Luke Combs is THE one to watch in country music to watch this year. He just got off a successful west coast headlining tour, signed with SONY, AND made his Grand Ole Opry debut.
What is this man NOT doing?
Celeb Secrets Country caught two of Comb’s most exciting shows in Nashville — his sold-out show at Exit/In and his Grand Ole Opry debut — and both were absolutely fabulous. Its always great to see Luke’s raw talent and kind heart get him so far!
At the Exit/In show, the whole audience sang along with Luke and made the experience that much better. He played many of his songs including “Beer Can,” “One Number Away,” “This One’s For You,” and of course his hit single, “Hurricane!”
Luke Combs/Facebook
Watching Luke walk out on to the circle of the Opry and to see the joy on his face was contagious; it lit up the whole venue. On stage he performed Chris Stapleton‘s “Tennessee Whiskey” and his song “Hurricane,” which left the audience in awe.
In between his busy schedule, Combs sat down with us to talk about his whirlwind of a year. We’re covering touring, signing with SONY/Columbia, an upcoming album, and performing. In addition, Luke opens up about being an artist rather than a fan, his most awkward dates, and the most challenging things he’s faced while on this musical journey. It’s our most personal one with him yet!
You can keep up with Luke Combs by following him on Twitter and Instagram at @lukecombsmusic.
Celeb Secrets Country: How was your most recent tour?
Luke Combs: “It was good! It was definitely a new experience for me. We did 26 shows in 32 days. So the workload was high, especially for the guys, because they’re loading in and loading out every night. I’m going to the merchandise booth and miss out on the heavy lifting, as much as I wish I could be there to help them. But yeah, it was definitely a learning experience for the whole group because it was the first time that any of us had been out for an extended period of time. We had been out for about a week before, but it was kind of like we were on vacation and had some shows, it was a regular weekend but had a beach house for a few days. It was learning the routine of the whole thing, every day you get in to this you wake up, you have your coffee on the bus, and then you’re getting to the venue and checking it out, you walk around town for a bit, you’re doing the sound check, you’re going to do radio, then you’re at the show, then you do the meet and greets, then you’re on the bus and you’re at the gym and showering at the hotels. It was definitely fun, I had never been to anywhere we went before, which was super cool. I got to see Montana and Idaho and Washington and Oregon and California and Nevada and all kind of places. Vegas was super cool, we had two days off there! We got a little rowdy. It was a great experience overall, I wouldn’t trade it for anything! Me and the guys got super close, we’re already great friends but we definitely came together over that experience, no doubt.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLOiORYg94C/?taken-by=lukecombsmusic
Celeb Secrets Country: You recently signed with SONY/Columbia and you’re working with Big Machine; how is that going? What do you think is the best thing to come out of that?
Luke Combs: “It is awesome! I’m very excited about it. I think the best thing is the ability to get in front of a larger audience. That has always been my goal, I love playing for people and you know, you want to play for more people every night. That’s not saying that that’s the end goal, I would be happy playing in restaurants every night, because I would just be playing and singing. As long as I would be playing my songs and people liked them, that would be enough for me. I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to take this to a huge national, potentially worldwide fan base, and that’s something that I didn’t want to pass up on. It has been such a blessing to be able to work with two such great companies. I’m super excited to see what the future holds!”
Celeb Secrets Country: In our last interview, you talked about coming out with a new album soon; can you tell us about that?
Luke Combs: “We’ve pushed it back a bit because we did a merger with Columbia so now their team has a hold of the album and they want to work their angles on it. I think that is the best thing for it, I am super anxious for it to come out. I’ve been done with it since March of this year and I am just ready for people to hear it! People are asking and it hurts me a bit as an artist to not be able to give them a date. I remember when I was a fan and one of my favorite guys was coming out with something and it didn’t come out, that upset me personally. I hate the fact that that has happened to me recently.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLyoEiYD3p1/?taken-by=isabelb123
Celeb Secrets Country: How does it feel to be an artist rather than a fan?
Luke Combs: “I am super appreciative. It is crazy for me to think about. I remember one of the first times I came to Nashville, I went to Puckett’s in Franklin and I saw Chris Janson play an acoustic, and I had seen him on YouTube, and I went up to him and I had done a Chris Janson cover on YouTube before that and he recognized me from that video. Now to be on the other end of that is a blessing because I have seen both sides, it is something that I am unbelievably appreciative of.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What was one of the funniest or most embarrassing moments that you’ve had on this tour?
Luke Combs: “There has been a couple mishaps. Overall me and the guys are pretty tame. We were out at Billy Bob’s in Texas and they have these display cases of these guitars signed by great artists such as Vince Gill and others, so it’s a big collection of musical history. We went in there to look at them and it was me and my drummer, Jake, and my guitar player, Tyler, and my drummer is looking at the guitars. Jake didn’t realize they were in a glass case so he goes in full speed to look at this guitar, to get real close to it, and just whacks his head on this glass. Tyler is on the floor laughing and this old lady is taking pictures of us. That was one of my favorite moments. It was hysterical.”
