Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Luke Combs on Growing Fast While Staying Grounded (February 2026)

Episode Date: August 23, 2026

Luke Combs has had one of the fastest rises in modern music, landing more than a dozen No. 1 country hits and going from bar gigs to sold-out stadiums in just a few years. Combs sits down live with Willie Geist at City Winery Nashville to talk about songwriting, becoming a father, and how he has handled sudden fame without losing himself. Plus, he reflects on covering “Fast Car,” choosing instinct over the chase for hits, and why enjoying the process matters at every stage of his career. (Venue Sponsored by City Winery.) (Original broadcast date February 1, 2026.) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I've got a truly special conversation for you this week with one of the biggest stars in all of music, Luke Combs. And I say truly special, not just because it is extraordinary to get a star that big to sit and spend an hour with you. But it is the latest of our Sunday Sit Down live events. And this time we've taken our show on the road to Nashville. You remember over the last year or so, we've invited the viewers into the room at City Winery, New York, first for a conversation with Nate Bargettsey, later one with Ina Garten, and then with Jim Gaffigan.

Great nights, people having a cocktail as they listen to us. We've got audience questions involved, all of it. And so now we've taken it to Nashville. I will say out of the gate, I went to school in Nashville. I went to Vanderbilt University. It's a second home for me, so I was thrilled to be back there, had dear friends in the crowd. alongside so many Sunday Today viewers who, again, I was floored to hear, traveled from all over the country and made a date of this to sit and listen to me and Luke.

So if you're not familiar with Luke Combs, he's just one of the biggest stars on the planet, sells out football stadiums all over the world. He sells out the football stadiums in the United States before going abroad and selling out stadiums in Paris and Amsterdam and Sweden. And then, yes, three nights at Wembley. He's sold out three nights at Wembley Stadium. in the UK. They wanted to do a fourth, but the place was booked. That's how big he is. If you don't know, Luke Combs grew up in North Carolina, he'll hear all about his upbringing, how he got where

he is, didn't start playing guitar until he was 21 years old and a student at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. It's been 14 years. In fact, to the day that he and I sat down, and you'll hear him refer to a picture that we show up that he had posted that day, 14 years to the day since his first gig. Now he's effectively on Nashville's mountain top. He worked his way there. He's, as he says in the interview, there's no packaging, there's no marketing to it. He's just a dude who writes a good song, plays a good guitar, and can really, really sing. And I think you'll get, enjoy getting the chance to get to know him over the course of our conversation. So let's get you inside the room will begin as I introduce the night to that crowd that was fired up and ready to go.

and then we bring Luke out for a great conversation. So sit back, relax, and join me in Nashville for a Sunday sit down live with Luke Combs. What's up, Nashville? Man, this is amazing. Nashville is like a second home to me. I came here in the fall of 1993 from New Jersey to go to Vanderbilt University. Go doors. I learned about bourbon. I learned about college football.

And I learned about country music. There's no college football tonight, but we've got the other two dialed up for you, so we're good. So, oh, the U. Now, okay, well, actually, you've led me to my first shout-out. I got a chance to meet some of you a few minutes ago. Where is my IU contingent?

Right here. Understand Indiana right now, it's scoreless still. You're fine. I just checked. He's playing for a national championship in the first time since ever. And these IU fans chose to be in here with us tonight. If I catch you doing this, I won't blame me.

You're good. You're good. Where is my Vegas fan who traveled from Las Vegas, first of all, and then told me a minute ago, she got here to come see this, liked it so much. Today she bought a condo in Nashville. Where are you? Right here. Right here. Contributing the local economy, Sunday Sit Down Live. She bought a condo. I mean, it's a great town, but still. Incredible.

The other group I want to shout out is from my home state of New Jersey. Gentleman who came up to me, said he was so excited. He bought the tickets for tonight, for his wife, for Christmas. She was thrilled about it. He said, when I bought the tickets, I thought it was in New York. That's on us. That's on us. I should have been more clear. I should have more clear. And then he proceeded to tell me, so you owe me two plane tickets in a hotel room. Thank you for being here anyway. Appreciate it. I am such a fan of our guest tonight. Luke Combs, you know him, you love him. He's the two-time CMA entertainer of the year. He sells out football stadiums around the world. He's about to go on a tour in about two months where he's playing three dates at Wembley Stadium in London.

Think about that. He's playing in Paris and Amsterdam and Sweden to go along with all these iconic stadiums here in New York. He has simply put, not just one of the biggest acts in country music, he's one of the biggest acts in the world. And so when we decided we wanted to do a show in Nashville after doing three of these in New York with Nate Bargettzi, Ina Garten, and Jim Gaffigan,

I said, we've got to see if Luke's in town. It doesn't get any bigger than that. And he was so kind and so generous to come and spend some time with us. So I want to thank our host tonight, City Winery, Nashville. They've been great partners in all this. I also am obligated to tell you, you could take pictures, no problem, just try to turn the flash off if you can. Apparently that's a problem. We're going to have a lot of fun tonight. Luke and I are going to chat up here for a while. We're going to take a bunch of your questions that you submitted when you bought the tickets, even when you thought it was in New York,

and that's fine. And then we're going to take a little, very brief, break, get you a cocktail, and then something else is going to happen. That's all I'm going to say. Legally, that's all I can say at the moment. So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, the one, the only, Luke Combs. How about this, man? I feel like I'm on a talk show.

You are? I am, actually. You're up. I've got on a talk show. I feel I feel more pressure this way. I was watching that reel we had, and it was about six years ago, you and I got together. and talked right before COVID. And you were well on your way. You were doing fine, but

you still had a lot in front of it. You weren't married yet. You didn't have kids yet. A lot's happened since we last talked. And I wanted to start by pointing out something you posted yesterday, which gives you an idea of how fast this all has happened for Luke, which is,

and I think we have the photograph, you posted the first gig you ever played in Boone, North Carolina, at the Parthenon Cafe. That was 14 years ago. I think you were 21, is that right? Ish something like that? Yeah, probably 22.

22, maybe, 21. So that's the first gig, and now he's at Wembley for three nights. So it gives you an idea. So, Luke, when you look at that guy, what do you see? Man, I have no idea, to be honest. I see a guy that was borrowing his neighbor's guitar. That wasn't even my guitar.

I was borrowing another friend's PA system. No band, obviously. Hour set. That's as long as I could play. Because I couldn't even play guitar enough to play any longer than that. So a guy that was a bit ahead of himself, I would think.

And maybe booking a show was maybe I got a little excited. What kind of songs were we covering back then? The big show closer was Cruz. Oh, yeah. FGL. Sure. That was like, that was my,

it felt like my song. Crowd favorite. Everyone's like, everyone can't wait to hear it, man, they're like they're, you know, like it was my, like I wrote it or something.

Yeah, right, right, right. That, a lot of like Randy Houser like running out of moonlight, that kind of stuff, I'm trying to think what was huge around then. Blake's, a lot of Blake stuff. Luke Bryan stuff was huge then, Al Dean.

I mean, those were the guys that were just absolutely crushing it at that time. That was probably 2020. somewhere in that neighborhood. So, yeah, so I was, I was 21, almost 22. Yeah. I turned 22 March of that year, so it would have been February. And in the lifespan of a singer, a country music singer,

14 years isn't that long. And certainly to go from that to where you are now. Yeah. Does that moment give you a little pause to reflect on how far you've come since then? Definitely. I, you know, I don't find myself, like, having a ton of time to, like, process that stuff. Obviously, with two kids, you know, about to have three under four. So that's going to be, yes, thank you. Thank you. Good luck with that. Now we know why he's going to Wembley

for three nights. Yeah. Get out of the country. Yeah. One for each kid. A night for each kid. Yeah. College fun night for each kid. Smart. That's just good planning. Yeah, it is. Yeah. It's, it's been crazy, man. It really has, you know. And then the COVID thing has. happened, like you said, and it was like the weirdest thing ever, you know. I'm just, like, at home, like, my career was really felt like about to go to the next step and then to kind of just get sideline for a year and a half was ultimately really strange. And it's been wild. A lot of stuff's happened, man. The new album, which is coming out on March 20th, is called The Way I Am.

