Country Star Collabs with a Pop-Punk Band from Albany -It’s Real Good!

Country Star Meets Pop Punk Band from Albany!

A country star recently joined forces with a pop-punk band from Albany on a surprise hit that nobody saw coming. But we're glad they did!

Last week during Alive at Five - Albany’s 8-week free concert series - an energetic band performed in front of an enthusiastic legion of young fans at Jennings Landing down by the Corning Preserve.

Highlights were all over the local news, and I thought they sounded pretty damn good - the music was fun and spirited, and their attitude was a blend of high school jock meets rowdy country boy, and I liked it.

The band was the pop-punk group State Champs, an American rock band from Albany, who has been around for more than a decade and has had tons of success touring the world while recording multiple successful albums.

Upon doing a little research on this hometown band - that admittedly, I knew very little about - a Google search turned me on to video after video - many with millions and millions of views.

One of the videos was for a song called "Act Like That," a single released by State Champs back in mid-May off their latest album "Kings of the New Age".

Featured on that single is country music star Mitchell Tenpenny, known in his own right for the 2018 hit "Drunk Me," as well as songwriting credits for likes of Granger Smiths, "If the Boot Fits".

While it's unclear exactly how Nashville and Albany collided, the world is small, and the music world is even smaller.

We know them as performers and entertainers, but our favorite musical heroes are music fans first, and it certainly isn't unusual when a cross-pollination of genres produces something different, unique, and popular.

Tenpenny told Antimusic.com that the experience was "one of the craziest videos I've ever been a part of!"  Adding that he "grew up playing and loving this style of music. I've been a fan of State Champs for a minute now, so it was a no-brainer when I heard the song!"

We agree!

Tenpenny will be in town later this Summer as one of the main supporting acts on Luke Bryan's "Raised Up Right Tour" set for Sunday, August 14th at SPAC

Watch the video for "Act Like That" from Albany's State Champs and Mitchell Tenpenny's below!