Laine Hardy won Season 17 of American Idol in 2019, and immediately got to work making music. The 20-year-old, who has already released a few songs, including his current single, “Tiny Town,” is relying on the important lessons he learned while on the reality TV talent show, as he forges his own career path.

“Idol taught me a lot in a short amount of time. If you didn’t learn fast and soak everything up, you get lost,” Laine told MusicRow. “They looked out for all the contestants and I felt they wanted the best for every contestant.”

Lane had hoped to spend much of this year writing songs for an upcoming project, but those plans were unfortunately altered because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’ve seen some people start to slowly get back to songwriting in-person,” the Louisiana native shared. “I’m not a big fan of the Zoom co-writes. I think it feels more authentic to do it in-person. I’ve been saving up a lot of song ideas for [in-person sessions].”

“Tiny Town” was actually inspired by being forced to stay home because of COVID-19.

“What a crazy summer. I am lucky to be feeling better and want everyone to stay safe and healthy out there. It is more important now than ever for younger people to step up,” Laine said when the song was released. “Thanks for all the well wishes from my own hometown community and beyond. I’m grateful to still be able to get music out over the summer and hope you guys enjoy ‘Tiny Town.’”

Laine also recently released both “Ground I Grew Up On” and “Let There Be Country.” While his sound is uniquely his, the rising star says his forthcoming album will likely combine all the styles of music he grew up loving.

“I have inspirations from all genres of music,” Laine previously told Forbes, when asked what his new record would sound like. “That’s a really hard question to answer. But I mean, in Louisiana we listen to all kinds of different music and we love all kinds of different music. So that’s going to influence my album.”