Country music’s next big thing is undoubtedly Luke Combs. The 26-year-old country singer sings and performs with such passion and writes or co-writes all of his music, making it personal and honest.
Combs began following his dreams when he released his first EP in college at Appalachian State, dropped out and moved to Nashville to pursue what he was born to do. Combs is currently on tour, and we here at Celeb Secrets Country, were lucky enough to attend his Bluebird debut, where Combs, Randy Montana, Ray Fulcher and Rob Williford all shared the round, and we even got the chance to sit down with the singer to ask him some questions. You can check out his answers below!
Combs’ Bluebird debut was absolutely amazing! The show began at 9 PM and the place was packed! There were even some fans from the Carolinas in attendance. Wyatt Durrette, a songwriter who has written some songs with Combs, as well as Zac Brown Band, was also in attendance, along with Fulcher’s parents and the rest of his family. The room was filled with love and support and it truly was a magical two hours of music.
The round was originally supposed to be only four songs per person, but the crowd cheered so much that they each got a chance to sing one more, with Combs choosing to perform, “When It Rains,” “One Number Away,” “Beautiful Crazy,” “She Got the Best of Me,” and “Hurricane.” One of the coolest moments was watching fans in the audience sing along to the lyrics of “Beautiful Crazy,” a single that’s music video was just released a few weeks ago.
There was banter between all of the guys that night and it was all very humorous and filled with stories. They were clearly having an amazing time and kept everything very light-hearted. At one point, they were chiming in on the other’s songs and Fulcher even sang “Beer Can,” which he wrote with Combs. The whole night was a dream come true for the guys as they checked another item off of their bucket list.
Overall, Combs’ performance at the Bluebird Cafe was a genuinely good time. If he’s headed to a town near year, make sure to get tickets because it will be one heck of a night!
Celeb Secrets Country: You released an EP recently, how has that been going for you?
Luke Combs: “It’s been going really good, a lot of good things have come out of it. It came out in November of last year, so slowly approaching a year being out. But you know, it landed me in a good spot, got me a lot of shows, a lot of people have come out to my shows, and it led to this album that is coming out in October! I am very thankful for having put it out!”
Celeb Secrets Country: Can you tell me about your new album?
Luke Combs: “Yeah, it has six or seven new songs on it. I’ve been recording it since March. I wrote or co-wrote every song on the album. I think it shows who I am as an artist. It goes from A to Z as far as the sound that I am capable of. I am really proud of having co-written every song on it because that is very important to me. People can listen to it and get an inside glimpse of who I am as a person.”
Celeb Secrets Country: How do you think it reflects your progression as an artist since your first EP release?
Luke Combs: “My first EP release, man, that’s been a long time ago now. Two years ago I was still in college when that came out and my writing has grown a lot since then, in my opinion. Obviously, I moved to Nashville since that came out, so that’s what I’m excited about — people being able to see how much I have grown as an artist since then. I am a lot more comfortable on stage, and I grew up singing, but it’s a little bit different singing in the church choir than in front of a couple thousand people there to hear songs you wrote. That’s one thing it’s done for me. It’s helped me grow as an artist while also expanding my reach.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Do you have any awesome fan experiences?
Luke Combs: “I’ve had a bunch. I have people almost every weekend where they drive from Michigan and we’ll be playing in Florida. It is so cool that people are moved by the music that much that they’re willing to travel that far to see me. Any of those experiences are super cool. I had a mother and daughter from Minnesota come down to Georgia this weekend to see a show for her 21st birthday or something.”
Celeb Secrets Country: You just announced your West Coast tour, how excited are you?!
Luke Combs: “I am very excited! I’ve never been out West before so it will all be a new experience. Being that far away from home for an extended period of time will be an experience, but I’m looking forward to seeing the other half of the United States and being out with some of my best friends for a month.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What is your favorite part about being on the road?
Luke Combs: “Just meeting people and fans is my favorite part! And playing my songs every night is kind of what I live for, so it gives me the ability to do those things. I am very thankful for that, so that’s probably my favorite part about being out.”
Celeb Secrets Country: How do you stay grounded and connected with your family?
Luke Combs: “It is difficult at times. I try to call mom and dad at least once a week and make sure they’re doing good. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so I guess that makes it a little bit easier, less people to stay in touch with. But it is hard at times to stay in touch with everybody you want to stay in touch with. Making sure you know where you come from is difficult when you’re miles away from home every weekend, and you’re back and forth between your apartment and some hotel room every night is difficult, but it’s worth it in the end.”
Celeb Secrets Country: You announced a show at the Bluebird Café next week, that’s awesome!
Luke Combs: “That will be so cool, my band leader, Rob Williford, and my good buddy Ray Fulcher, who I write with every week, and Randy Montana will be playing with me. I am very excited! I’ve seen many shows at the Bluebird, so it will be very cool to be over there and to play some tunes for some folks.”
Celeb Secrets Country: How would you describe yourself as an artist and a person in five words?
Luke Combs: “In five words…hard-working, compassionate, honest, funny, charismatic.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What do you do on the road to kill time?