We just announced it a few days ago. Your last album, Fathers and Sons, was kind of a snapshot of a new dad, basically. Right? And talking about your dad as well. Yep. So where does this album now, a couple of years later, where is it find you? What are you writing about in this album? I mean, to be quite frank with you, it's like this album is just fastballs,

you know, like to just kind of be like, I still got it. You know what I mean? To be honest. I mean, that's like what it was. That was the intention of this album. And not that it's like, you don't want to say that arrogantly or anything, but like the, the Fathers and Sons album was like a really selfish thing for like for me, it was for me, ultimately, and for my kids.

And so I haven't put out a record in like an official capacity in like almost four years, which is strange. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. It's probably the kids. Don't help with that. Again, blame the kids. Yeah. And so it was, you know, I just wanted to go out and do the same thing I did on my first couple

albums, which was just get together with, you know, my buddies and like, let's see what we can come up with. And this is, you know, just the next iteration of that. You know, it's like, there's no secret sauce, man. It's just like, just do what you feel like you're good at and see if people love it and hope that they do. That's all you can really do. How do you decide when it's time to come up with a new album? I mean, is it like an every two-year thing or is it like, I've got something to say and I'm ready to get back in the studio? I think it, I think it just kind of depends. I think you need, obviously, you need time to, like, write the songs. Obviously, you know, the shows are very time consuming and the tour and rehearsals and there's a million

different things going on at any given day. You know, even if it's like, I'm not like tonight. It's just like, well, this is, you know, it's another day that you don't get a chance to write or you don't get a chance to like have that creative outlet. And it's like me and my friends, when we write together, I don't ever like it to feel like this big rushed, like super, like put together thing that makes any sense. I just want it to be us enjoying each other's time and having this common goal in mind, which is trying to write songs that we feel like people will really enjoy.

And doing it on a big scale, if that makes sense. Obviously, fathers and sons is my, you know, I'm really proud of that record and it means a lot to me and I hope it means a lot to my kids one day. But you also have to, you know, you also have to like serve the fans that got you here and like give them the music that you feel like they want. and that they are entitled to, you know,

and I feel very indebted, you know, to anyone's wearing my t-shirt, you know, like, I appreciate that. You know what I mean? Like, it means a lot, you know? It's like, it's like, I understand that, you know, I mean, you could buy anyone's T-shirt, you know what I mean? And, like, the fact that you bought mine, like, it's not something that I ever take for granted, you know?

It's, like, it really is an important thing to me. And when people come to a concert or to a show, they're so big and it would be so easy to, like, forget how huge it's all gotten or like forget how big it's all gotten and where it started. And you know, at the very beginning of my career, I was able to thank every person that came to the show and shake everybody's hand and take pictures with everybody. And I like doing those things. You know, I enjoy meeting people and doing those things. And then when you get up there and you realize, okay, well, it's still, every person in here is like the reason that I'm here. There's just more

people here than there were at the beginning, you know, and like trying. not to forget that and trying to be appreciative of any time someone comes up to me in the grocery store or the restaurant or whatever, like just being thankful that people are coming up and that people want to say hello and that my music means something to them. It's like that's an important thing.

And on the note of buying any t-shirt you can, we've got some merch outside. And I have kids to feed too. Just kidding, I don't get a nickel of it. Anyway. I think people are always interested in process. Like, how does an artist at your level, is it a blank page and you sit and you write songs,

do you put it in your phone, when do you go into the studio with it? Like, how does the, I mean, it seems like you have a 22 track album that's at coming out. I mean, that's a big lift. Where do you begin? Yeah. Oh, gosh.

I don't know. I think it can start in a lot of different places. And what I did on this particular album, I had just kind of all my buddies and people I worked with had just, they knew I was kind of like not a way, not like taking a break per se, but like they knew I wasn't in a space where I'm like, hey, I'm really thinking about making an album. And so I got a group text with all the people that I usually write with. I'd say it's probably 12 or 14, 14 people. And I just said, hey, I'm, I'm getting ready to like want to have an album and wanting to do something. So if you have any ideas,

if you have any songs that you've started, like, please send them to me. Like, just when you're, if you're in the right room with someone else and you have an idea that's great, like, think about me. You know what I mean? Like, holler at your boy, you know what I mean?

And so I would say I really do, most of this record to my collaborators and my co-writers, you know, they really carried me on this one. Obviously, having my boys and trying to be, you know, the most present dad that I can be is like, you know,

it's a big time commitment. and anybody with kids knows, you know, being there and spending time with your kids is like, you don't get that back ever, you know, and so I don't want to, it have been another 14 years and then go, well, where did my kid's childhood go? And I was out working or I was out doing shows. And, you know, it's, I think there's this idea that you can either spend time with your kids or you can work. And it's like, no, it's like selfishly like I'm going to figure out how to do both. You know, career be damned at the end of the day. Like, my kids are going to know I care about. them. And so my co-writers would send me ideas, whether it was one line or a whole song that was

finished. And I must have went through 300 or some songs. Just me, whether I had 10 minutes to do it or an hour to do it or three hours to do it. And I would just sit there when I was by myself and I would just listen to all these songs and just if I like, I had a categorizing. It's like system. I'd put them in this folder or this folder and all these different things. and it was really mad scientists now that I kind of think about it. And it's like probably concerning to a therapist in some way, shape or form, somewhere along the line. But then I just started slowly whittling it down.

Like I would text my buddies and be like, hey, what are you doing? Next Wednesday, I have a day. And I really like this song. I'd love you to come over and let's work on it. And they would do that. And I did that just over weeks and weeks and weeks. And whittled it down. I think I recorded 40 songs for this album.

Wow. And they ended up with 22 that I felt like I wanted to. put out and it was tough. It's tough willing them down. It's tough going through that much material and not like having any burn or immediately the second I was like the second I would get I'd be done like listening to stuff. I wouldn't listen to anything else because I was like I want every song to like get a real shot. Like I don't want to listen to something when I'm burnt and be like I don't like this song when in theory I'm really just fed up with listening to stuff for two hours. And then maybe I miss on some great song that my buddy's saying.

because I was like, you know, had to change a diaper or whatever, you know, whatever I'm doing. I'm making my life sound really exciting. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, uh. Now, you're a dad, dude, I get it. My life is a lot less cool than it seems like, I promise you. But it's, it's fun, and it's just been a new challenge, trying to kind of do this record. And I just have so many great people on my team that have really helped me get to this point. And I'm thankful to have that and thankful to kind of have that ecosystem of,

people that have had my back since day one. So, yeah, a lot of my, a lot of this next record to those guys, for sure. We mentioned the tour that you're going to go on, I think the day after the album comes out. You start in Vegas. When you're making the album, given the scale of your concerts now that you are, you play football stadiums, are you thinking about like this song is going to fill Wembley Stadium or this, like, I need a few of those songs. Yeah, you definitely are thinking that.

I think you're thinking that when you're filling that bar, too when you're writing songs. You're like, how do I get, you just want anybody to love your songs, no matter what, especially at that time. And you're still that way. Like, the whole, it's funny. Like, you make the records and you're the guy.

It's like, but all you want is for someone else to like it. And, like, I love all the songs. Like, they wouldn't have gotten to this point and be on the record if I didn't love all of them. But you just basically make a whole record in hopes that anyone will, like, one of those 22 songs. Like, that would ultimately be a win at the end of the day. I mean, I'd love to have five or six, you know.

But one is great, you know. But it's a crazy thing. You know, I don't sit around and think about it too much. And then when I have conversations like this, sometimes I don't have an answer because I'm just like, I don't know. I wonder to myself sometimes. I'm like, why do I do this at the end of the day? I love it.

That's why. But it's also like you think you really get to, like you love it. It's like, why do you? And I was like, I love right. the songs. I love playing the shows. And ultimately, I found out there's no other reason other than that. Like, I really do just love writing.

I love when people love something that I've written or love a song that I performed. Like, those moments are worth it. And we talked about this backstage. Like, it's not, it's like, it's not that hard, dude. You weren't supposed to tell them, man. I wasn't supposed to tell them that part.

You gave it away, man, that we, you know? But it's like, how hard is it to like have a job you look forward to going to? You know what I mean? Like I get to spend, like I get to spend time with my family. I get to meet people who think I'm cool. They don't know I'm not yet. But like, you know, it's like I get to meet people who, you know, want to say they, I loved fathers and sons or I loved this thing that you did or I saw you with Tracy on the Grammys or whatever it was. That's awesome, man. Like I've spent the last 14 years trying to get to that point. You know, it's just, it's cool. So I, sometimes

My dad told me sometimes growing up but just don't ask questions and so I'm just like, I don't... Right. I love it. It's great. I love it, so let's just let it ride. You know what I mean?