Celeb Secrets Country: You are about to make your Opry debut! What are you most nervous and excited about?
Luke Combs: “I think I’ll be nervous, but not in a bad way. I think I’m most excited for my parents and my grandparent to be there! I have one grandparent left and so I’m very thankful that she will be there to see that. I’m an only child so to me, making my parents proud is something that is high on my priority work. They did such a good job raising me and they were such good parents that I have to give back to them. Having them experience this with me is priceless, so that is what I am looking forward to the most.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Do you feel like playing at the Grand Ole Opry is a huge stepping stone in your career?
Luke Combs: “Yes! Its just one of those things that you can kind of never think about happening, like you want it to happen, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually visualized myself walking out on to the Opry stage. It just seems like a fantasy world. It seems so far away and so hard to attain, but the fact that I’m going to be in there and getting to walk in the circle, whether or not I deserve to be there is something that I ask myself on a daily basis. I’m going to do my best and sing my butt off.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMKlfeqgD73/?taken-by=lukecombsmusic
Celeb Secrets Country: How excited are you to go on tour with Brantley Gilbert?
Luke Combs: “I am super stoked! I’ve been a Brantley Gilbert for a long time, back to that first album that he put out, I’m talking “G.R.I.T.S” that kind of stuff. I’ve watched his career from that point blossom in to what it is now. I am really looking forward to writing with him and hanging and getting to know each other. It seems like that stuff is kind of happening every day where its something I never thought would happen. Its cool, I try to sit back and take it all in and be thankful for it.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What are the most challenging things that you have experienced over the past few weeks?
Luke Combs: “I would say the schedule of the tour. I got back 3 or 4 days ago. Its down to 20 minutes at a time thing. Getting used to that was hard, I like to tug at the reigns a bit. If you tell me I have to do something, it makes me not want to do it. I get it now, it makes sense, but its been the hardest thing for me. I like my time and space, you don’t get that doing the whole artist thing. But this is my dream so I will do whatever it takes to get to that point, I would love to play with Garth Brooks one day in a big stadium. Its part of the job. If anyone is wanting to be an artist and is reading this, you’re not going to love every part of everything. I love the music and writing and this and that, but there are things that I don’t like, its just like any job where you wish you didn’t have to do something. You do your job, then you get to do the parts of your job that you love. Its not all roses and candy, there are hard and tiring parts.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Who are your celebrity crushes?
Luke Combs: “I’ve always been a Kate Upton guy. Adele! The singing thing, I get it. I get the whole writing, that’s off the wall, to me, I think that stuff is super cool. Those would be two for me.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Can you tell us about your most awkward date?
Luke Combs: “I think they’re all kind of my fault. I didn’t go on that many dates, I wasn’t a big date guy. Ladies don’t seem to like me too much. I’ve just been on some dates where I’m like look, I get that this is a sympathy date, I get it. I am sure you’ve done it. You’ve gone out with a guy and you’re like ‘aw this poor guy,’ you’re only saying yes because you feel bad for him. I’ve been that guy a couple times, you get it in the first five minutes. You know, like ‘Can I buy you a drink?’ and she goes ‘eh, no, you don’t have to buy me a drink.’”
Celeb Secrets Country: I don’t know anyone who would pass up a drink.
Luke Combs: “Well then you haven’t met some of the girls I’ve went on dates with then.”
Celeb Secrets Country: I don’t think those are girls I would like then.
Luke Combs: [laughs with Jack and Coke in mouth] “No, but I have definitely had some painful dates in my day. Like awkwardness scale, I didn’t even want to be there anymore. It was so obvious. The whole dinner thing is so played out, I’d rather go shoot guns.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What is your favorite holiday?
Luke Combs: “I’m a Thanksgiving guy, I like to eat! I like the stuffing and the turkey, I love it. And being around the family. I like the Christmas thing, I mean who doesn’t love giving and getting gifts, but it always had a tacky thing for me. I like the season and I love snow, I’m from the mountains in North Carolina, so once the candy canes start popping out on the snow, I can get in to it. I like the feel of Christmas rather than actual Christmas.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What is your favorite holiday movie?
Luke Combs: “Either Jingle All the Way or Elf! I love Elf.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Since we are Celeb Secrets Country, what is a secret that you didn’t tell us last time in this interview?
Luke Combs: “New secret- I just got a truck. I still have the cat. I don’t wear pants unless I’m playing a show. I’m a shorts guy. I’m only wearing jeans on stage.”