Luke Combs: “Sleep, listen to music, try to not kill some of the guys in the band sometimes, get on my manager’s nerves as much as possible…that’s pretty entertaining. So yeah, a lot of times you run out of stuff to do and it’s like I’ve listened to every song in the world, twice now, so a lot of the times it’s sleep and just trying to get to the next town. Right now we’re in a van so we don’t have the luxury of sleeping in the bunks and watching satellite television and stuff like that.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What is your favorite show on Netflix?
Luke Combs: “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is probably my favorite show of all time as far as comedy goes. I’m a big comedy guy, not much into drama. I love Trailer Park Boys. I’ve seen every episode. My favorite character is Bubbles.”
Celeb Secrets Country: I love Bubble’s adoration for cats.
Luke Combs: “I’m actually a single cat dad myself.“
Celeb Secrets Country: Who is your favorite person you’ve ever played with?
Luke Combs: “I guess my friends probably. Getting to share those experiences with people you like hanging out with is cooler than someone you don’t really know. I haven’t really played with a lot of people that I’ve considered inspirational to myself, so sharing those moments with friends is the coolest stuff that I get to do.”
Celeb Secrets Country: If you could play at any venue, where would it be?
Luke Combs: “Red Rocks. It’s a pretty killer spot out there. I’ve never been there, but I know a bunch of people who have been. Hopefully we’ll play out there, only time will tell.”
Celeb Secrets Country: If you could open for any person, who would it be?
Luke Combs: “Eric Church, 100%!”
Celeb Secrets Country: Why is Eric Church so unique to you?
Luke Combs: “Um, well, how long do you have? You have an hour? We went to the same college, but he’s a lot older than me so I didn’t know the guy. But my freshman year a guy walked into my dorm room with Carolina and I’ve never heard of Eric Church before. This guy was like Eric Church went here, check him out. I did and I’ve been a super huge fan ever since. It’s kind of a smaller college so not a lot of people, but him having gone there, and his song writing to me is through the roof, and the combination of those two things just kind of stuck with me since then.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What is your favorite song and album by Eric Church?
Luke Combs: “Favorite song is probably “Lightning,” which not a lot of people know. It was on his first album. My favorite album is probably Chief, because you know “Springsteen” is a great tune, and it was obviously his biggest song to date. I’m a fan of all of his stuff. There’s not a song that would come on and I would skip.”
Celeb Secrets Country: If there’s one thing you could change about being an artist, what would it be?
Luke Combs: “I wish there was more time in the day, that’s one thing. I feel like a lot of the times my time is in small windows, you know, I kind of live my days like in an hour we have to do this, and in two hours we have to do that. Maybe just not having to sleep would be nice, that would be my superpower if I was a superhero. But yeah that would be it, having more time in the day.”
Celeb Secrets Country: When you travel do you prefer to do the local or touristy thing?
Luke Combs: “Oh, local thing 100%. I grew up in a tourist town and have always had a disdain for that kind of experience. I feel like a lot of the times it’s just kind of I’m seeing what everybody wants me to see and I like seeing things on my own terms. I’m definitely a local stuff guy!”
Celeb Secrets Country: Where is your favorite town that you’ve played in?
Luke Combs: ‘Probably Boone, the town I went to college in, just because it’s super cool to go back there and sell out the club there on campus and have everybody be super supportive of what you’re doing. It’s really cool to go back to where you started.”
Celeb Secrets Country: You decided you wanted to be an artist in college, correct?
Luke Combs: “Yeah, I started playing guitar when I was 21. I’ve been singing my whole life and I guess I didn’t have a real direction with what I wanted to do. I played my first show at this little greasy bar on campus and it was a dollar for a ticket and I made $200. It was awesome. I was working two jobs at the time and that was more money made than both of my jobs in a week. I thought it was super cool.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Can you explain your writing and recording process?
Luke Combs: “Writing is scheduled two or three months out, and I go through the day and I’ll think of an idea and throw it in my phone like a grocery list, and when I meet up with someone, we bounce ideas off of each other. Sometimes you finish it that day, sometimes you never finish it, or sometimes you finish it in a month. We sat down and were like, okay, we’re going to do an album and here are 25 songs I wrote, and let’s pick the best 12 we’ve got. You go in the studio and track that down, do your vocals, and then your producer does his thing and bounces that off of you. Then seven to eight months later, or however long, you’ve got a record in your hands. It’s something to be proud of.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Do you have any advice for people who want to become artists but aren’t quite sure where to start?
Luke Combs: “Yeah! I asked this question a lot and reached out to people and asked them how they did it. I think my best advice is there is no right answer. You just have to figure out what works for you. If you can picture yourself doing anything else, then you should probably be doing something else because the amount of work that is going to go in it, and there’s no return for a long time, can sometimes get you down. If you believe in yourself and be honest and write honest songs, people will connect with those songs, and it might take 10 years or it might take a year, you just have to believe in yourself is my biggest piece of advice.”
Celeb Secrets Country: What is the one thing you could not live without?
Luke Combs: “Coffee, or maybe even my couch. When I go to bed at night, I’m looking more forward to the coffee in the morning than actually going to bed. I do cream, no sugar.”
Celeb Secrets Country: Do you have a fun fact or secret about yourself?
Luke Combs: “I don’t drive a truck, I drive a car.”