Exclusive: Mitchell Tenpenny Talks New Label Deal With Sony Music Nashville

Mitchell Tenpenny. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

By: LB Rogers

Recent Sony Music Nashville signee and Riser House artist and co-founder, Mitchell Tenpenny recently visited the MusicRow offices to play some songs off of a forthcoming major label debut. The singer/songwriter showcased his monstrously creative songwriting ability and expressed his excitement about this new chapter with Columbia Nashville.

Along with Matt Swanson and Jennifer Johnson at Riser House, Tenpenny released his EP Linden Ave in July 2017.

“I did the grass roots thing,” Tenpenny explained about his signing, “I kept writing songs and wanted to put them out so we started Riser House to put out a record. We got to a point where we went as far as we could go.”

The Nashville native and grandson of the late Sony/ATV CEO Donna Hilley has written songs with the publishing giant for a number of years, including top 5 hit for Granger Smith while accumulating an armory of well-crafted songs for his own; collaborating with the likes of Jordan Schmidt, Andy Albert and Devin Dawson.

Tenpenny has been involved in the work of St. Jude in recent months. He was featured in the This Shirt Saves Lives Campaign and recently returned from a visit to the hospital.

“Cancer is close to me,” Tenpenny explained, “I lost my father to cancer. I’ve been in a lot of hospitals and I’m scared to death of them. This place [doesn’t feel like] a hospital. It’s a place where they make you feel like a family.”

Tenpenny expects his first single with Columbia Nashville/Riser House to be released in March 2018 after Shane Allen, Sr. VP Promotion, Columbia Nashville signs off. There is a likelihood his radio debut may be one of those he performed for MusicRow, “Alcohol You Later,” “The Truck I Drove in High School” or “Drunk Me Can’t Get Over You.”

Mitchell Tenpenny with MusicRow staffers.