Don't overthink it. If you're rolling sevens, just keep rolling sevens. Whatever it is, you know? Yeah, it's fun. I've talked to a lot of musicians at your level about this. This idea of writing a song in private that's deeply personal to you.

You might be sitting alone in a room when you come up with the idea. And then a year later, or whatever it is, singing it to a football stadium that's then singing that back to you yeah what is that feeling like yeah i mean it's undescribable you know indescribable feeling of it's this but it's ultimately at the end of the day obviously it's a way bigger environment like physically it's very different but it's in essence the same thing like when i was playing in my room in college for like two three

people in my living room all you want is like is again it's like you want people to love it and you want to get that reaction out of people where they're like, man, this is like, this is my jam or whatever it is, like that moment where they love it. And seeing and being able to like feel the energy of them enjoying what you're doing is ultimately why you do it. Now I just get to do it on a way bigger living room than I used to. Those are some living rooms. They are. They are. There's some living rooms. Looking at the tour schedule again, and I mentioned earlier, Paris and Sweden and Amsterdam, and Ireland and the castle and Scotland and all that.

I mean, it speaks to your draw and your appeal, but also what does it say about where country music is? I mean, the fact that you can do that and some others are able to do that too, that it says it's a Nashville thing anymore. No, no, it's gotten so big, and I think that's really cool. You know, I've always thought for a long time that country music was like, has been stigmatized for a long time. You know, I remember growing up as a kid,

you would ask somebody, well, what kind of music do you like? like, well, I like anything but country was like the answer people would say. And I was like, that always blew my mind a little bit where I'm like, man, it's like, and a lot of the folks would be like, they never even listened to it because they just, it was like they already knew they weren't going to like it, but they'd never listen to it. It'd be like saying you don't like country music, it's like saying you like bread. Right. There's so many kinds of bread.

Like, what are you talking about? Like, how could you, it's like, I don't like pasta. It's like it's impossible to not like. You know what I mean? Like, even if you don't like this. kind, you might like that kind. Have you tried the cheese kind? It's really good. You know what I mean? It's like, it's really, I like that kind of pasta. So I do think that it's kind of like that, you know, and I think, you know, when we, never when I started was I like, well, maybe I'll have a chance to like,

you know, widen the audience of the genre to some extent. And I don't mean me personally, like, everyone would love me. That's not what I'm saying. But it got to this point where it became like, what are some of our bigger goals? And it was always like, one of my bigger goals is to like to make people aware that even if you thought you couldn't low country music, like, you might, you might love it. You might. And even if it's not me, even if it's, I'm not the guy that you like, that's okay. As long as you're having an open mind and say, well, maybe I do like Tyler Childers or

maybe I do like this Chris Stapleton or maybe I do like Luke Combs or Morgan Waller or whoever it is. Like there's a little bit of something for everybody. And I think that's more evident now than ever. And I hope we get to keep going in that same direction. What do you think it is? I remember going and see probably around the time you were playing that gig in Boone, seeing Luke Bryan at Madison Square Garden sold out and he was going to play the next night sold out.

I remember thinking, oh, we're in the heart of Manhattan. And he was selling these joints out easily. Yeah, country music, yeah. Can you trace at all? As someone who knows the genre so well, when that, move happen. I mean, country became mainstream in a way that I was saying to somebody backstage in the 90s,

like hip hop became mainstream. I don't know if there's any particular moment. I think we were like almost, it was almost there in the 90s with the Chenaya thing and Garth and like it was, I mean, it was massive. But it wasn't I mean, now we have, I mean

at least three artists that are doing stadiums like on their own. And there's maybe been two in the history of country music. And now there's three that are doing it at the time. And so what that exact moment is, I couldn't really say. I think that, you know, the streaming era that we're in and the way that people have access to music, you know, like they've never been able to have, you don't have to go to a record store and buy a record to listen to it. You know what I mean? Like now there's no barrier to entry of like, well, I'm not going to take a risk and pay $30 for

this album or whatever. And what if I don't like it? And then you're out $30. Now you pop it on 30 seconds. gone, out. Don't like it. Free. It didn't cost me a dollar. You know what I mean? So you have the freedom to explore the things that you love and find the music that you want to listen to. And there's nobody or there's no there's no barrier to entry

to like get into the genre. And I think that's been another big reason why it's gone as international as it has too. You know, there wasn't mainstream country radio in Europe and Australia. Like that didn't exist. It's never existed. It still doesn't exist. There are a few stations that do, you know, that dabble in this or dabble in that or maybe one in the UK or whatever, but it's not like here where every,

even, not even major city has their own station. Like every town you're in has a country station that wasn't like that over there, but now with streaming, people have access to, they can get in their car and listen to whatever they want. So ultimately the consumer wins at the end, like the fans win at the end of the day because they get to discover music that they never would have. And there's no risk. There's no risk involved to go,

I'll listen to this guy's album, and if I don't like it, I won't listen to it. And if I do, I'll listen to it a gazillion times. It still won't cost me anything. You know what I mean? That's tough from an artist's perspective. Yeah.

You know, it's tough to give away free bread at the bakery every day, but, you know, I guess if people are eating it, you know, it's like, you know. But it's, yeah, it's an interesting time, man, and it's exciting to, like, have been a small part of that and get to have a front row seat to it. And hopefully, you know, I try to be a good representative of the genre and, you know, in the public eye and, you know, do the best I can to make people love it. You've been a big part of it. I don't think you've been a small part of it. You've been a huge part of it.

Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Luke Combs right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Luke Combs. Going back to even pre-Ap State, going back to your early days, you were a singer in Asheville, North Carolina. Church choir, school choir, stuff like that. Was there ever a thought in your mind growing up that you might be a performer, that this might be an actual job that a person could do? You know, no. It's the crazy as that sounds. And I've kicked myself all the time.

I'm like, how don't I want to put this together sooner? It's like, all I did was sing all the time, and never one time was I like, maybe I could sing for a living, you know? I don't know. And just, I guess in my mind, it was like, well, I mean, that's not something you do. Like, it's not a job you can have. I just didn't, you know, like, when you're growing up and you see Alan Jackson on TV, you're like, that's not a real guy. Right. Like, it is.

But you don't process that, like, that's his job. You just don't really, I don't know. As a kid, you don't put that together. And they live on a different. planet. You'll never visit that planet. They live on famous planet and I'm on not famous planet and they beam all the famous stuff down to the earth.

Yeah, but like you really do think that. You know, I came from a really working class family and so, and my parents were always like chase your dreams, you know. But then in my mind I'm going like, I mean, to an extent, right? Chase your dreams, but like I'm not going to be in the Olympics. Like we all,

I don't have to tell you that that's not going to happen, you know what I mean? But, you know, it's like, chase your dreams within reason. You know what I mean? Like, let's not get crazy with it here. You know what I mean? Like, maybe you could open a restaurant or something. Right.

Let's not get, you know. Maybe just stick to, like, banking or something. Right. Yeah. And it was that my parents were always, you know, encouraged me to, you know, to sing. And they were very proud that I was doing those things. But it wasn't like my dad was like, hey, slow,

you'd be Garf Brooks one day, man. Yeah. You know what I mean? It just didn't happen. You know what I mean? He was like, you're not going to be orthrooks. Right. And no slack to him.

Just how often does it happen? Right. He's not wrong. It doesn't happen. It's not going to happen. Yeah. And damn, it happened though. I mean, it did.

I mean, it really did. I mean, right? I mean, geez. I'm like, pretty wild. It happened. But, and not to like make a lot of it. Sorry, I can get a little self-deprecating at times. so forgive me.

It's, I didn't really stumble upon it, really, until I picked the guitar up, man. I really ended, but then when the light bulb went off, I knew. Like, I was honestly, for the last two or three years of being in school, it was like, I just was, like, dreading it being over. Because I was, like, what happens after this?

You know, I was like, I don't even know, like, I'm not going to have a degree, basically, because I'm just not going to. It was very evident. It was very evident from early on that there was not going to be, I was going to be like, you know, I was going to be like, you know that box you check where it was like some college? I was going to be the some college guy. And I was like, damn, some college is rough, you know.

