rock bands, while never straying from a country foundation.

He’s had three songs hit the Billboard Hot 100 charts; Drunk Me in 2018, and Truth About You and At the End of a Bar in 2022. Drunk Me has achieved a RIAA-certified triple Platinum status. Telling All My Secrets, which features Drunk Me, managed to peak at No. 5 on the US Country charts, while also achieving RIAA Gold status.

Despite being a “seasoned veteran” in the genre by 2024, Tenpenny was eligible to receive the nomination for the “New Artist of the Year” award at the 58th Country Music Association Awards due to never receiving a CMAs nomination. In September Tenpenny released his third studio record, The 3rd.