It was a tough choice for Mitchell Tenpenny to decide whether or not to include his full name in the lyrics of his new song, The 3rd. He expressed uncertainty and wanted listeners to feel the same feeling about his name. Tenpenny has teamed up with his friends and songwriters Devin Dawson, Andy Albert, and Paul DiGiovanni. “The fact that they wanted to write it with me means a lot to me,” Tenpenny told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. The song is full of Tenpenny’s hidden concerns and maintaining a legacy. It reflects his journey to glory and shows how deeply he was connected to his family.
Mitchell Tenpenny considers putting his name forward in a new song
“I felt weird singing my own name,” he said. I thought about that, and I decided I wanted people to see the name on the stone and understand why that song was written.” Tenpenny was proud of his full name, James Mitchell Tenpenny, which he shared with his late father and grandfather. He commented that he felt pressured to uphold the family reputation, “I’m proud of the place I come from, and the name they gave me.”
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Mitchell Tenpenny discusses the importance of legacy
Mitchell Tenpenny had been thinking about the subject of his song for a long time. He also shared the subject with his wife and fellow musician Meghan Patrick. They had a deep understanding of the responsibility that comes with carrying on the name, especially at a time when they thought about starting a family.
Ever since he got married, he had been asking himself, “What would I do if I had a baby? If it’s a boy, would I have to name him this?” He revealed that the emotional weight of the song for him grew even more during the shooting of the music video. He visited the graves of his late father and grandfather and it was a surreal experience. He admitted, “It was a little weird, to be honest. I didn’t know how I would really feel.” He felt the importance of the song for the audience to see the names on the graves. Focusing on the deep connection between his family’s legacy and his music, he said, “Without them, I’m obviously not here.”
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Mitchell Tenpenny honors family legacy by shooting rainy-weather music video in a cemetery
Through music, Tenpenny wanted to share a deeply personal story. “A lot of people don’t know that I’m one of the few third-generation paternalists alive today,” he said. His father died in 2014 and his grandfather in 2007. He wanted to make his grandfather and great-grandfather proud, “Visiting their graves for the music video was important to him; he wanted it to be meaningful and respectful.”
However, the weather changed dramatically and an unexpected incident occurred when Tenpenny and his team arrived for filming. “We had absolutely no idea that it was going to rain,” he said. As everyone was at his home which was 35 minutes away from the grave site, he felt it was the perfect time to shoot the video in one go. When they reached the graveyard, dark clouds had gathered and it started to rain. The rain made the experience even more memorable and added an emotional touch. “What a moment,” he quipped.
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