I'm still that guy. I still check the some college book. But it's kind of music out of necessity. Yeah. Well, it was, you know, I thought about it. and I was, really, I really didn't know what I was going to do. And I worried about that a lot. And as like the end of my time in college, like was just like rapidly approaching,

it was like, man, like I really don't know. Like I feel like I'm supposed to know and I don't. You know, like everyone's telling you like, well, man, it's time to figure this thing out, figure that thing out. And you're like, my shit, I don't know. Like I was like, I guess I'll just, I don't know, you know. It was tough. It was a terrible, I'm having anxiety.

thinking. And it's like, you know, I imagine what this interview would be like if I didn't do that. And I'd be like, well, what do you do? It's like, I don't know. I make hot dogs. You know, I don't, you know, I don't really know. How did you get here, you know? Well, you were, am I wrong, studying to be a homicide detective. Yes, I was. Homicide detective, Lou Cohn. That's what I wanted to do. That's what I wanted to see that. Yeah. Be interesting. I would have nailed the donut part, for sure. I would have nailed that part. Still time for that. Still time. Still time. Still time. Still time. Still time. But you came pretty close to graduating.

I did. You left a little bit early. I did. So some college, but almost all college. Most college. Most college. Yeah, there should be a most college. Yeah, actually more than four years.

So more than most. More than most. It would have been the box that I would check. Yeah. Yeah. More than most. If we're doing it by years attended, you had more than most. Yeah, I was like close to a master's degree in years.

I'm going to school. Yeah. But you decided to chase this. thing. So you leave school a little bit early. You come to Nashville. You've got a story that's going to be familiar to a lot of people of people saying, I don't see it, it's not going to work, what's your deal, who are you? What were those years like for you here? Honestly, a lot of fun, man. I mean, to be honest, you know, so here is the beauty of it is I, when I did quit attending school, I was still living in Boone and working jobs and playing shows. And so I was

putting out some a little bit of music on my own i think i put six songs out before i moved to nashville like three and three and so i was making enough money on those to like make a living and not have to work which was great because i was playing three four five shows a week as many shows a week as i could play anywhere that would let me play you know and whether it was free or i was making a hundred dollars or two and it was all good um and i really enjoyed that and because it was exciting it was like I know, I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. So I feel like I'm going in the right direction. But there becomes this pivotal moment. Like my lease is running out. I'm still living in Boone. I'm 23. And I'm like, man, I'm getting to be like the guy hanging around high school

a little bit. That's like, I'm just like starting to be that guy a little bit. And I didn't like that one bit. Little McCona Hay. Yeah. Yeah. Just kind of, all right, man. Like, you know, cool, man. Like, we've seen you do. cruise, man. Like, it's all good. It's like, you're good, man. Right. The song about the time I left wasn't even a hit anymore.

It was like a greatest hit already. Yeah. Still closing with it. It was on my greatest hits at the time. And so I moved to Nashville in September of 2014. I was 24 years old. I have enough money to not have to get a job, which was a really, really blessing. And come to town.

I'm writing five days a week. basically writing with anybody that would write with me and writing with people that are like in the same kind of place that I'm in. They're new to town. Nobody has a deal. Nobody knows what to do. Nobody knows how to do anything.

Like you're just, you're in town, we're at the thing and we're doing the thing. I don't really know what that means. And so my first album, by the time it's done, like there must have been probably like 16 writers on it maybe and there's one person that had published. deal on the album.

And my first seven number ones, it was everyone's first number one on all seven of those songs. That's cool. So it was all people I met. Yeah. You know, yeah, it was really cool. It was really cool. And so those people have become like basically my friends here.

Like my core friend group is all guys that I met when I first got to town. We're all trying to do the thing, like come up together. And now, like, they've all got publishing deals. They've all written number ones for. other people and I've written number ones with them. It's like it's become this awesome thing to like get to share that with the people who believed in you early on and people that you basically I, people now I genuinely like hang out with more than I write songs with. And we still write a good amount of songs, but like people that I have around my kids. You know what I mean?

Like people I would trust to hold my children or the people that I get to work with every day. And so that's like an amazing thing to get to have those kind of people in your life. That would do anything for you, man, and know that they can send you a song and that you're not going to steal their idea or you're not going to go and write it with somebody else or, you know, those things are rare in this town and so I'm blessed

to have those things and to have those people around me. That's a gift, right? It really is. It really is. Yeah. So Hurricane is the first breakthrough. I wrote that in December of that year. Right. Yep. Yep. December of 2014,

started that song, finished it in January. of 14. And didn't, you know, it's funny, I, people's like, well, how often do you, like, picking these songs? Like, you're picking the hits and you know what's going to happen. And I'm like, I don't know anything. Like, I really don't know. I write the songs, I put them out, and people either love them or they don't.

You know, it's every time I've tried to pick, like, well, I think this song is going to be the best song for sure. It's like, p. Everybody hates it. I'm like, damn. They missed again, you know, but I got some right, you know. And Hurricane, I had recorded six songs in the studio in Nashville in probably 2015. And when I was making my EPs in college, there's this process, right?

Like you pay for the recording, you go in, you play with the band, you sing the song, and then you record another vocal, like a final vocal, that first one's like kind of a tracking vocal for the band. Final vocal, mixed, mastered. Well, I'd never mastered the songs, which is like, I didn't even, I'm like, what is that? Right. I don't even know what that is. So I get to Nashville. I record the songs.

I sing the tracking vocal, sing the vocal, mix it. And then I hit my buddy Scott up who was producing my stuff at the time. And I'm like, hey, man, let's release these songs. And he's like, well, we got to master all the songs. And I'm like, one, what is that? Two, how much does it cost? You know what I'm like? What are we talking?

And he's like, $200 a song. $200 a song. I'm like, what does it make it spit out of a gold bar at the end? Or what I had, $200? Like, that's a lot, dude, you know? And so basically I say that because I had saved up enough money and I thought that I knew exactly what it would cost to record these six songs. And when it came down to brass tax at the end of the day,

I still had $1,200 of that I needed. to spend on these songs, I had 200 bucks left. I'm like, I can do one song. And so I asked Scott, I'm like, hey, which one of these songs is close enough to being finished to release? And he's like, the only one that's close is Hurricane. So I spend 200 bucks, do Hurricane, put it out, sells 10,000 copies the first week, no deal, no manager, no nothing going on.

Use that money, master the rest of the songs, record the rest of the album, meet my manager, use the album to then get a record deal. Here we are. Crazy, crazy, yeah. Crazy, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So that's 200 bucks well spent. Nice to R-O-I on that. It did spit on a gold bar at the end, actually. It really did. Yeah. It really did. A bunch of them, I think.

A bunch of them. Yeah, it was nice. It's funny, like, watching the track of your career, things go slow for a while as they do for everybody, until they go really fast. So Hurricane, you get the record deal. Your first debut album flies up the charts. Your second album debuts at number one,

not just on country airport, on the billboard chart. So that's all happening within a couple of years, and you're touring and selling out places. How did you adjust personally to the struggle being so long, and all of a sudden you got everything you wanted, it seemed? And everybody knows who you are.

I think that, you know, there's a little bit of, like, there's a little bit of a period there that takes, like, a lot of getting used to, you know, how to operate. Like, obviously, I play some shows, so I'm used to, like, talking to people after the gig. That's not a big deal, you know. Nobody's, like, following me home. Like, no one's following me back to the apartment to try to figure out where I live at this point. You know what I mean? Even after cruise? At least not anybody that I wanted to at that time, you know?

And so it's, you know, it's just, it was an odd thing. And people asked me, like, I was in an interview a few weeks ago. And it was like they were kind of playing this game. And it wasn't done in a malicious way at all, this question. But I could tell it was one of these questions that you could try to, like, get people with it. It was like, when was the last time you went to the grocery store? Oh, come on. And I was like, this week.

I went to the grocery store this week. And they're like, what do you mean? I'm like, I went to the grocery store. What do you mean? What was it? Like, guys got to eat, dude. Like, wait, like, I don't have a chef, man. Like, I'm the chef.

You know what I mean? Like, I'm making the Kraft Mac myself. You know what I mean? That's some chef. Some chef. Yeah, Kraft Mac. But I don't know that, like, this idea that you, like, have to change when you get success or fame or influence or anything,

like, it's all a facade to me. Like, you don't, it's the way you choose, like, to operate and the way you choose to interact with people is the only thing that really changes, right? Like, ultimately, I'm no different than I was when I started. I just am in a different circumstance now. You know what I mean? Like I'm not any different. Yes. Yeah. I think you're right, too, that you can create that for yourself.

