Kenny Whitmire Signs New Deal with MCA – Readies Debut EP
If your appetite for neotraditional country is insatiable, and you’re looking for your next fix wherever it might present itself, Kenny Whitmire would definitely be somewhere to point your nose. Though he’s only released a succession of singles at this point, his song “I Gave Her The Moon” stuns with its Keith Whitley-like delivery, and the crying steel guitar of “Thought Twice About Loving You” reminds you of the best of ’90s country balladry.
Whitmire was already in working relationships with publishing outfits in Nashville. He moved to Nashville in 2022, and started writing songs for folks like Cole Goodwin and Austin Snell, and signed a publishing deal back in July of 2025 with River House Artists and Sony Publishing. It felt like it was only a matter of time before someone snatched him up and tried to make a bonafide star out of him. That’s now officially happened as MCA has put pen to paper with Whitmire.
“Signing with MCA is one of those moments you dream about as a kid,” Whitmire says, while also announcing that he will release an EP called Fool In A King Size Bed on June 12th. He also released a new song “One Foot In The Grave” as part of the announcement, which is a song that doubles down on Kenny’s love for country music. He calls it “My version of a ‘Prop Me Up Beside The Jukebox’.”
The EP is something to look forward to, but will only include two unheard songs. It will be more of a collection point for his previous singles, and a stepping stone in his career. Most importantly, it should put Kenny Whitmire on the map as one of netotraditional country’s preeminent voices to look forward to keeping the roots of country alive well into the future.
This is no longer just about Zach Top. This is about a whole host of promising traditional and neotraditional voices not just making it a new day in country music, but a new era that will hopefully stretch well into the future.
Fool In A King Size Bed Track List:
- Me Being Me (Kenny Whitmire, Sam Banks, Lee Starr)
- Thought Twice About Loving You (Kenny Whitmire, Drew Parker, Lindsay Rimes)
- You’re Getting Colder (Kenny Whitmire, Jenn Schott)
- I Gave Her The Moon (Kenny Whitmire, Lynn Hutton, Cam Newby)
- Fool In A King Size Bed (Kenny Whitmire, Rhett Akins, Kat Higgins)
- Ain’t Hard Livin’ (Bart Butler, Rob Snyder, Sam Banks)
- One Foot In The Grave (Kenny Whitmire, Max Martin, Thomas Mirels)
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May 11, 2026 @ 11:34 am
I played ‘I Gave Her The Moon’ on Spotify and I was not expecting it to be that good. It sounds like a hit from the late 80’s-early 90’s Country. There are a lot of upcoming and aspiring neo-neotraditional artists whose work has been highlighted here but Kenny Whitmire is better than almost all of them. I’ve only listened to a handful of his songs so far but hopefully his output creates a clear signal to everyone else who dabbles in writing “songs about songs” and constantly name-dropping artists, that they either need to step up their songwriting game or start applying to UPS or Amazon for a job as a delivery driver.
May 11, 2026 @ 11:56 am
He’s playing the tree top lounge (attic) of the converted Chicago salt factory In August, while Currington and Kip M play the (large) outdoor area that night. Interesting contrast.
May 11, 2026 @ 11:58 am
Excited for him definitely love what I have heard so far. I am always a bit put off when every song is the singer co-writing with two other people. Makes me ask how much writing they actually do. I know this is just the game but yeah makes me wonder how much of their music is really them
May 11, 2026 @ 5:07 pm
“Makes me ask how much writing they actually do.”
Lots.
Songwriters write every day with other writers for a reason. Two or three heads are better than one; the more writers, the more publishers, the better chance of getting a song cut (three publishers working a song is better than one); Nashville is a co-write town. Some days you’re the guy (or gal) who brings in the idea, some days you’re the guy who adds one line, somedays you’re the guy who comes up with the melody, somedays you’re just the guy in the room.
Anyone who thinks these singers who write somehow get a free pass, or that other writers are eagerly putting artist’s names on their songs just to get a cut don’t know much about the songwriting world or the integrity most pros in the industry possess.
May 11, 2026 @ 6:03 pm
Country stars getting writers’ credit for songs they didn’t actually write is part of long-standing industry tradition and infamy. Here, Mel Tillis describes his personal experience with Webb Pierce and “I Ain’t Never” to Ralph Emery and friends, with some wink-nudge allusions to Pierce’s effeminacy that leave Kristofferson and the others in near stitches, like they know it all too well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X49rm21uaig
Perhaps things have changed in the new Nashville.
May 13, 2026 @ 7:05 am
Yes, these days it takes at least five guys to co-write nonsense even AI would be ashamed of.
May 11, 2026 @ 12:41 pm
This guy could go on the hook.
May 11, 2026 @ 4:11 pm
Good news for trad-country fans. I’m wondering if he can actually rock out a little bit. One Foot in the Grave is good, but it still has the dusky vibe of his ballads. I love the ballads, but I hope he doesn’t just end up looking like he only has one arrow in his quiver. He’s an easy guy to root for.
May 11, 2026 @ 5:34 pm
Waitaminit… is that the Max Martin I think it is in the writing credits for “One Foot in the Grave”? When did he start doing country?
May 11, 2026 @ 5:54 pm
I believe it’s a different Max Martin.
May 11, 2026 @ 8:44 pm
I saw Kenny in concert last month opening for Shenandoah here in north Georgia which is the area he’s from (Woodstock). Thankfully the playlist here had already turned me on to his music so I knew what to expect. He was awesome and I definitely knew I was getting to see someone that was about to blow up. The only downside was people was talking during a lot of his set. From the vocal side of things he reminded me of Ben haggard with the Kinds softer tone. He’s since released 2 songs and they both are good as well. Just I gave her the moon is on a whole other level and he told the story about how it changed his life and got him a record deal. He (And Charlie puth) both shared the video I took so I thought that was cool
May 12, 2026 @ 12:28 am
…the bar for all those new 90s revivalists is: you got to be at least on par with the originals. better even – beat them.
mr. whitmire doesn’t quite manage, unfortunately. even if mca may think otherwise. just compare his uninspired “thought about loving you” with the arguably best love song out there at the moment: stella lefty’s “boston”. in one simple line – “…i like it when you’re nice, like it when you’re nice to me…” she manages way, way more convincingly to express how love should feel than he’ll probably ever will. on top of everything, she performs it like your senior high school class mate that you had a crush on and could sing more charmingly than perfectly. that’s country music folks – taking you places and times, and just not warming up shenandoah to lukewarm.
May 12, 2026 @ 2:01 pm
Discovered Kenny’s “I gave her the moon” through the SCM playlist and was immediately hooked – definitely a single of the year contender! I have enjoyed most of the songs he’s released so far. Looking forward to the new ones on the EP.
May 13, 2026 @ 7:00 am
Hopefully he will be allowed to mature as an artist without being shown the door by MCA.
Speaking of that; whatever happened to Mo Pitney? The boy sounded very promising, but sadly, he signed his life away to Curb.
May 16, 2026 @ 12:51 pm
“I Gave Her the Moon” was the real deal and became my favorite new song in quite a while. I’ve been less impressed with his other releases so far, but I’m glad he’s signed a deal and he’s certainly one to watch