California native David Luning is premiering his new single “Driftin’” exclusively for The Boot's readers. Listeners can, in part, thank country-folk singer John Prine for this new music. Curious? Read on.

Luning was studying film scoring at the Berklee College of Music in Boston when, one evening, he went to a friend's house ... and heard Prine's 2000 album Souvenirs for the first time. The rest, as they say, is history.

"A couple of friends invited me over to share some songs at their apartment, and that was the first time I'd ever really listened to Americana music or folk or country or whatever you want to call it," 29-year-old Luning recalls. "They showed me John Prine, and it just resonated with me so much. I was like, 'Oh my god, this is what I have to do with my life.' I just figured it out in that moment."

Since then, Luning has been heavily influenced by the Americana scene. He self- released his debut album, Just Drop on By, in 2012, and his sophomore effort, Restless, is due out on Feb. 3. The 12-track project is about Luning's travels, and he recorded it with the help of engineer and producer Karl Derfler (Tom Waits, Dave Matthews).

In "Driftin'," the lead single from Restless, Luning sings, "I want to keep on driftin' like a rambling man," and describes what it's like to be a musician on tour: "Mile after mile down the road / Lookin' for a new place to go / Sippin' whiskey with some new-found friends."

“This song was inspired by the odd feeling I had when my band and I came home after tour," Luning tells The Boot. "There is something that feels epic about touring ... Going on tour with my band felt like really doing something -- going out there and experiencing new things, playing for new people, meeting new people, seeing towns that we’d never seen before and having experiences we’d never had before ...

"When we got back home, it felt really weird and wrong. It didn’t feel real," he continues. "Being in the momentum of going to new places and all the excitement of that and then coming back home caught me off guard. I just wanted to keep going. It felt like when you’re hosting a really fun party, and that feeling you get when everyone has to leave.”

Thankfully, there's no sign of Luning stopping soon -- that really fun party's just getting started. For more information on the singer, visit his official website.

Listen to David Luning, "Driftin'":

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