Mitchell Tenpenny Takes iHeartCountry Fest To 'Church' With Biggest Hits

Mitchell Tenpenny made a passionate debut at the 2023 iHeartCountry Festival Presented by Capitol One in Austin, Texas at the Moody Center this weekend. On Saturday, May 13th, Tenpenny hit the stage directly after his Raised Up Right Tour tourmate Luke Bryan kicked off the show. While the country singer-songwriter performed a brief set of three songs, it was packed with emotion, gratitude, impressive musicality,—Tenpenny sounds just as good live, if not better, as he does on studio recordings— and an overwhelming response from his loving fans.

Tenpenny opened his set on a sentimental note with his latest single "We Got History," which arrived in 2022 on his 20-track album This Is The Heavy. After the song, he took a moment to express gratitude for his chart-topping success. "Thank you to iHeartRadio for changing our lives," he said. But getting your songs played on the radio is only half the battle. There has to be something that makes listeners stop what they're doing and make an effort to seek out an artist's music. Tenpenny's music has clearly made a deep impression and the proof could be heard in the crowd as they passionately sang along to his break-up song "Truth About You," also off This Is The Heavy.

"It feels like a church out there," Tenpenny said in response to his enthusiastic fans. "You can feel the energy in here." To round off his set, Tenpenny took it all the way back to 2018; when he scored his very first hit with the song "Drunk Me."

In addition to Tenpenny, this year's iHeartCountry Festival included performances from Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Carly Pearce, Sam Hunt, Elle King, Parker McCollum, Justin Moore, Jordan Davis, special guest Bailey Zimmerman, and more. The show will also once again feature the iHeartRadio "We're All Country" Guitar Pull powered by Ram Trucks, which will showcase unforgettable surprise performances by three of the biggest names in country music.