By Sophia Healy

Luke Healy, one-half of the country-rock duo Lakeview, has combined his country and rock roots in his music.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Healy has always been passionate about music. Before Nashville, he was a part of the Christian metal band Those Who Fear. The band played their final show in 2017, and shortly after, Luke and his duo Jesse Denaro formed Lakeview in 2018.

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Lakeview has over 87 million streams worldwide. Healy’s journey from heavy metal to country showcases his adaptability as an artist and his dedication to music.

Lakeview will be having a concert in Pittsburgh on October 18, 2026 at the Roxian Theatre. The show will open with special guests Dylan Schneider, and Jason Cross. There is a tailgate party at 4pm, doors at 6pm, and music starts at 7pm.

Healy spoke for an interview on February 5, 2025.

Q: While you have only done metal music in the past with your first band, Those Who Fear, what made you move into country music?

A: “My brothers can all contest this too. When we were young, we weren’t really allowed to listen to a lot of music. We were only really allowed to listen to church music, and most of it was country, musically. You know, Randy Travis, Dawn Williams, and stuff like that. So, when I first started learning how to play guitar, I was playing country songs. And I grew to like it, but I didn’t really understand it.

So, the older I got, country didn’t really make sense. I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t heartbroken, I’m not any of these things. I just knew how to play the songs, and they were catchy songs. I found a love for metalcore and rock through bands like Nickelback and Killswitch Engage. So, when I discovered that and started going to those shows, that’s what got me away from doing traditional rock and roll.

I think what got me back into what I grew up listening to was the relatability of country music. Country music makes sense to me now, but it didn’t make sense to me when I was a kid. It takes a lot of hardship for this stuff to make sense, you know?”

Q: Leaving your hometown to go to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a country music career can be a big hill to climb. How did that end up happening?

A: “It’s crazy. I never thought in a million years that I would move to Nashville. Especially when me and Jesse kind of reunited. I met him when he was in a metal band, and he was drumming for a metal band in Florida. Then, fast forward a handful of years, he came walking into my best friend’s Memorial Day party. That day, I was telling him about the country stuff I’ve been writing, and he was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool, I actually like that. Maybe show me some stuff sometime.’

We never really thought we were gonna get to this point or move to Nashville because of it. It was kind of just snowballing downhill because I think both of us were done with our music careers at that point. We were going into our 30s, so we’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for.’

What happened was the stuff we wrote for fun in our spare time between our three jobs got heard by Warner Brothers and Universal, and there was one other sublabel. A really profound writer here in Nashville reached out because he was a fan of my old band. He was like, ‘Dude, you need to move to Nashville and be a songwriter.’ We were like, ‘We’re actually thinking about moving like next weekend anyway.’”

Q: Country music has increased in popularity over the last few years; how do you see Lakeview fitting into the crowd with artists like Luke Bryan?

A: “We definitely fit into the Luke Bryan crowd. We could easily go on tour with Luke Bryan and connect with that audience completely because there are more people like me than there isn’t. I don’t know a single one of my friends who grew up playing metal music that doesn’t like country. Because they’ve gone through the same stuff, and they connect with it.

I think there’s a huge void missing in the country music scene. People say, ‘Oh, we’re trying to break every barrier,’ well we’re not really trying to do that. And they’re not sure where we fit in, but every time that happens, we fit in completely. So I think there actually is a place for us on a tour with someone like Luke Bryan.

It’s just hard for people to wrap their heads around it until they’re like, ‘Oh crap, this is what we’ve been missing.”

Q: Can you talk about your experience while doing your first tour outside of the US? Were there any downsides to it?

A: “It was mind-blowing. Honestly, it’s a lot of work. The downside to it is it’s absolutely horrible as far as cost-effectiveness. No matter how successful it was, we lose a tremendous amount of money doing it. But every single show, every single fan that came to any show made it so worth it every time.

It was a nightmare, like the traveling situation was horrible for us, especially with the time difference. By the time you get used to it, it’s over and changes again. Eating was weird for us over there. You don’t understand the money that well, but the shows were absolutely phenomenal. It was our first time ever doing it, and there was the pressure of being headliners. We’re 100% responsible for the door count. You know, we can’t hide behind another band headlining.

