New music from Mitchell Tenpenny is here and with it, comes some genre-bending tracks that might have traditional Country fans questioning its Country authenticity. However, for Tenpenny — that’s the least of his worries.

“I get people wanting just traditional Country and that’s fine,” he said in his conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly during the Friday Night Takeover. “But, when people are like, ‘It doesn’t sound like Willie [Nelson], I’m like, ‘What? Do you want me to copy somebody else? Is that what you’re asking me to do?’ That’s the biggest plagiarism there is. I don’t want to sound like anybody else, I want to sound like what I am. If you like it, great. If you don’t, by all means, go do something else… I don’t like the box people put country in. It’s not up to them — it truly isn’t.”

True fans of Tenpenny know authenticity is the last thing they have to worry about when it comes to the Nashville native, especially with his latest album, The 3rd, a title that literally represents who he is — James Mitchell Tenpenny III.

“I want to — first and foremost — always be authentic in what I’m releasing for me,” he said when asked what listeners can expect to hear from the project. “I wanted people to feel like, ‘this is definitely him, this is Mitchell, this is what he does.’”

He continued, “With that… incorporating a lot of different chambers and production of genres into this one record. For me, it’s Country through and through because of the way we tell the stories through the lyrics, but I also love all kinds of music, so I’m blending in what I love with where my heart is — which is country music — and the way we tell the story. This one for me was important to show all the different genres and what I’ve loved and grew up playing in bands and what is truly me, but focused in on the songwriting part.”

His focus on songwriting is clear as he has writing credit on every single song, but one, which is a cover of Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris,” a track with a lot of nostalgia for the 35-year-old. “I just remember seeing that song on MTV when they were like, playing in the rain when I was a kid,” he explained. “I was like, ‘That would be so cool to do a show like that like, ‘I don’t care about my instruments or anything breaking, it’s Rock ’N Roll!”

He continued, “That song, it’s so good. It makes you feel something every single time you hear it. So nostalgic for me... I just love it.”

Hear Mitchell’s cover of, “Iris,” along with the 19 other tracks that make up his third studio album by listening to The 3rd, available now. Plus, hear more from him by checking out his entire interview with Audacy’s Rob. Holly above.

Words by Monica Rivera, Interview by Rob + Holly

Photo: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images