- Kenny Whitmire has signed with The Neal Agency for US live music and touring representation, with agents Simone Chretien and Evan Kantor leading the booking relationship.
- Whitmire continues with River House Artists for management and Universal Music Group / MCA for his record label deal, which he inked earlier in 2026.
- Whitmire's debut EP, Fool In A King Size Bed, is set for release on June 12 via MCA, with touring dates already lined up supporting Tracy Lawrence, Billy Currington, and Ian Munsick throughout 2026.
- His viral breakout moment came in late 2025 when pop star Charlie Puth discovered and covered "I Gave Her The Moon" on social media, helping push the neo-traditional country track to a massive new audience.
Georgia native Kenny Whitmire has officially signed with The Neal Agency for US live music and touring representation, with agents Simone Chretien and Evan Kantor handling the deal. Whitmire moved to Nashville in 2022 after just one semester of college and has been building steady momentum since.
His first major industry move came in July 2025, when River House Artists and Sony Music Publishing signed him to a global publishing agreement. That was followed by a record deal with MCA, the Universal Music label home to Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, and Carrie Underwood. He continues with both for management and label representation respectively.
The turning point in Whitmire’s public profile came when Luke Combs and Charlie Puth both reacted publicly to “I Gave Her The Moon,” with Puth even producing and sharing his own version to his 22 million+ followers.
He has since followed up with “Thought Twice About Loving You,” “Me Being Me,” and “You’re Getting Colder,” and has penned cuts for artists including Austin Snell and Colin Stough.
Just months before this signing, The Neal Agency made another Georgia-rooted country pickup: Will Terry also signed with TNA in March 2026, signaling a clear pattern for the boutique firm.
Led by 2025 CMA Talent Agent of the Year Austin Neal and co-head Adi Sharma, TNA represents over 30 clients ranging from emerging acts to record-breaking talents, including Morgan Wallen, HARDY, Riley Green, Ella Langley, and Bailey Zimmerman.
Takeaways
This signing is a significant infrastructure move for Kenny Whitmire at exactly the right moment. He’s walking into his debut EP release with a full professional team in place: management, label, publishing, and now a booking agency with a proven track record of turning emerging country acts into headliners.
The Neal Agency isn’t just filling a slot here. They’re adding a legitimate neo-traditional voice to a roster that already includes some of country’s most commercially powerful acts.
For TNA, the pattern is becoming hard to ignore. Following the signing of rising country act Will Terry earlier in 2026, adding Whitmire, Billboard’s Up-and-Coming Country Artist of the Month for May 2026, shows the agency is making a deliberate push to plant flags on country’s next wave before the market catches up with these artists.
With a viral hit already on his résumé, a major label behind him, and a debut EP dropping June 12, the timing couldn’t be sharper.
Can Kenny Whitmire’s neo-traditional sound sustain chart momentum in a pop-leaning country radio landscape? Will The Neal Agency’s deep roster connections, think Morgan Wallen and HARDY, open up major support slots that fast-track his touring career?
