Mitchell Tenpenny Reveals the Special Meaning Behind His New ‘Bucket List’ Tattoo

Mitchell Tenpenny kicked off the new year strong with the release of his single, “Bucket List.” The inspiring song was written a few years back and as the events of 2020 unfolded, he and his manager decided it was finally time to officially record and release it.

“Normally, I write a song in about three or four hours and we’re done, but this one… I had to come back another day to finish it. It was a little tougher, it was one of those songs that I wanted to do right, to do justice,” Tenpenny explains to Country Now.

“Bucket List” wasn’t just a chance to release new music, it prompted quite an adventure for the hitmaker. With his small crew, Tenpenny traveled West to visit some places on his bucket list and to shoot a music video.

“We went to Arizona and Utah, a bunch of places that were out West, a bunch of bucket list places for me,” he recalls. “We travel this whole country when we’re touring, but it’s in a bus and you go to sleep in one place, and you wake up in another, so you don’t ever really get to see it.”

Tenpenny and his girlfriend, fellow country artist Meghan Patrick, look as though they are on top of the world in the visually stunning clip. Tenpenny previously shared that filming the video was “one of the most amazing experiences of my life” and hopes it brings the song’s universal message to life.

“I wanted another general song [on the record] that was pretty specific to me and my life, but I wanted a kind of general song about kind of taking in the moment, you know you never know how long you’re going to be here,” he explains. “It’s been great to see the reaction of people that said how much they needed it cause I didn’t realize how much I needed it too; it’s one of those things.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another item Tenpenny recently checked off of his personal bucket list was to get a tattoo. Tenpenny got inked by tattoo artist Bubba Irwin with a large, intricate design featuring an owl looking over the famed Batman building in Nashville. It holds a lot of meaning to the singer/songwriter.

“I love owls, I just always have. My dad always said, ‘be aware of your surroundings’ every time we left the house as kids,’ he shares. “Owls kind of keep their heads on a swivel. So it was kind of our mascot, if you will, for our music and stuff.”

The tattoo holds both the memory of his father and the work he does now in the music industry. He has known for years that’s what he wanted and a week before, Irwin helped him decide to add in the connection to Nashville.

“It’s almost like my dad is still looking over us,” Tenpenny says, “I think it turned out beautiful, he’s an incredible artist.”

With a slew of new music on the horizon, 2021 is only looking up for Mitchell Tenpenny. 

“I just want to be able to do this for a long time, that’s my goal. Whether it’s being an artist, a songwriter, even the business part of it, I just want to make sure that I’m in the music industry for forever and that’s tough in its own… I just want to continue to grow with the change of the times.”