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Backstage with Mitchell Tenpenny · Backstage at The EPC's Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Backstage at the EPC.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Today I have Mitchell Tenpenny joining us, and he will be at the EPC on Thursday, November 12th.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Mitchell.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you joining us from today?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm in Nashville at my house, just uh getting ready to go go into town and write a song.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So oh, there you go.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Have you kicked off the Speed of Light tour yet?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're we're uh kind of on the tail end.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: We got we're about probably 80% done now.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh okay.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Just just uh it's been amazing.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of spaced it out through the whole year and uh finishing strong now, yeah.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh I did see that you recently released a new single in September called Ain't My Problem.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um you just talked about you know songwriting.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: That was a song that you had written with a large group of people, yes.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, me and my my buddy Andy Albert, Thomas Archer, and uh Chris De Stefano.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we went, we wrote that song down at Chris's uh he's got a house uh in Florida and took a little vacation there and and wrote some songs.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, it's my current single to Country Radio.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's one that I've I've loved since we wrote it a few years ago.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just for me, it's like a mental health song wrapped around this up tempo, you know, have fun song.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I just think that we take so much on these days, and um, it's good, especially for live music.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And what I love playing this song live is everyone can come together and be like, for the next hour and a half, we're doing this, and that ain't my problem no more.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I gotta remind myself of that because I try to take on too many things so all the time.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so this song is kind of like that for me, but it's also just fun.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you're you're stressed out during the day, throw that song on and it'll help you out, I promise.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, for those that might not be, you know, familiar with your music, can you kind of describe describe what you guys how you play?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: As cliche as it sounds, we love energy and we love to give it back what we're getting.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but we're you know, we I'm born and raised in Nashville.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up country music's in my blood, and I was also in some rock bands, so we got you know some rock influences as well in our set.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And uh all my guys have been with me from the beginning.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we've been in bands our our whole life.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: My brother plays with me, so we just have a great time.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a lot of fun, high energy, and you know, we just enjoy, like I said, working with each other.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's feed off the crowd and let's have a good time.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, who is all in your band?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a bunch of my college roommates.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my brother plays bass, um, just guys I've I've known and playing music with my whole life.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's pretty awesome.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I also saw um you have a foundation.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you mentioned earlier, like it's that song um is good for your mental health.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the foundation has a little bit to do with mental health, yes?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's um we started um it's called the Ten Penny Fun.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, I lost my father to cancer.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: My mother's in remission, which is great.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: My aunt's currently battling, and I just saw during my dad's um cancer journey that there just wasn't a lot of access to mental health uh when you hear that you have that disease.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: And and we do know that that cancer feeds off stress and and preparing yourself for that battle is so important.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: So we really focus on the mental health side.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, mental health is so important all around.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but you know, when you hear we have great doctors, we have great treatments, but people don't ever really think about like what are people when they hear that, it's it's terrifying, it's scary, and and you need somebody to kind of walk you through that, guide you, talk to, whatever.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so we make sure you have access and care for that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty amazing.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys keep um do you have like events and stuff throughout the year um to kind of raise money?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we do.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, every year we do a big event.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: This year was amazing.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Normally we do a big cornhole event in Nashville where people can come.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, you can donate all year long, but uh this year the Grand Ole Opry um partnered with us, which was incredible.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I got to have a night at the Grand Ole Opry and invite all my friends and artists that uh, you know, mean a lot to me.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: They've been there for me for a long time.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And we did a whole Opry show and they donated five dollars of every ticket to the fund.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it was just such a special night.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, extremely humbling to see everyone turn up and be so generous.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I it was one of one of my favorite nights of my life.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was amazing.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: We raised a lot of money, and um, I can't wait for these lives that are gonna be changed by.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's such a you know, it's a great cause and it's a big undertaking taking.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like um it takes a a team to do all of that.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm glad that you kind of have that.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um I have an amazing team.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: I can't take all the credit.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: They're amazing, and they they do a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure that this vision comes to life.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty awesome.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so when you're not touring or writing songs, what does your like perfect day look like?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now I mean I got an eight-year or eight-year-old, eight-week old little baby girl.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so spending time with my wife and my baby girl is is all I care about on my all-time days.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, congratulations.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: How is it?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: How's she doing?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: She's amazing, healthy, mama's great.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, yeah, we went to a pumpkin patch yesterday.