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Song by song, country star Luke Combs grows into stadiums

With a string of 14 No. 1 hits, country star Luke Combs made the professional leap into stadiums this year on his ascent to the genre's peak

Via AP news wire
Friday 01 July 2022 11:41 EDT

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Singer-songwriter Luke Combs is making big leaps this year in his unprecedented rise to the top of country music, both personally and professionally.

The North Carolina-born singer, who holds a Billboard record with 14 consecutive No. 1 country airplay singles with hits like ā€œBeer Never Broke My Heartā€ and ā€œBeautiful Crazy,ā€ graduated from arenas to selling out football stadiums this year.

But as the 32-year-old Combs was preparing to sing in front of a packed-out Nissan Stadium during last monthā€™s CMA Fest, he had something more personal on his mind.

Inside his truck parked at the stadium was a hospital bag, waiting for word that his wife, Nicole, was ready to deliver their first child. As it turned out, Combs became a first-time dad with the birth of their son, Tex Lawrence Combs, on Fatherā€™s Day.

ā€œWhen we walk off stage tonight, itā€™s like the next journey is being a parent, you know?ā€ Combs said, while backstage at Nissan Stadium earlier in June. ā€œThatā€™s like my sole focus after this.ā€

The reigning CMA entertainer of the year has spent the last decade concentrated on getting to where heā€™s at now. But as heā€™s ascends a peak most country artists will never reach, his mind is on the unknowns of being a new parent.

ā€œIā€™ve never operated in any other way in the last t10 years besides trying to be the best I can be at this thing I do now,ā€ Combs reflected. ā€œSo trying to figure out the balancing act of those two things is mildly stressful, but also really exciting.ā€

His aptly titled new record ā€œGrowinā€™ Up,ā€ out now, shows Combs recognizing what a transitional period itā€™s been for him. ā€œDoinā€™ This,ā€ the lead song, is an autobiographical reflection on the idea that even if no one had discovered him, heā€™d still be singing in a bar in a no-name town on a Friday night.

ā€œIt was never about the amount of success or how many awards you have,ā€ he said. ā€œYou just appreciate being able to do it at all.ā€

Whatā€™s kept him grounded despite scaling up is his loyalty to the people who believed in him at the beginning, as well as bringing along those he felt deserved a chance in the big leagues. He's the kind of guy who records songs he wrote with his guitar tech, Jaime Davis, and then cut a duet he wrote with fellow superstar Miranda Lambert. His manager, Chris Kappy, had never managed an artist before he convinced Combs to let him represent him.

ā€œA lot of those band members, a lot of those players that are playing the stadium are the same ones that were playing the clubs with him at the beginning,ā€ said Randy Goodman, chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville.

Goodman said when he signed Combs, the young singer already had a strong fan base who were packing out shows.

ā€œWhat he had even in that moment was a seasoned aspect of it, a maturity, a self-awareness about his instrument, his voice and the songs that he was singing and the connectivity,ā€ Goodman said.

This yearā€™s tour only features three stadiums, the first shows in Denver and Seattle earlier this year and one on July 30 in Atlanta, so itā€™s become a test run for what is likely many more stadium gigs to come. Combs admits that heā€™s been more on the cautious side than some of his team when it comes to booking stadiums.

ā€œIf the failure happens, itā€™s on like such a grander, like more public display than like if you were to fail in a bar,ā€ Combs said with a laugh.

He also wanted to have time to finish the album and focus on bringing the best songs to whatever venue he was playing.

ā€œWe donā€™t have any pyro. We donā€™t have any fire. We donā€™t have any bells and whistles,ā€ he said. ā€œIf you canā€™t live and die by the song in this business, then itā€™s not going to last. And I think thatā€™s so paramount to what we do. Thereā€™s always a moment in the show thatā€™s me and a guitar. Itā€™s been that way since we played in bars, and itā€™s still that way in the stadiums.ā€

In a format that has been slower than others to shift from traditional radio to streaming as the primary music discovery tool, Combs has excelled at both. And heā€™s watching streaming numbers very closely as he plots out those setlists.

ā€œIā€™m not too proud to look at analytics,ā€ he said. ā€œItā€™s not hard to go, ā€˜Well, the fans are listening to this song more than theyā€™re listening to that one.ā€™ā€

Goodmanā€™s goal in the coming years is to put Combs on the global stage. Heā€™s already made inroads by touring in the United Kingdom and Europe pre-pandemic, and fans there have found him primarily through streaming, Goodman said.

ā€œI see Luke, in the near term, doing in the rest of the world what heā€™s beginning to do right now in the United States, and that is play venues, arenas and stadiums that heretofore most country artists would have never even thought possible,ā€ said Goodman.

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https://www.lukecombs.com/

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Follow Kristin M. Hall at h ttps://Twitter.com/kmhall

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