At the age of 47, Luke Bryan has discovered “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day,” comes with some personal consequences as he recently found he’s allergic to bass.

Before playing a private show for some lucky Audacy listeners, Luke sat down with Katie Neal and said after years of mystery, he’s found the reason he comes home from fishing trips with red eyes, swollen hands, and a stuffy nose. “If I look like I’ve been smoking pot, that’s not true, I’ve been catching bass,” Luke laughed before detailing his rather serious bass allergy. “If I touch a bass, my eyes will get red, my hands will swell if I have to take the hook out.”

The discovery comes after years of suffering for Luke, who thought he was simply experiencing normal allergies from being outside. “I spent years not knowing. My dad would take me on these fishing trips and I would be in the back of the boat like wheezing, maybe in need of an epipen. But my Dad was just like [suck it up], we just thought it was allergies [to] like, the trees, but it’s actually touching the bass.”

Luke wasn’t about to let his allergies get in the way of making a small group of Audacy listeners dreams come true after they won a Totally Private concert from Luke at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville. The show was his first weekend gig in more than four weeks as he’s recently been striving to find better work-life balance.

“My thing [now] is to just have fun writing songs, have fun doing the shows,” he shared. “I think for ten years I’ve just overworked myself to where all my friends, whenever I see them, they’re like, ‘You’re overworking yourself’ and I’m like, ‘I know, I can’t tell people no.’”

While consciously making an effort to find balance, Luke still keeps pretty busy, especially now as he serves as a judge for his seventh season of ABC’s American Idol alongside Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, who revealed this go-around is likely her last.

“I thought she might be [leaving],” Luke said when asked about Perry’s departure. “She’s been a rockstar on the show and to have developed a friendship… we’ve had a great time together. When I took the Idol gig, I knew that she had already signed up to do it and I didn’t know her. Seven years later, to have spent so much time with her has been pretty awesome. She’s a trip.”

On top of his time with Idol, Luke is also promoting his brand new single, “Love You, Miss You, Mean It,” which he says has a “straight down the middle” Luke Bryan sound and is available now.

“When I look at 16, 17 years of doing this there’s been a lot of songs put out. Sometimes I do some songs where I try something and the fans like it and sometimes the fans are like, ‘What is he up to?’” Luke said, laughing. “But this one is right down my wheelhouse and I’m excited to have that out.”

Hear the new single on Audacy stations nationwide and check out Luke’s entire conversation with Audacy’s Katie Neal above to learn about his bass allergy, Idol, new single and more.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal