Most college sophomores have enough on their plate with classes alone. Scotty McCreery also happens to be working on a major extra curricular: Dropping his sophomore album!

The singer found success this summer with 'See You Tonight,' the lead single off of his new album of the same name. The record marks a milestone in the 'American Idol' champ's career. While the first one was released in the wake of his win on the reality show, the new album boasts McCreery's writing chops and gave him time to step back and showcase his creativity.

McCreery stopped by the Taste of Country office recently to share his thoughts on fans hearing his new music, starting the next semester of college and what advice he would give to his younger self (he's just 20 now).

ToC: Is there less pressure on you for this album since America isn't watching as closely as they were after 'American Idol'?

Scotty McCreery: I guess you could say that. The first record came right in the middle of everything. We just got off the show, the 'Idol' tour just finished up. We were kind of in the thick of everything so I guess there were more eyes. Now we can kind of sit back and back away from the limelight and stuff and make the record and kind of sit down and get creative with it, whereas with the first record we were really in a time crunch and everything. It's been a cool thing not to have that kind of pressure on us.

What songs are you excited for fans to hear?

There's a good amount of them. The ones that I wrote are personal to me because they were kind of in my mind and stuff that we threw around. There's one song on there that has kind of a duet kind of thing on it, that's a really cool one. It's the most country song we got on the record. It'll be a cool one for the fans to hear.

Are there any songs on the record that you're nervous about sharing?

I don't know if I'm nervous about any of the songs out there. If I put a song on the record, it's because I thought it had a point and a meaning to it. Any artist that puts a song out there, they're not nervous about it. More so excited about what fans have to hear and anxious. So not nervous; I'm excited to hear what some of the reactions are to some of these songs because they're a little different, you know? We've got some new feels and some different topics we're hitting on this record, so it'll be cool.

What advice does college freshman Scotty give sophomore Scotty?

I'd probably just say live a little, have fun. Don't be afraid to go out and see folks. College is about the education, but it's definitely about the experience as well, and getting to know folks and meeting new friends. Just get out there and be social, cause for me, coming in the way I did after the show and being a touring artist, I'm trying to stay back and not draw too much attention, but it would be nice to go there and have some fun.

Watch Scotty McCreery Perform 'See You Tonight' at Taste of Country

Watch Scotty McCreery Perform 'Water Tower Town' at Taste of Country

More From Taste of Country