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: I just anything we can do with her is a blessing.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm loving this chapter of life being a dad and watching my wife become a mother.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're loving it.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting some sleep?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not too bad.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: She does she does well.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we get her, you know, about three three hour stretches, maybe four, but that's I mean, I'm used to it.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: We travel all over the country since I was little and uh sleep, sleep's whatever.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it makes it all worth it when you look at her.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, for sure, for sure.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: I have um three little boys, they're not so little anymore.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I'm kind of out of that stage of the newborn stage.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, they are they're amazing and uh that's awesome.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I always say, get ready for the like the nine month stage because that's my favorite when they're old enough to like they start like hugging you back and like cuddling you back, like that's oh I can't wait.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: She can have whatever she wants that she doesn't get.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um do you have a song that you have written or that you play that means something different to you now than when you first wrote it?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean I think I mean there's a few of those.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I mean, say the same moon, our last single to country radio, definitely means something different now having a baby girl.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it used to be about my wife, but now it's like what I'm missing both of them.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think of both of them where we can, I could be West Coast, they could be here in Nashville, and and the the song is about, you know, look up.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: If we're looking at the moon, we're feel closer together because we're looking at the same thing.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that one for sure, and and same.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I got a song that I wrote about my mother called Mama Raised the Hell Out of Me.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I love that song.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but now seeing my wife as a mother, you know, it makes me think of her too, and and how we're raising our daughter.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of songs now, and and it's weird because I notice it as I'm singing it on stage.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like it'll come through, like, because I don't really sing the songs at home.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll be playing them live and I'll be like, oh my gosh, this song is completely doing something different in my head right now.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I think more and more songs are gonna start doing that as I as I play them.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know, it's just it's as cliche as it sounds, it's changed everything in my life for the better.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I love her so much.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's so awesome.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, is there a song that you feel like is your favorite to play on stage because the crowd really gets into it?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it's it's hard not to, you know, the y'all have given us some number one songs and some some hit songs, and I'm very grateful for that.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so anytime they're singing back, it's yeah, the most fun thing in the world.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: When you're writing songs in a little room in Nashville, you never know how they're gonna, you know, translate to the world.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you see people's reactions and singing back, it is the greatest feeling.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, I mean the new single Ain't My Problem has been so much fun.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love you know songs like Drunk Me, Truth About You.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: We got history that have made my career and given us a job for the years.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: But you play those so much, and then when you get a new song and somebody starts singing it back, that's that really always revitalizes you.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: So playing that song right now on the set and having people sing it is is extremely fun.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I see it on the set list every night, and I'm like, I can't wait to get to that part.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's cool.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: I know my um boys, all all three of those that you just mentioned, Drunk Me and all of those.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: They like those, um, which you know, they're not quite old enough to probably understand a lot of those lyrics, but it's fine.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And who didn't sing songs that they probably didn't get when they were children?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: But it's good.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's awesome.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Tell them thank you.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely will.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so one final question that we kind of like to end the podcast on is what is currently on your playlist that you like to listen to that isn't your songs?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm actually I'm going back.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going back to like early 2000s country music.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: More than more than new stuff.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just kind of going back to my nostalgic.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're a little nostalgic probably this year because we're losing so many greats.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that that too, especially definitely, definitely did a bunch of Dolly Parton there for the last little bit.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we'll continue to always.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, just like it's it's weird.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's some old Tim McGraw recently, old Blake Shelton.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't been blasting Austin a lot lately.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: I just love that song.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um old Dirks Bentley, Keith Urban.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just stuff that like when I was stuff.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when I was coming through middle school and high school that I I was just loving about the country world at that time.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so yeah, I've just been kind of going back to an early 2000s, mid-2000s country.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's been fun.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I would be.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I'd be for sure.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Mitchell.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we can't wait to see you in a few weeks um in Effingham at the Effingham Performance Center, Thursday, November 12th.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great day.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Peace.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Before we go, on deck at the EPC is home free with our coming home for the holidays tour on November 19th.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Hairball, a tribute to Arena Rock on November 20th, and Daily and Vincent Candy Cane and Coles Tour on November 21st.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: For a full list of upcoming shows, visit our website at theepc.org.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: As always, you can purchase tickets through our box office Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: to 2 p.m.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: and on show days from 10 a.m.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: to showtime.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: You can also purchase tickets online through ticketmaster.com slash epcuse