Under a shining sun and clear blue sky, members of the Nashville music community congregated on the BMI rooftop Friday afternoon (April 14) to recognize the hard work behind Mitchell Tenpenny‘s No. 1 hit “Truth About You,” which he wrote alongside Matt Alderman and Thomas Archer.

The warmth of the weather combined with the warmth and smiles brought by attendees was rejuvenating and exuded a sense of relaxed excitement as everyone mingled while enjoying food and refreshments.

BMI’s Josh Tomlinson took the stage to welcome everyone before calling Tenpenny, Alderman, Archer and producer Jordan Schmidt up to join him and congratulating the group. He began by acknowledging the crucial part Schmidt played in the project.

“I would be totally remiss if I didn’t emphasize Jordan’s work on this song and the entire [This Is The Heavy] album.” Turning to Schmidt, he continued, “Literally, there is not a miss on this record and I think that’s due in part to your touch on it, so congrats on an awesome record on top of another No. 1.”

Tomlinson then moved on to salute BMI writers Tenpenny and Archer, complimenting their character as well as their work ethic. SESAC’s Lydia Schultz Cahill was on deck to commend Alderman. She started by thanking BMI for hosting and welcoming Alderman’s family, who were present, to their first No. 1 party.

“On behalf of SESAC, I just want to say congratulations to you Matt. You are a joy to work with. You are so kind and truly a soft, thoughtful person,” she stated while adding “I realize you’re kind of a mystery because you don’t talk about yourself that much, but you don’t need to talk about yourself because your work speaks for itself. You’ve celebrated three No. 1s as a producer, two as a songwriter, and here we are today at your very first No. 1 party.”

Up next was MV2 Entertainment’s Tony Harrell, who took time to thank Clay Bradley and the rest of the BMI team for consistently supporting songwriters and for “ordering in the incredible weather.” He continued by addressing Tenpenny and Schmidt, noting that they “nailed this song.”

“‘Truth About You’ took a minute to get up there but kudos to Sony for standing behind it and taking it all the way to the top. Now it’s Platinum. I first met Mitchell at a studio called the Freeway with Dallas Wilson. It’s been a few years but we knew that night there was something special going on, and tonight you’re playing Nissan Stadium, opening up for Luke Combs, and you’re just getting started. So, congrats to you, congrats to Matt, and a special congrats to Thomas Archer.”

He continued, “Thomas, we at MV2 Entertainment are so grateful we’ve celebrated several No. 1s with you and we’ve got more coming. We’re so proud of you, it’s been great to see you grow as writer. Thomas is a guy who writes before he goes to the write. He shows up armed and ready to roll, and he comes out with a hit song.”

Riser House’s Jennifer Johnson took the mic “to share a few truths” about Tenpenny, inserting a few fun facts about his Nike shoe collection and affinity for Pokemon Go before she announced the truth of the single’s streaming stats.

“This song has streamed over 217 million times, and that’s a testament to all of these amazing songwriters. You guys have written songs that people want to consume and that people love,” she noted. “Thank you for believing in Mitchell as an artist. I know these songwriters create such a great community here. Mitchell also loves to support the songwriting community. He’s always been an advocate for helping songwriters get more pay. He’s always going to be the person who’s going to lead the charge in that, and I just want y’all to know that you couldn’t have a better champion for your community.”

Johnson went on to discuss the efforts and plans Riser House as a whole is making to advocate for songwriters, noting that we will be hearing some things soon from them. She then reminisced on the early days of the record label and acknowledged each team member. “We came together and we started Riser House Records. [Tenpenny] actually named it. He said, ‘You know what, if we come together and do something completely different than anyone else in town and are not afraid, are bold and take chances, we will rise above the noise and rise above all the rest.'” She concluded by explaining Tenpenny’s gratitude and support of the women in his life including his mother, industry veteran Debbie Tenpenny, and his predominantly female team.

Curb’s Colt Murski then congratulated everyone and walked the crowd through the “Truth About You” timeline.

“Feb. 13, 2019, these guys wrote this song. Then about a year later, in February 2020, Matt put a new mix on it and I think that just helped rejuvenate the song and get [everyone] back on the same page about it. In June of 2020, Sony put it on hold. In May of 2020, Mitchell teased it on TikTok and it had this viral moment, which was really cool. I think that’s what really got him back rolling and got Sony really interested in your new music. Y’all released it July 9, and in that first week, it had 3.4 million streams, which was an amazing feat. It went to radio in August of 2021 and went No. 1 in September of 2022.”

Murski moved on to salute his “little brother” Alderman, expressing that being a part of a writer’s firsts is the most special part of the business to him, before acknowledging the work of Tenpenny, Archer, Schmidt and all of the teams involved in the track.