You can, right? But you don't have to. Oh, man down. Right. Are you okay back there? Well, today's show. Don't see me. Today shows. But it's like you can create this kind of, you can create this bubble around yourself where you begin to feel really isolated. You know, where you're like, well,

I feel like I can't go anywhere and then I feel like I can't do this. And then all of a sudden you can't because you feel like you can't. When in reality, like I go to the store where I live literally every week, like with one of my children and just nobody even cares. Right.

And nobody even, like, and even if people know, they're like, oh, that's cool. Right. I'm like, cool, man, yeah, that's cool. Right. You know, I'm like, don't take the last Diet Coke, please. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, it's like, I don't know, I just, you know, and it's, it's just it's the same guy at different circumstance.

Yeah. It really is that. Yeah. It really is that, you know. That gets it something that in that sizzle reel we talked about last time, which was, you basically said, I think the secret. secret sauces, there's no gimmick. That authenticity is the secret, that if you're just purely yourself, and you are that.

I actually was walking past the country music Hall of Fame today and etched in the side. There's a quote from the great Hank Williams, and I know we have some Hank Williams folks here. And he says, you know, the guitars are great and the songwriting's great, but at the end of the day, it's about sincerity. The word he uses sincerity. And I think that's what you have and you've stuck to. There's no gimmick to it. No, it's, there is no, like, there is no thing. I mean, I think if you looked at, you know,

if you looked at me in a vacuum and you put the stats up their six foot, 290 on like a good day, if you big, you know, if you're big, you know I'm 300, by the way, because I said 290. 290. Can't even grow like a whole beard. You can grow like a half of beard. Still trying.

You know, like decent guitar player, like decent songwriter. like it's all that stuff. If that stuff's all stacked up, you're like, well, yeah, this guy plays at the bar, I don't know this guy. Yeah. This guy lives down the road. Right.

And he does. You know, he does live down the road. It's just me instead of a guy you know. You know, it's like, I mean, it's like it really is that. Like I think, and again, not to put on blast our private conversations we had, but it's like it's just not that hard to be nice to people. It's really not that hard. It's not.

It's not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amen to that. Yeah. I say that all the time. You'll have a makeup artist who say, you're so nice. And I go, well, I'm just being me. What are the other people like?

Like, what's wrong with everyone else? Yeah. It's like that that's sad that that's the like norm. They're like that people come, you know, I'll talk about, you know, we've, obviously my team has grown over the years, like the people that I travel with and the people that I tour with. Like, I have 45 for so salaried employees that I am. employee on my own. And like, I can walk up to these people and have a conversation with them and

them not feel weird talking to me. But a lot of those people came from other places. And I always tell me, like, when you, when they come to us to work, like, they're almost like a shelter dog that's, like, been abused. And, like, you come in, I'm like, no, dude, like, I'm talking to you. And they're like, oh, really, well, the last person I worked for, like, we weren't supposed to talk. They didn't talk. And that's not like, I'm not saying that's the norm. But I've experienced it enough to be like bummed out that that's like people's experiences because those people are living their dream too.

Like that was their dream job was to come and work for someone like me or someone like, you know, another great pop artists or whoever. And knowing that there's people out there that live their dream and then their dream is ultimately a nightmare. It's like it's a sad reality of like our business. and it shouldn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way. And it shouldn't be that way.

You know, like, we're all living our dreams. Like, why can't we all just enjoy it together? More of that, more of that. I could talk to you for hours, but when I get some audience questions, a couple of quick things. We've got to talk about fast car, don't we guys? Yeah, okay.

A song I loved growing up. I think a lot of people loved growing up, and then it went away for 30 years or whatever it was. And then it comes on the radio, when I go, is that Luke singing Fast Car? And it was. Yeah. I know that you and your dad used to listen to that in the car.

Yep. It's one thing to love a song, but what made you want to take it and make it your own? Yeah. Elevate it in that way. That song, you know, it's crazy. It's kind of like followed me around my whole life in a good way. You know, like it's one of the first songs that, the first song I remember being like my first, it was my first favorite song. I'd listen to a bunch of songs, but it was the first one.

I'm like, why do I want to hear this song more than I want? to hear the other songs all the time. Like, play that one again. You know, it was the first song that had that feeling to it, where I just, and I didn't know what it was at the time. I just knew I liked it. And I liked all of them. I just knew I wanted to hear that one more and more and more.

And then every five, six, seven years, I would, like, rediscover that song. And it would be like, oh, I'd listen to it a hundred times, you know, like over the course of a couple weeks. And then I wouldn't hear it. And then all of a sudden it'd come on the radio or something. I'd be like, oh, my gosh, I got to go listen to it again. you know and I would do that over and over and then when I picked the guitar up I was really bad I'm still really bad and it's like you do this thing like that riff to me is like it's up there

it's like top 10 most iconic guitar riff ever made dude like and you know I know all the guys what about Clapton bro you know it's like I get it like that's a different thing but when you hear sweet home Alabama you know it's sweet home Alabama when you hear fast car you know it's fast car immediately. There's no mistaking it at all. So I sat in my apartment for weeks and weeks and weeks just trying to go, and I couldn't do it, couldn't do it, couldn't do it. And I did it, I did it one day. And then I was like, oh, now I got to sing it and do that. And I have to do it 60 times in a row, and I've only done it one time ever. So this is going to be tough. So once I finally got it down and could sing it and play it at the same time. I started messing with it at some of my

bar gigs. And people just went bonkers over. I was like, oh, everyone loves this song. I almost didn't know. Yes. Like it was like, wait, everybody loves this song as much as I love this song. That's really cool. That's 2013, probably when that happens. So I come to Nashville. I put out, you know, all this crazy stuff that led to now happens. I'm in the studio for my fourth record, and we had basically an hour left and we had recorded everything for the album it was like finished and I'm like dude we've got literally the best musicians in the world in the room right now ready to record whatever we want let's do something else like we got these guys for an hour like let's get our hour out of these guys you know and so I was like what if we just did a cover of fast car and Jonathan was like he's like

I don't know he's like why would we do that you know I was like I don't know I was like why wouldn't we You know what I mean? So we do the cover and there was like there was a lot of like because to do a cover, to long story short, like when you record a song that's already been released, I don't have to ask anyone's permission to record the song. I just have to make sure that that person that recorded it or wrote it more, not recorded it, but the person that wrote it gets duly compensated on the royalties of whatever that song may make.

Now, Tracy is the sole writer of that song. To my knowledge, owns 100% of the publishing. Shout out, Tracy. If you know, you know. Owns 100% of the publishing on that song. And so it's more nuanced once you get into, okay, well, we've recorded this song, we're putting it out. I can put it out.

No one can stop me from putting it out. Now, what they can do is limit my ability to promote myself off of that song. So Tracy is, like, very, like plays her cards very close to the chest with that stuff because she wants to protect her music she wants to protect her legacy and doesn't want any you know every tom dick and harry to go out and record fast car and say guess who's got fast car you know so i was allowed to put it on the album i wasn't allowed to use it in any like promotional capacity to say guess what songs on the album like i couldn't i couldn't have come on here before the album come out and been like and it's got fast part with tracy

You know what I mean? Like I couldn't do that. And not that I don't think that I would have done that anyways, because that wasn't my reasoning for doing it. I just did it because it was my favorite song. I wanted to do it. I thought it would be cool. And the fact that it ended up where it ended up,

because we also, they were like, well, you know, we shouldn't, like, there was some, like, don't promote it to radio talk, like, which is fine with me. And I'm all cool with it. The radio started playing it, though. Like, we weren't promoting it at all. Like, I didn't tell my team, like, go put it on the radio, nothing.

And all of a sudden, all these stations start playing in there. I'm like, oh, boy, like, this might be bad. This might be not good. And so then my manager calls me, and he's like, I just got off the phone with, Tracy doesn't even have a team. Like, she don't even think she has a manager, like anything. Like, it's just all, like, she's just a G, dude. Like, she's in her house, like, nah.

Yeah. Not that. Love that, by the way. I love that she's doing that. And it was like, I got word that they're going to let us nap. The song was top 10 at radio and we weren't promoting it at all. Like that does not happen. It does, it never happens.

