How Luke Combs became one of country musics biggest stars
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In 2014, Luke Combs had a rare but pivotal encounter: He met someone who didnt like him.
Im thinking,I cant be bothered with this.
Im a bona fide songwriter, Williford recalls.
Basically, I felt like,Man, youre an incredible singer, but youre like a karaoke singer.
Your songs are terrible.And Im sure he thought I was an asshole.
Wanting to do his former teacher a solid, though, he decided to take the meeting.
I think theres something really organic in the law of attraction that works in his favor.
Combs is unquestionably one of the biggest acts in the country genre today, with a record-breaking 14 No.
(just dont give me the credit for that one, Tannenbaum insists with a laugh.)
Even Combs is still shocked and humbled by his ascent.
It honestly still doesnt even really feel real.
Luke was struggling a little bit mentally.
A dedicated fan base was steadily growing by word of mouth.
We were doing the tin-roof bar circuit and little clubs, Williford recalls.
And the first time we go to a place, maybe 100 people show up.
The second time we come back, theres 500.
And by the fifth time, it was selling out.
And not from, like, an arrogant standpoint.
It was just more like an intuition.
Things ramped up further when Chris Kappy came into the picture in May 2015.
Most importantly, I worked with passionate fan bases, he says.
Based in Atlanta at the time, he occasionally organized club gigs to offset his day job.
They were just singing every word to Lukes songs.
I was like,Hes got it!Ive been around lots of great bands that have thatthing.
But to see it in real time was absolutely amazing.
Kappy dropped everything and persuaded Combs to let him come onboard as the fledgling country singers manager.
Its funny, people now call me the lottery ticket in town behind my back, he says.
But theres a whole lot that no one saw I did.
I mean, Luke was living bare bones.
I was living bare bones.
I was like, Look, I promise you this.
And he did it.
What Kappy, Williford, and others specifically started seeing was who was showing up to those sets.
It wasnt the normal country crowd.
And then their girlfriends started to like the music too.
It was just really interesting to watch how the fan base morphed.
And I was like,Ive never seen anybody like this before.He was who he was.
Combs knew he wasnt what labels had typically been searching for.
He had grown accustomed to being passed over.
I always felt overlooked or written off before anyone had even given me a shot, Combs says now.
It was like, This guy?
Take one look at him.
Hes not representing theGQguy or the person that you think is the stereotypical leading man, Goodman says.
Hes representing the vast majority of people in this world.
By May 2017, Hurricane had hit No.
1 debut single since Darius Ruckers Dont Think I Dont Think About It in 2008.
1 on the Top Country Albums chart for 50 weeks, a record for a male artist.
The rise was meteoric, says songwriter Isbell.
Combss success only escalated in the years that followed.
His manager, Kappy, can only marvel in amazement at what Combs has accomplished.
I think to myself sometimes,Is this really happening?
Having major success on radio wasnt exactly what made Combs a true country-music behemoth, though.
It was his live show more specifically, his ability to play to a diversity of audiences.
We wanted to be accepted into any genre, says Tannenbaum.
We could have gone and just played a bunch of casinos and got as much money as we wanted.
Instead, he booked Combs at major cross-genre festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits.
Now, only five years since releasing his debut, Combs is playing football stadiums.
Those in the industry see it as only the beginning of what Combs can accomplish.
Now its 52,000 people.
And he does it.
We think he can be as big as he wants to be.
I believe youre gonna see him up there with names like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay.
It was just the most surreal moment.
Unlike many artists, Combs hasnt succumbed to the pressures of the industry.
In fact, Sansone likes to tell a story about how lucky she now feels to work for him.
And then they met Combs.
Naturally, they now strongly approve.
Because hes a solid motherfucker, Williford says with a laugh.