In honor of the No. 1, Studio Bank’s Kari Barnhart announced that they plan to make a donation to the 10Penny Fund, which seeks to support cancer patients beyond traditional medical treatments, on behalf of the “Truth About You” writers.

Sony Music Nashville’s Lauren Thomas then stated that “Truth About You” hit No. 1 three weeks after Tenpenny found himself at No. 1 with ACM Award-nominated song “At The End Of The Bar” with Chris Young, which was the shortest span between No. 1s for an artist since May 1982. “We could not ask for a harder working person than you. Thank you for your trust and all of the effort you put in to this,” she said while facing Tenpenny before shouting out the Sony team individually.

Finally, the writers and producer took the floor.

Archer started, acknowledging all of the puzzle pieces it takes to put a song together and thanking his family and all of the tune’s contributors. Next, Alderman took the mic, his first time doing so at a No. 1 celebration, and thanked his family in the crowd as well as Murski and the Curb team, Sony, his cowriters and everyone who supported the song.

Schmidt began by thanking the writers, Sony, the contributors behind the success and his family—including his brother and pregnant wife who were present. Last was Tenpenny, he thanked everyone for being there and expressed his immense gratitude for his team at Sony—noting that they have been his family since he was little—as well as Riser House and his wife, fellow artist Meghan Patrick, among many others.

“It’s just fun to do this with your friends. It’s really cool that we get paid to sit in a room, pick up a guitar and write songs with our best friends. That’s what Nashville is about. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he shared.

Luke Combs kicked off the summer concert season with two nights at Nissan Stadium this weekend, including a sold out Saturday-night (April 15), proving why he is one of the biggest names in country music.

Fans got warmed up with a stacked lineup of top-tier country talent with performances from Brent Cobb, Flatland Cavalry, Lainey Wilson and Riley Green. Wilson and Green are following in Comb’s footsteps as excellent performers, gaining immense popularity with their sing-along anthems. Fans packed in to see Wilson and Green perform, singing along to almost every song.

But nothing can be compared to Combs’ energy-filled performance, which had fans on their feet all night long. Combs gave it all on the stage playing songs from his whole repertoire including his massive hits like “Beer Never Broke My Heart.,” “Hurricane” and “1, 2 Many.” Combs also played a handful of songs from his new record, Gettin’ Old, which have already become fan favorites.

The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year opened up the night in front of 55,000 fans with “Lovin’ On You” before going into “Hannah Ford Road” off his new record, though fans knew the words to the new songs just as well as any of his massive hits. He welcomed fans to the show before announcing that “Love You Anyway” will be his next radio single after letting fans vote on it last week.

“About a week or week and a half ago, I announced I was going to let you guys decide what my next single was going to be on country radio. We had a vote and you could vote for ‘Love You Anyway’ or ‘5 Leaf Clover’ to put out on the radio. It was real close, I think it was 51 percent to 49 percent, so it was neck and neck,” Combs said. “So this is my next single on country radio, it’s called ‘Love You Anyway.'”

Combs then played “Going, Going, Gone” followed by “Refrigerator Door.” He showed off how much he loves connecting with his fans by allowing them to choose his next song. Fans had the opportunity to scan a QR code before the show and vote on a song for him to play. He and his band didn’t know what they were going to play until the song was revealed in real time. Fans chose the deep and reflective “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old,” which was performed brilliantly and passionately by Combs and his band.

His band got to show off a bit in the middle of the show when Combs introduced them to the sold out crowd and let them play a medley of covers including David Lee Murphy‘s “Dust On The Bottle,” Diamond Rio‘s “Meet In The Middle” and Bruno Mars‘ “When I Was Your Man.”

After the medley, Combs played hit song after hit song, once again showing off his fantastic catalog in such a short career. He played “Beautiful Crazy” and a new emotional future-hit “Where The Wild Things Are,” as well as Fast Car” and “5 Leaf Clover” from his new record. He brought Wilson back up on stage to sing Miranda Lambert‘s part of “Outrunnin’ Your Memory.”

Combs then dove into his massive hits like “She Got The Best Of Me,” Hurricane” and “1, 2 Many” before finishing his set with “When It Rains It Pours” and “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” which had every single fan on their feet, singing along as loud as they could.

It didn’t take long for Combs to jump back on stage for his encore where he performed a beautiful, acoustic version of “Better Together.” He played his mega-hit “The Kind Of Love We Make” before ending the show by covering Brooks & Dunn‘s “Brand New Man” with Cobb, Wilson, Green and Flatland Cavalry’s lead singer, Cleto Cordero joining him on stage for a grand ending to an amazing night in Nashville.