And so they were like, okay, you can promote it now. You can talk about it's obviously at this insurmountable point of like momentum where it's not going to go away. I mean, there's literally been, and this is an actual number, over a thousand official covers of that song. And how mine ended up being the one that people gloved onto, I have no idea. Very thankful for that.

Wow, I didn't realize that. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know that I've ever heard another cover of it. There's a bunch, man. There's tons of covers of that song.

And the Grammy moment, I mean, was like... Well, I was gonna ask you about the Grammy moment. It's like stick a fork in me, man. Like, I'm done, you know? Like, I'm like... And by the way, we were all feeling what you were feeling. We saw it written on your face. You were emotional and humbled by it.

And we who love that song and love her. Because, frankly, I hadn't seen her in forever. Yeah. She sounded amazing. It sounded great. And it was one of those things like this. Just had to smile and do.

Yeah. It was awesome. So how did you convince her to come do that gig? I don't think that I did convince her to do it. So I got, so to do the long story short version, it had been brought up to me in the summer. That song was kind of blown up in the summer of that year. And the Grammys had reached out to me and my team and said, hey, would Luke be open to doing this?

And I'm like, no. Like, of course of me. I'm like, yeah, they knew I was going to say yes. Yeah. It's like when you go to a nice restaurant and the waiter's like, how's the food? He knows it's good. He's not asking you.

He knows it's already. He just wants to hear it. Yeah, he just wants to make you say that it's good. Right. And so they ask, of course I say, let's do it. And then it gets down to me and my team like, okay, well, what, like, how do we do it? And they're like, well, the Grammings will just reach out.

And then the Grammys were like, well, we don't know how to reach out. And I'm like, what do you mean, dude? Like, what do you mean you don't know how to reach out? You're the Grammys. What are you talking about? And so basically it ended up like somebody that works on my team that does like PR for me, like knew a guy that worked at Elektra when she was there in the 80s and was like, they might still talk to each other every now and then.

And so then it was like nobody knows where she lives. Like nobody knows anything about her, which is intentional. Like she's doing that on purpose, you know, and that's the way she wants it. And I really admire that. And I really respect anybody that wants that because it can be a shock to your system. Like, you know, all of a sudden you're like famous and you're like, whoa, you know, I wasn't expecting all this. And some people back away from that.

And that's their choice. And I respect that. So I was never like, come on. Like, let's do this thing. I'm like, we didn't, I didn't, I mean, this was months, dude, this went on for months. And it was like, so basically there's no team, there's no nothing. And there's like one person that can get in touch with her. And I get a call back and I'm like, cool, this is the call.

Like, we're doing it. Hey, she's open to the idea. And I'm like, okay, well, what does that mean? Yeah. It's like, it doesn't sound like a yes. And I'm like, oh, it's definitely not a yes. And I'm like, perfect. Okay.

Good. Good to know. So the Grammys are February of every year, I think. And that's right, right? That's right. Don't fact check me on that. That's right. And it was the day after the CMA Awards.

I'm in a tree stand at my house. This is real. This is real. This is not being hyperbolic. It was quite literally in a tree stand at my house. And the woman that does PR for me called me. and she never calls me. So I'm like, this is either

really bad or really bad. I'm like, if anyone that does PR calls you, they never call you to say something awesome's going down. Let's just put it that way. And luckily for me, they don't call me ever, hardly. So this was a very out of the blue situation.

So I'm like, okay, I should probably answer this. Because it is day after CMAs. I'm like, what did I? Is my fly open at the thing? Like, something's happened, you know? And she said, hey, Tracy's going to call you tomorrow at night at 7 o'clock p.m. I was like, oh, boy, like, really giving me 24 hours to worry about this. That's appreciate that, you know.

So I'm like, what am I got? Because at this point, the song's already peaked. Like, it's been a big single. It's out. Like, I didn't hear, like, and not that I expected to hear anything, but, like, I would thought maybe I would hear, like, a, you know, good job champ or something. Sure. And again, not that I was expecting to, and that would have been fine if that was the case.

But the next night, we're, like, giving Tex a bath and, like, we got the new babies. Like, he's tiny, and we're, like, doing the bottle thing. And I told my wife, like, I'm like, hey, Tracy's calling me at seven. Daddy's off the clock for, like, however long. It might be two minutes. It might be two hours. I'm not sure. So I'm, like, sitting there at the table.

My phone's out. I'm, like, just sitting there. And I was like 7 o'clock on the dot, dude, my phone rang. And it was like, unknown caller. And I'm like, oh, boy, I know who it is. And so I answered it, man, I was so nervous to answer it, you know, because I'm like, what do you say to you say? Like, hey, it's me.

I don't know. Like, I don't know. That would be the most starstruck I ever, I ever was. And it was like, and I'm so glad she couldn't see me because she would have been like, he's so weird. and went to do untold and stuff. And honestly, she just, she let me ask her

like a million questions about her records that she made and why she made all these creative choices that she made and why this song was Acapella and it didn't have a band or how did you decide to do this thing? And what mic did you use on the drums when you did this thing and was just like,

she was like the sweetest, most gracious person on the call and was like so, appreciative of me doing the song and it was like everything a fan could ever want like getting to talk to someone that's meant so much to them musically over the years and at the end of the phone call like we're getting down to and i was like hey you know it's like gramey's just wanting us to do this thing you know i'm like gosh i got to do the salesman thing a little bit and i'm like i'm dreading it like you know the whole call we're just viving talk it was like 45 minutes dude it was a long call

and she's like, yeah, I know. And I was like, hey, I said, Tracy, listen, I said, just so you know, like, I would love to do this with you, and I'll just be straight up honest with you and tell you that. I'm not going to lie to you about that. I said, but if it's not something that you want to do, like, that might be cooler to me, to be quite honest. And I was like, if you don't want to do this and this phone call is all I get from that, that's more than enough.

It's more than I expected. I respect, you know, your life, your privacy. And she was like, I really appreciate you saying that. And there was no, like, we're doing it. It was like, cool. That was it? And I was like, oh, shit. I was like, did I just tell her to not do it?

Like, I meant to, like, I just told her to not do it. I should have been like, definitely do it. Like, you're making a big mistake. Like, no, I was like. And so then it was about a week later, I got a call. from my team. She made me sweat at it, dude. She's a G, dude.

She made me sweat at it, dude. And they were like, she's in. She's going to do it. And I was like, wow. Yeah. And I just, it was cool, man. And I remember that night, like, the whole week, we rehearsed for a week, man.

Like, we rehearsed in LA for an entire week for that thing. She hadn't played a show in 10 years at that point. So it was her original band that played on the record was the band for the Grammys. Wow. And my steel guitar player, Kurt, was there with us. She asked if my steel player would come and play with us. And, of course, I said yes.

And we practiced for a week. And it was really cool, man. It was really just, like, getting to spend time around her. And it was, the coolest part was, like, it's that night. And the Grammys are, like, they're a big deal, man. Like, it's like, as a country artist, you don't get to. go all the time. And I know that sounds crazy to say, but like, I've never

won a Grammy, dude. I've never, like, I've only been three times. And I could have, you know, I've been to the CMAs every year. You know, I've been in the CMAs like 11 or 12 times. And so getting to go, like, you feel like a little bit of an outcast, maybe sometimes, like

because country hasn't always been the most you know, popular and accepted. You know, you're not the bell of the ball when you're a country artist said. The Grammys, you're just not. And that's, it just is the way it is. And maybe that's changed some in recent years, but I haven't been back since, not because I don't

want to, but just you're not nominated, so it's like, what am I going to just go sit around? Right, right. I don't know. You know, throw your guy one or something, you know, just one. I don't need a bunch or anything. But that performance

and the impact it had in the memory of it, I know you'd like to have a Grammy, but to me is more powerful than a Grammy. Like, that's forever. That's forever. Yeah, for sure. Like no one will ever forget that. Yeah. And what I was going to say about that night was like, you know, we had our little, like,

it was like you have your little RV thing that's backstage. And I remember it was raining. It was just coming down, dude, which is not normal in Los Angeles. You know, it's not like every day it rains out there. So it's kind of a big deal when it rains. It's like, oh, it's raining out, you know, which is like, get over it, dude. It's 75 every day out here. Get over it.