But the reception and the turnouts were insane. They wish they would have done venue upgrades on some of the shows because of the ticket sales. So, it was a huge blessing and it was crazy to see folks wanting to embrace country music over there. And I don’t think it was so much the music side of it, but they wanted to embrace the culture of it.”

Q: And with that, would you want to continue doing world tours despite the hardships?

A: “These were like the labor pains. Especially as a small artist on a global stage, its success was so overwhelming, and even if it weren’t as successful as it was, I definitely would want to go back. The small interactions with people, you know, that stays in your heart, and I try to keep in contact with a lot of them, too. But yeah, I would definitely go back.”

Q: You released your first album in 2024; you put out many singles and EPs before that. Has your music changed a lot since the start? And If so, was it a good change/bad change?

A: “Yeah, I mean, I think it was a good change. But, there were a lot of songs that were older. But when we were under the constraint of a record label, they would only allow certain types of songs lyrically and sonically. They wouldn’t let us get away with what we wanted to do. We wanted to do the drums and the guitar. We weren’t trying to make it sound heavy. We just want to do what sounds good to us, you know?

We had handcuffs on us, with what we were allowed to release back then. Songs like “Loser” and “Son of A, are on the new album, but they were almost four and a half years old. The demos of them sounded way more aggressive than what we actually released. So, it’s more or less, we’ve been trying to do this [heavier sound], but what was allowed to come to the surface was not up to us. But, as soon as we got out of that deal, we could just drop everything.”

Q: Who are your favorite music artists and inspirations?

A: “I’m pretty diverse. As far as inspiration, I think all of them pour into each other. My number ones are probably Chad Kruger and Nickelback. Nickelback has always been my favorite band and will always be until I die. Randy Travis definitely has an influence on me as a lyric writer. I’d put One Republic’s Ryan Tedder next to Nickelback. I mean, absolutely, for sure. Ryan, it’s not even a secret, is one of the best songwriters in the world. And then I would say Bury Your Dead would be, you know, If I want to pick up a guitar and play heavy stuff.”

Q: In 2025, you and Jesse Denaro are doing another tour with Breaking Benjamin and Staind. How did you guys score a spot on their tour?

A: “It was a big surprise, for sure. Not to keep bringing up Those Who Fear, but we had ended up touring with Brian Welch from Korn while he was working on his side project Love and Death. I think we had five shows with him. Brian absolutely loved us and thought we were the best ever. This guy played guitar for Brian Jason, and he plays for Breaking Benjamin. He’s anofficial member now. But, when I first moved to Nashville, on the second day there we got invited to go to A Day to Remember show.

I run into Brian Welch, and he goes, ‘You’re that dude from the heaviest Christian Metal band ever.’ He asked what we were doing now, and I said, ‘I actually just moved here.’

Before I know it, I was hanging out with Mattie Mullins from Memphis Mayfire, and Jason was there. Just all these people I’ve known in passing are now my Nashville family. My weekends were spent hanging out with these guys. And Jason really, truly believes in what we’re doing. He was like, ‘Yo, if you need me to play guitar, let me play guitar in your band.’

But yeah, launch forward a handful of years, you know, COVID happened. I kind of screwed everyone’s life up horribly. and then Memphis May Fire came back around and wanted to take us out [on tour]. And Mattie was like, ‘I want to be the first active rock band to take you out.’ And I was all for it, but then we got shot down for the tour.

We came to find out that they [Memphis Mayhem] had the same manager as Breaking Benjamin. Jason randomly texts me and asks me to meet him at Scoreboards. I show up, and he’s like, ‘Want to do some shows with us?’ I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ and Jason asked if I wanted to do a whole tour. I told him I would love to.”

Q: Where do you see your career going moving forward?

A: “Hopefully up. I’m very thankful for everything I have right now. And if it didn’t go anywhere else, I’d just be so thankful for what I have now. I worked my whole life to be able to write songs and play shows. And I make a decent living, and I’m very thankful for that. I’m working really, really hard right now to put out the next album.

I’m hoping to get a rock number one and a country number one. And I don’t know if it’s going to be Lakeview stuff. Just as long as it’s stuff I write. As far as Lakeview on the artistry side, I see it doubling what we did last year. I think we’re gonna do Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. We have tons of stuff planned, and I’m excited about it.”