Tenpenny joins cowriters at “The Truth About You” No. 1 party
By Preshias Harris
Mitchell Tenpenny will probably look back on April 2023 as a pretty special time in his life. He could certainly be living proof of the old adage, “good things come in threes.”
- An ACM Award nomination
- A Number One party for a Platinum single
- His first full-band performance at Nissan Stadium
On Friday, April 14, it was 74° and sunny on BMI’s rooftop patio. It was the ideal place for an early spring celebration that BMI hosted in honor of Mitchell Tenpenny’s hit song “The Truth about You” that he co-wrote with Matt Alderman and Thomas Archer.
As was noted during the presentations, the platinum-selling song made chart history with the shortest span between #1 songs since 1982 with just three weeks since his last chart topper. “Truth About You” followed Mitchell’s co-penned No. 1 collaboration with labelmate Chris Young, “At The End Of A Bar”.
The No. 1 party came on the heels of news of an Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award nomination for the aforementioned “At The End Of A Bar” with Chris Young in the Music Event category.
The icing on the cake for Tenpenny: following the No. 1 party, he made the short trip across to Nissan Stadium to appear as a special guest on headliner Luke Combs’ World Tour. It was Tenpenny’s first time performing at Nissan with a full band: his previous appearance at that venue was an acoustic set during CMA Fest in 2022.
Tenpenny seems to have inherited his determination to succeed from his grandmother, Donna Hilley. (See my personal note below.) Understanding the importance of a strong and devoted fan base as a necessity for a successful career in music, he focused on building a rapport with fans with a steady flow of new music. He took advantage of the pandemic’s halt to live shows by putting out even more music and fans responded: his on-demand streams soared and he was recently recognized for surpassing the One Billion streams threshold, currently with 1.5 Billion global streams.
Showing no sign of slowing down, Tenpenny’s new 20-song album This Is The Heavy includes “The Truth About You” and his current single “We Got History”. Find tour updates and ticket info at his website, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok; check out his music videos on his YouTube channel. Find his music at Spotify or follow links from his website. #MitchellTenpenny
- More about Mitchell Tenpenny’s No. 1 party at Preshias On The Row at Center Stage Mag here.
On a personal note…
On a personal note Mitchell Tenpenny is the grandson of Donna Hilley, one of four ladies from whom I found inspiration when I arrived in Nashville from Kentucky with little more than a burning love for the music and the determination to be a part of it in some way. (The other three ladies are: Frances Preston who helped sign my mom to BMI; Maggie Cavender, the founder of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the original executive director of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI); and Connie Bradley the longtime head of ASCAP’s Nashville office.)
Donna Hilley’s story is particularly inspiring to me. Arriving in Nashville with only a high school degree, she took a low-paying job at a radio station. She moved from there to an advertising agency and then joined Tree Publishing as an executive assistant. From that position, she moved up to President of the company and later CEO of Tree Publishing.
It was Donna who introduced Mitchell to legendary songwriters Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman when he was eleven years old, stimulating his initial interest in writing songs. He would later enroll at Middle Tennessee State University graduating with a music business degree.
Preshias Harris is an advocate for songwriters and a music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com. Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com. @PreshiasHarris #PreshiasHarris