You can get one day of rain. You're going to be fine, you know. And so they get, you know, all this. the stars, like everybody's get these big umbrellas, and it's like, everybody's like, do you don't know who I am? Like, my guy used to get in there. It's raining outside. And, like, I'm just chilling in my little trailer. And I know we're about to do the thing. And my wife was there with me, and I was, had been nominated for one Grammy that year, but there's a big pre-show, like, telecast thing where you go, not all the awards are on TV. There's like thousands of awards. I still have won one. There's

thousands of them. Not that you're bitter about it. Not that I'm like super sad about everything. But there, so you go, it's like in this big, imagine this room but like 10 or 15 times bigger than this and it's like a big theater. And there's presenters and it's only industry people, like only people that are nominated and their teams. And so everything from producers, writers, mixing engineers, artists that do album artwork.

It's a big thing. And so the award that I was up for that year was country solo. performance fast car and i didn't win and i was like damn i was like i was like this was it's like if this isn't it and nothing's it you know what i mean and uh so i'm i'm coming off the loss and i have to go get ready for the red carpet and do all this stuff and it's raining and me and my wife are sitting in the thing and she's got her awesome dress on and she looks beautiful and i'm getting they're putting me in the suit and people are doing stuff with the little bit of hair i got left and all kind of stuff and so I remember being like talking to my wife and it's really coming down raining.

And I was like, what if we just don't go to the red carpet? Like we just don't even go. And my wife was like, it's not go. And I'm like, cool, we won't go. And we didn't go. And I changed out of all my stuff and I put on my performance suit. And the Tracy thing was in the beginning of the show. And I was like, I know we're going to absolutely shut this place down with this performance.

Because nobody knows it's happening. Right. Everybody thinks it's. just me performing. They don't know Tracy's coming out. I know what nobody else knows, you know. Wasn't on the backstage. Like, usually there's a sheet back there that's like Luke Combs and then Tracy will come out and do the whole thing. It was none of it. It was just like Luke Combs, fast car. So everyone had been speculating that she would be there. And then when it wasn't on the call sheets, everyone was like, man, I guess he's really not common to this thing, you know? Because she was like, she might have, the performance was however long that song is. She might have been in the Staples Center for like five minutes.

Oh, is that right? In and out. Right to the stage, right out. And we do the performance, and I'm just like, I'm just a cloud, and I'm like, can't believe it. Like, I didn't think that it would be the moment that it was right afterwards, but I knew it was really special for me. I didn't, well, I wasn't like, this is this big thing that people will think about and remember after tonight. Like, I just thought it would be, okay, we do the thing. Great job.

Good job. Come out in the trailer, and I just went to Tracy's little trailer and talked to her for 10 or 15 minutes and went back to mine and changed into my shirt and, like, my t-shirt and, like, a pair of shorts. I mean, my wife just sat there and hung out and went back to the hotel and were like, see you. Perfect. But it was awesome. It was like everything I wanted it ended up being like the most special night for that reason. It wasn't. It was about that. Yeah, it was just like that.

Yeah, it was like just that. Stick around for more of my conversation with Luke Combs right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Luke Combs. I don't want to take too much of your time. We're going to do some audience questions. Quickly, I want to ask you, among the many cool things about achieving the level of success that you've achieved is get your own bar downtown here. I lower it. Yes, thank you.

And I don't know if you've been to keep. Category 10 down on second. That's a bar. It's more than a bar. It's a venue. It is an establishment. And now, guys, it is. It's been so successful here in Nashville.

They're opening a second one in Vegas this fall. Category 10. That's right. I mean, that's like, that's a moment, isn't it? It's crazy, man. I just never would have imagined, you know. Honestly, I'm just, I'm floored by it every day. You know, in some way, I'm just like, how did this all happen?

You know, like, what did I do? You know, like I haven't even done anything I don't feel like, you know. It's like, obviously, my team is to thank for that. And my wife and her support and my kids and my parents and my friends, like, there is no me without all those people. And they, everyone works harder than I do, to be quite frank about it. You know, like, I enjoy what I do and I'm blessed to do what I do. But those are the people that, you know, they have, you know, quote unquote, you know, what you would consider a thankless job in our industry of like,

they're there to tune the guitars and make sure they get to the right place. And there's so many people involved in this thing. And I'm just thankful to be surrounded by really great people. Very thankful for that. It did strike me walking around downtown this morning. That category 10 is about 100 yards from chiefs. And two boys from Appalachian State. Luke Collins and Eric Church.

That's right. Both have bars in Nashville within a block. That's right. That's pretty good. Pretty neat. You represent Yosef very well. That's right. That's right.

All right, we're going to do a couple of audience questions here. Lindsay from Brooksville, Florida. Lindsay, are you in here tonight? Didn't show up like it? Okay, well. Power move. That's a power move right there. That's a power move right there.

Well, Lindsay, before she left, she wanted me to ask you this. Before she was like, this guy, such a narcissist, get me out of him. I'm out of here. I'm out of here. Yeah. Yeah. How do you pick who and when you'll duet with? You do a lot of collaborations.

How do you approach that and do you have any others on your list? I've maybe written one song ever where I'm like, this is a duet. Like we should write a duet, you know? And that went really well. But for the most part, I'll write a song and then I'm like, this is a duet. You don't even realize it at the time. You're like, we should do this with somebody else. So I just kind of have these ideas, like, as we're in the studio,

really it kind of comes along as I'm putting the record together for me. And then I'll go, man, wouldn't it be cool to have this girl or this guy on this song? And if I know them, I'll reach out to them personally and just say, hey, how would you feel about doing something together? You know, and I'll, if I don't know them and I want to do something with them, I'll have my team reach out. You know, like, I don't like ever be putting in the position of, like having kind of undue pressure. Yeah. Like I don't want them to be, like,

I don't want to reach out to them directly and them feel like maybe pressured to say yes because they don't want to make me upset or whatever it is. I just let the teams handle it. And if it's a no, it's a no, and that's fine with me. And if it's a yes, then great, let's do it, you know.

I'm not sure the people are declining the Luke Combs duet. Two, dude. Two on this record. Three on this record. Declined? Three. I want names.

Let's happen. No, I wouldn't do that. But it did. It does make you wonder. You know, you're like, man, like, maybe I am like the worst guy. I don't know. I don't know. I don't feel like it, but maybe I don't know, you know.

But yeah, and it's fine, because I've said no to plenty, and it's never anything. It's never like, well, I don't like this guy. I'm like, you know, it's like people that I generally, like, have an issue with or that I don't get along with, like, are probably not going to reach out. to me to do a song with them, so they mostly kind of get the idea. But everyone that's reached out to me, I always want to be able to, if I'm going to be on a song with someone, especially if they're thinking it maybe could be a single or it's going to be a big song for them, like there are steps to achieving that, right? Like, whether it's coming on the Today Show and singing the song or going on, you know,

Fallon or whatever it is, like those are big moments. And if I don't feel like I'm going to be able to be there for those moments, I don't want to say yes, because I definitely don't want to be the reason a song doesn't achieve success. And maybe those were the things that would have gotten it over the hump. And then there's some sort of like, well, Luke wouldn't come and do this thing with me. And it's like when really we all have a bunch of stuff going on. If we're doing, you know, anything like what I do,

we have a thousand irons in the fire of playing shows and rehearsing. and making records and having kids or whatever it is, there's a lot of stuff going on. So I want to make sure if I'm going to be on a song with someone or if someone's going to be on a song with me, that we really do it the right way and then I can give myself 100% to that and feel like I'm doing right by the person that asked me to do it.

And vice versa. You know, so that would be the only reason that there's a no, and there's never any hard feelings. Man, it's really not a big deal. And sometimes the phone rings and it's a big X to plug. Sometimes, you never know. You just don't know who's going to call. You never know.

I'm going to call. You never know. Hopefully Andrea from Wilmington is here. Are you Wilmington? Yes, there we go. Okay. Andrea asked this, Luke, I think I might know the answer. What's your favorite thing to do when you're not on tour or working? Oh, gosh.

Kids, obviously. But what's your favorite thing to do that's like for you? I'm a big hunter. So I love to deer hunt, turkey hunt. That's kind of like my favorite video games. Okay. What are we playing? What's the game right now?

