Welcome to Episode 69 of the Gent’s Talk podcast featuring Mitchell Tenpenny. The country music star is a singer, songwriter, producer and performer. We sat down with Mitchell from Nashville, Tennessee, while he was in town for the Highway Desperado Tour. We discussed the importance of celebrating small wins and dealing with grief. During our conversation, Tenpenny also examined the music business from a songwriter’s point of view.
Songwriting
Songwriting has been a part of Mitchell Tenpenny’s life from a young age. He spoke on being introduced to the music business via his grandmother, who worked her way up from receptionist to CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. She has been his example of what happens when you have relentless resilience. Tenpenny gravitates towards songwriting because of the way music can create moods. To him, music is a piece of mind. “Music doesn’t always have to fit the mood you’re in. Sometimes, it just reminds you of a mood you had before.”
Listen as Mitchell explains his songwriting process. With such a busy schedule, he informed us that his calendar is filled with scheduled songwriting time slots. Unfortunately, these planned sessions have removed much of the spontaneity he feels songwriting requires. He admitted the difficulty in planned creativity and explained how he’s become more mindful in his pursuit of creating.
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Everyone grieves differently
Tenpenny lost his father to cancer, and going through that taught him a lot about the grieving process. In an attempt to protect him, his parents weren’t honest with his father’s diagnosis. He was “only told the optimistic shit, and none of the real shit,” and mentioned his only regret was that he didn’t get enough time to process what he wanted to say to his father longer. When his mother was diagnosed, he made it a mission to get all the information upfront. Tenpenny told listeners to “grieve the way you want to and do not let anyone else tell you how to do it.” There is no right way to grieve; it can hit you anytime. Mitchell recalled how he felt months later while driving between shows when he realized he couldn’t call or hear his father’s voice again.
See Also: Gent’s Talk Ep. 68: A sit-down w/ Indigenous Juno nominee, Boslen
Therapy
Tenpenny lives by the mantra: “When you’re trying to better yourself, the world will help out,” he revealed that he started therapy recently. Mitchell showed confusion as to why one would think trying to better yourself makes you crazy. He uses therapy as a place to vent, and we urge others to seek help. He encourages finding someone to vent to because “venting is so healthy.”
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Please tune into Episode 69 for the entire conversation with Mitchell Tenpenny. The self-aware country artist doesn’t care what anyone looks like or what they believe in; he builds his friendships based on one’s merit.
About Gent’s Talk
Bulova Canada presents Episode 69 of Gent’s Talk, available for streaming on Youtube, Spotify, Goodpods, iHeartRadio, Apple and Google Podcasts! It was filmed at StartWell Studios in Toronto. You can now catch Seasons 1-4 on all Air Canada flights! Your continued support throughout this journey is appreciated. Thank you!
Feature image by Marc Messina
