Between the time he's spent on tour with Luke Bryan and Jake Owen and for his own 2018 Up Down Tour, country up-and-comer Morgan Wallen is no stranger to road life. However, as he prepares for his headlining 2019 If I Know Me Tour, the singer says there will be something special about getting out in front of the crowd this time around.

"I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing my fans," Wallen recently explained to The Boot and other outlets. "My album has had some time to marinate and had time for people to get to know it, and we've had a good response from people so far."

The singer points out that this trek will be a chance to meet the fans behind that response. "I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing the people who've been buying my music and streaming my music and getting up close and personal with them," Wallen goes on to say.

One of Wallen's tour stops in 2019 will be a hometown show in Knoxville, Tenn. "We haven't played Knoxville in a while," the artist says. "It'll be probably almost a year since we've played there."

"I'm looking forward to seeing the growth," Wallen continues. "And it's always good to get back home and see the people you love, and get to spend time with your family on top of playing your music."

As a young artist, Wallen was mentored by superstar duo Florida Georgia Line, and he says he learned lessons about songwriting, branding and even how to captivate a crowd from them. Now, he has a chance to pass that mentorship forward to another up-and-coming artist: Songwriter and emerging performer Hardy, who recently released his debut EP, will join Wallen on tour.

"Hardy's one of my best friends, and I'm super proud of him," the singer explains. "He's got a record deal, and he's been writing awesome songs ... but I've never seen him with a full band. So I'm also looking forward to that."

Already an accomplished songwriter, Hardy (full name Michael Hardy) co-wrote Wallen's No. 1 single, "Up Down." Wallen says he hopes that spending all that time on the road together will lead to further collaboration.

"I'm gonna bring him out, and hopefully we're gonna write some more awesome songs together," he says.

Watch Morgan Wallen's Acoustic "Whiskey Glasses" Performance

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