INTERVIEW: Luke Combs Talks Journey Of Releasing Debut Album 'This One's For You'

After much anticipation from fans, Luke Combs released his debut full-length album This One's For You on June 2nd via Columbia Nashville. The album features 12 new songs including the title track "This One's For You," and songs like "Out There," "Memories Are Made Of," "Beer Can," "Hurricane," and "One Number Away."

Luke tells iHeartRadio exclusively of his album, "Releasing the first album has obviously been a lot of work up until this point. I started recording this thing over a year ago now, and so it's been quite a long journey getting to this point. But, I'm really ready for everybody to hear it."

[Buy This One's For You on iTunes]

This One's For You is Luke's debut album, and the 27-year-old North Carolina native says that he's learned a lot from putting his first full-length album together. "Just a couple years ago I was just a country music fan and went out to buy these albums. You think, 'Oh, it's just Tim McGraw goes in and records these songs,' and you think that's all that happens, and you realize when you're in a full album campaign how much work it is, and how many people are helping you accomplish the greater goal."

Luke has written a lot more than the 12 songs that ended up on This One's For You. "It's been hard, having to hold on to some stuff, because I write a ton a songs and obviously there are a lot more I've written that aren't on this album," he explains. "I think the whole process of creating the album is not as quickly as you think it is. Sometimes, maybe from the outside looking in, maybe it seems like you just go in and throw it down, and then it's done. But, it is really a whole process of evolving what you want the songs to sound like, or how you think they're gonna sound, versus how they come out."

The title track on the record, "This One's For You," is one of the most special songs on the album for Combs. He tells us, "This one, for years, has always been a super special song for me. Ever since I left North Carolina, I just feel like there were things that I needed to say, and so many people to thank. It just really helped me sum up a lot of different emotions in a little three-and-a-half minute window. So, it just made sense to name the album that."

You can catch Luke out on the road this summer, and he just finished up the first leg of Brantley Gilbert's "The Devil Don't Sleep" Tour. Luke tells us of the experience, "Obviously Brantley's such a good guy and it was just cool to get to play a show in that environment, because we had never done anything even close to that before. So it's definitely a different feel in those rooms out as opposed to a club where everybody's really close, and everybody knows your music. So, it's fun being out there and trying to win those fans."

The biggest takeaway for Luke from being on a huge tour with Brantley is the fans are the most important part of what he does. Luke explains, "I talked with Brantley about that a few times, and you get to realize that the people that are at the show are the reason that you're able to keep recording music, and get the opportunity to have your songs on the radio, and have people buy your t-shirts and, want stuff signed by you. And I think that will always be something that I'll remember about this tour."