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 @ 12:41 pm
This guy could go on the hook.