Lucas Leon Reflects on ‘American Idol’ Journey, Brad Paisley’s Opry Invite & What’s Next [Exclusive]

After stepping off one of television’s biggest singing competitions, American Idol’s Lucas Leon is taking a moment to look back on the whirlwind of a journey. From long rehearsal days and live show pressure to once-in-a-lifetime mentorship moments, the experience pushed him in ways he says he never expected but ultimately helped shape the artist he’s becoming today.

Hailing from Gallatin, Tennessee, the Season 24 contestant took a leap of faith and auditioned for the show, winning over the judges with his original song, “Fall in Love Someday.” He made his mark on the show through powerful performances before finishing in the Top 7, but his journey is just getting started.

During the season finale, Leon had the pleasure of returning to the stage with one of the show’s guest mentors, Brad Paisley. Following their performance, the country music hitmaker surprised Leon with the news that he had been invited to make his Grand Ole Opry debut, a dream come true for the young singer. While an official date for his Opry debut has yet to be announced, Leon says he’s looking forward to the opportunity to step inside country music’s most iconic circle.

Fresh off graduating high school, Leon is already keeping his momentum going. He’s set to take the stage with fellow American Idol contestants in Nashville on Wednesday, June 3, as part of the 19 Recordings showcase ahead of CMA Fest. Plus, he just released his newest tune, an upbeat, head-over-heels love song, “The Crazy Kind,” setting the tone for even more new releases ahead.

With the American Idol competition officially behind him, Lucas Leon is opening up about his experience on the show, what’s next, and the lessons he’s carrying forward.

How would you sum up what your experience was like on American Idol?

I mean, it was a lot of hard work, but it was an awesome experience. Bottom line, I’d do it again. It was a lot of fun. I made a lot of really good friends, had a lot of great experiences. I mean, that experience that you get from having to be on a live show every week, it builds you a lot and I feel more prepared for whatever comes my way in the future. 

What was it like behind the scenes, the side that fans don’t get to see on TV?

I think it looks more glamorous than it is. Not to say that it’s awful working conditions. It’s not at all, but it is just a lot. It’s stressful. It’s, all of the above, in terms of mental game. You got to be all there and ready for everything and a lot of rehearsals and just making sure everything is good to go because once you get on that live show, you’re in front of millions of people and you better be prepared. 

What did a typical day look like for you and the other contestants on live show days?

Show days obviously are the craziest days. During the week, it’s a lot of just vocal coaching and outfits, your wardrobe, planning the look, planning the background, planning the arrangement for the songs, all that kind of stuff, blocking for the stage. But show days, it’s real early. We even got as early as 5:30 call time in the morning. It’s a lot and you get there and you try to take a nap. They did feed us really, really good. It was always really good food. So at least there’s that. Pretty much right away, as soon as you got there, get into wardrobe for the day and you wouldn’t take that off until an hour or so after the show. And then you’d go and do a full dress rehearsal. You’d do it just like they do it on TV. If you get out as I did, eventually, as everyone did, except for Mrs. Hannah Harper, you go straight to wardrobe, take it off and you’re pretty much on your way. And it’s pretty simple once you get out, but if you go through, you go through press and those kind of things and it’s a big, long day. 

You had a lot of amazing performances throughout the show and met some pretty amazing people, like Brad Paisley. How was it being mentored by him in Hawaii?

It’s insane to me that I kind of got to just hang out with Brad. What a legend. As a guitar player, I hope to have a morsal of his talent. And I mean, come on, just the magic that he brings to the stage every week is unreal and it was really cool to be able to get to meet him in Hawaii. I think he soft launched the whole Opry thing there. He said, ‘Hey, maybe come hang out with me.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, sweet. I could see this potentially down the road turning into actually getting on the stage.’ And sure enough, we got to sing together and yeah, got the invite, still working on that date, but hey, we’ll get there. 

What was going through your mind when he officially invited you to make your Grand Ole Opry debut?

I mean, what an incredible honor to be able to be on that stage. I actually just had to do a whole project at school. I’ve just graduated…But I had to do a whole senior project, and you can do it really whatever you want to do on, and I did it on the history of country music. There’s so much appreciation that I have for that stage and that show. And it used to be at The Ryman, which is so cool to me. That’s the original venue…And it’s just so old and it’s got such like an aura of awesomeness. And all the legends that came through there, i’s crazy that I’m going to be able to get to be in there, hopefully this year. 

Without giving away too much, have you thought about what songs you might perform that night?

Well, really the dream is that I get to sort of do my own set. I’m still working on the details. I’d love to play some of my original songs. And obviously, of course, in a perfect world, I get to do my own set and sing with Brad. I’m not going to ask too much though, but I would love to do some originals and one of Brad’s songs. That would just make the day. 

You have a brand-new song, “The Crazy Kind.” Talk about writing this one and the inspiration behind it.

It’s a fun song. I mean, there’s really not that much more to it. I write plenty of very emotionally deep songs and when I went into the writing room that day, I said, “Lighten up a little bit. Just write something fun.” And I feel like we accomplished that goal and that’s really what that song’s all about. And at least I hope it is a good time to listen to…[Songs] always have their own sort of beginning and lifespan. It’s a fun thing to watch. Songs have personality, I promise you. A song can be really easy or a song can be…The song can write you. We’ll say that. There’s some days where you spend five, six, even multiple days writing a song and sometimes they fall out easy. “The Crazy Kind” did not take us very long at all. 

Have you established a core group of co-writers in town yet?

I’ve written with so many people and I’ve narrowed it down to under maybe 15 people that I keep in the rotation and I can mix and match them. And they’re just people that I know I’m going to get quality with every time. It’s people that I work really well with and get along with on a personal level and who I actually have a friendship with as well and it’s just a recipe for success. 

Do you have any artists in mind that you would love to co-write with or have a collaboration with one day?

I want to write with John Mayer really bad. I would love to just sit there and talk about guitars with him really bad. I would love to sit there and talk about watches with John Mayer really bad. He’s my goat, to be honest. In terms of writing and guitar playing, like I was sort of saying about Brad, I wish I could have a morsel of his lyric ability and his melodies and all of that.

Now that Idol is behind you, where do you see your career heading next?

Well, already a lot of hard work. Cook the books. Let’s get it going, get the stone rolling. Shows, shows, shows. I’m trying to get as many as I possibly can and writing as many good songs as I possibly can and hopefully putting out as many of them as I can. I’m doing my best to do the most quantity while also keeping quality. 

Is there anything specific that you learned throughout this entire journey that you will now be carrying with you as you venture out into the next chapter?

Yeah. I’m seeing now more than ever that nothing is going to be given to you at all. And you have your very rare story of a career and amazing legendary status just falling into people’s lap. But for the most part, you got to make it happen. You can’t just sit around hoping that your song’s just going to do all these wonders for you. You got to work it. That’s pretty much what I’ve learned and I can translate that from having to try my absolute best to stand out every week in the competition and I can take that and put it into my every day when I’m writing, when I’m trying to book shows, when I’m doing all of this.