He may have gotten his feet wet in the music industry with the pop-rock group Last November, but Luke Pilgrim is ready to get back to his country roots.

As a member of the group, Pilgrim had written, recorded and produced his first album by the age of 15.

Now as a 24-year-old, the Cleveland native is ready to go it alone.

While he is preparing for upcoming performances in Gainesville and to formally release his debut album, Pilgrim made time to chat with The Times.

Question: What got you interested in playing music?

My whole family has always been very musically active. I had a cousin who was a music major in college and he began teaching me how to play the guitar when I was 11. When I was a kid, my parents would let me go to some of these local places to sit-in with the band and the singers and song-writers would let me jam with them.

Q: How did you come to be a member of Last November?

We started the group in high school. We would play on weekends and tried to tour a good bit in the summer when we were out of school. After graduation, we toured coast to coast playing shows. We kept at it for a long time and it was a lot of fun, but it got to the point where we were all ready for something different.

Q: What is your solo, self-titled album like?

There is a lot of rock and pop influences in there from my years of playing that, but it's definitely a country album. And I think lyrically speaking, it's a more mature record. Some of the songs are kinda funny and some are a little tongue-in-cheek.

Q: Why country music?

Growing up in the south, I was introduced to country music at an early age. In the last few years, I got really interested in going back to my southern roots. I like the story-teller vibe that country music has.

Q: Where can we find your music?

You can download my whole album for free at www.lukepilgrim.com. We're going to do an official iTunes release later and that one will have a few, new songs.