Luke Bryan Might ‘Have to Knock the Rust off’ His Performing Skills Before Upcoming Tour

Luke Bryan is set to kick off his Proud to Be Right Here Tour in less than one month, and the country star has been practicing to make sure that he’s up to his own standards when he steps back on stage. During an interview with PEOPLE, Bryan reflected on making his return to touring, sharing that he may “have to knock the rust off” after being off the road for so long due to the pandemic.

“It’s kind of like riding a bike, you know, once you get back going and get it all feeling right, I feel like we can pick right up where we left off,” he said. “Your voice is a muscle, so it’s going to take a little bit to get the voice strength back up to where it was, but I’ll be ready to start firing on all cylinders!”

The American Idol judge told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in April that he’d have to start practicing the lyrics to his own songs, admitting that he had been forgetting the words “quite a bit.” “I’ve done a couple Zoom concerts. I’m forgetting the words to my songs quite a bit,” Bryan said. “I’m going to have to sit in my music room and go back and listen to… I’m going to have to do a little extra prep because I’m a little out of practice on a lot of this stuff.”

Bryan was able to get back in front of his fans for his first live performance in front of an audience with his headlining set at Pepsi’s Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach, Florida, earlier this month. “I’ve kind of always been a guy that loves to be on the road and loves to be out there with the fans and interacting,” he said. “The main thing is, I just think about that moment when I hit the stage.”

After his tour, the Georgia native will head to Las Vegas, where he’ll kick off his residency at Resorts World Las Vegas in February. “Everybody comes to Vegas to party and have fun and I feel like my catalog has songs that really will enhance and make that experience even more fun,” he said. “There’s nothing more fun than being on stage and being the master of ceremonies, the master of the party. I’m really just going to relish being on stage and connecting with my fans in a more intimate setting.”