We're ripping some Battlefield Six. It's kind of, I'm the, That's what I'm in on right now. Ripping some Battlefield 6. It's great. But I do a lot of that. I play, like, Madden and Insta. Football, that kind of stuff a lot.

And I'm a really, I like to cook, man. I do like to cook. So I enjoy that process. You know, it's kind of, like, I cook a lot of the meals. Like, when I'm home, like, I like to take that off my wife's plate. Because, you know, she's got the kids going on. It's like, I mean, I enjoy it, you know. It's like, and she's great.

Like, she's, she's. she's a really, she's a really great cook too. But I don't know that she enjoys it as much as I enjoy it. So why not I do it? And then she's happy doing stuff with the kids or whatever. And it's like, I don't know. Like we're a really great team. So like if she needs to cook, she'll cook.

If I need to cook, I'll cook. If I need to give the kids a bath, I'll give them a bath. It's not a big deal. Like, it's not, like, I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty in the domestic side of our life. Like, that's something that. that I take a lot of pride in. I take a lot of pride in being there for my kids and helping my wife and achieving things together.

It's not about, well, they're better my steak better be ready when I get home. It's not that. You know what I mean? Like, first off, that would be the last time that ever happened in my house, by the way. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that would be the last time that ever happened.

It might be the end of the whole thing, actually. But yeah, like, I don't know. Like, we, I don't know, we have a really equal share of that stuff, especially when I'm around. And I really just want to, I want her to know that I care and that I want to be a part of those things. And it's not something that I feel like is her job. And it's like, it's our job together. Like, our kids didn't ask to be born. You know what I mean? Like, we decided that together. And so step up and, and do the thing. And it's, you know, just do it. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah. Some of the women are now fanning themselves in the front row.

This guy. This guy. You might have an answer. This one was directed to me. Laura, Prairie Village, Kansas. Laura, you hear? There she is. Hi, Laura.

She says to me, being a Vanderbilt graduate, what are your favorite Nashville haunts? We used to go starting freshman year to exit in. Nashville people, exit in? Exit in, up in the balcony, my friends. They had something called Drink or Drown, which was, and we were 18.

I can imagine. $5 at the door, they give you a plastic cup and they fill it with beer as many times as you can do that until you fall down or get thrown out. What was the record, dude? I know there was a record. Oh, I got some guys. Yeah.

I mean, some guys. And now they're like dads and stuff. You're like that guy? I used to love Station In. Oh, yeah. Station In, which when I was in school here, Station In was a standalone building in the middle of nowhere, and you couldn't remember how to get there.

And you're like, where am I? And now it's like in the middle of the city. And now it's in the middle of the galtz. But it's still there. Still there. Still there. I love that. Still rocking.

I love that. Still rocking. Roteers used to be a favorite before it went away. Going deep. Deep. This guy knows bald. They had, uh, yeah, this is good. They had saltines and cheese for like a $2.

Salteens and cheese? Which was a nice appetizer. Ooh. I don't know. I don't know. You do that. Then you get the burger. I don't.

Just like a cracker with a piece of cheese on it. For $2? And they sold that. Well, you get a bunch of them. Oh, you get a bunch of them. I thought it was one. I was like, man, they were. Beautiful spread.

Businesses recession birth, dude. $2 for a cracker is wild right now. That's like, yeah. Still work. Yeah. What about you? Do you have favorite spots that you go? You know, I was a midtown kid coming here.

You know, but that was the circuit. I was tin roofed to mumbrine. It was like rock and rock. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you probably saw me there, I'm sure. Ten roof to bumbrian, red light, red door was, I mean, red, red, I mean, Red Door is Red Door.

Obviously did the whole Winners Losers deal a tons, like a million times. But that was kind of the same. I mean, Belcourt Taps, RIP, Belcourt Taps was Primo spot. Anywhere that songwriters hung out, you know, after the day was kind of over, I was doing that kind of thing. Just because that's where all my buddies were hanging out, you know. Yeah. And that was what I was doing. Like I always went out with a purpose.

You know, I was like, okay, well, I can have some drinks, but like, I'm getting a co-rength. but like I'm getting a co-write with somebody tomorrow. You know what I mean? Like somebody's going to be dumb enough to write with me tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. If we have enough beers. And it worked out. It worked out.

Will you ever slide into a place and like get on stage or you know? I haven't recently just because I mean, I'm at home with the kids all the time, you know? And it's like that's just the way that it is. That's the life that we live right now. I love doing that kind of stuff. I dream of doing like an entire tour of just venues I used to play. You know?

Great. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like doing a whole like. like 20 some shows of just like all the like little SEC town bars we used to play. That would be amazing. That would be. That would be incredible.

My dream, if I could do a dream lineup, I'd probably do Brick Street. Oxford, Ohio would be one of my, South Carolina, just the whole state. Okay. Whole state of South Carolina.

Yeah. I would do Columbia. Okay. I did play Tin Roof Columbia a bunch of times. I played there. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Wow. A lot of passion. So Tin Roof Columbia, we did Georgia Theater in Athens. We played a bunch of times. Or the 40-Watt in Athens, another great venue. I played a bunch of those places. I would love to do. Me and my band talk about all the time.

Like, we should just do a whole tour of just like 20 nights. Wouldn't that be amazing? Free tickets, like just first come, first served. Like just let it run. We're like a charity show or something fun, you know, I think would be really cool. That would be incredible. I love that idea. Someone's trolling me and you shouldn't do this.

because you're going to set me off, asking me, Willie, what do you think about Vanderbilt not making the college football playoff? If you go 10 and 2 in the SEC and have the Heisman runner up, the most electric player in college football, you should be in the playoff. And let me just say,

and let me say, if Vanderbilt were playing in the national championship game tonight, this would have been canceled. Okay, last one for Luke, and then we're going to take a quick break. This is a good one from Andy in Hendersonville, Tennessee. If you were sitting down with a group of new artists arriving in Nashville, knowing what you know, knowing what you went through coming to town here,

what's the one piece of advice you would give them navigating this industry? Gosh, it's probably going to be something really cliche. I don't know. I would just say, like, you can't be afraid to bet on yourself. You know what I mean? I mean, I know that's really cliche sounding, but, like, I got told, know many, many times. And that's okay. That's part of the process. You know, dream within reason, of course. You got to be able to sing. You know what I mean? Like, you got to actually be able to sing.

You know, that's, let's understand that in the scope of what we're talking about here. But it's like, the nose to me were always, always when it came to my career, and I wish more so in like my personal life was like, I was always a glass half full guy. right so the no was always the no wasn't no it was not yet you know what i mean and it's like it was just it always pushed me like every day my goal was if i want to go write a song like how do i write a song that was better than the song i wrote yesterday and so it was always just striving to be better i still want to be the best that i can be and write the best songs that i ever written and play guitar better and sing better and perform longer and do all these things that I want to do and be out and,

you know, get to interact with fans more. And I'm always trying to to be better than I was the day before at my job. And so you just have to be willing to like fail forward, man, and like just accept that like just because it's no right now doesn't mean it's no next year. It doesn't mean it's no six months from now. It's just you have to like keep going because nobody's going to do it for you. In this town, there are so many good people, and it takes a long time to get in front of the right person on the right night with the right song in the right room, and it all work out. And it can happen, man. Like, I'm proof positive that it can happen. I'm a guy that it probably shouldn't have happened to, and it did. And it can happen. It is an achievable thing.

So you just have to keep trying to get better and enjoy the process of, like, not being where you want to be. The goal is not the destination. It's the journey, dude. Like getting there is the fun part. Being there is the fun part, but getting there is even funner, for sure. So just enjoy it, man. Love it. Love it. We're going to get some

Dream Within Reason T-shirts made up. Dream Within Reason. Be real with it. Yes. We're going to take a quick break. Before we do that, we're going to do a mugshot for the show when this airs with Luke on February 1st, which is a week from Sunday. You'll see

yourselves on the show. Thank again to City Winery Nashville. So if you got a mug, stand up, and Luke and I, we're going to bring Jesse out here, and we're going to do a little toast. Big mugs, did you? Yeah, no, we like them big.

That's nice. Yeah. We like them big. Thanks, man. That was amazing. So generous. My huge thanks to Luke for a great conversation for being so generous with his time

and so great with the crowd that night. And a huge thanks again to our venue sponsor, Our host, City Winery Nashville, for having us once again. We look forward to the next time, whether it's in Nashville, New York, or somewhere else. They've got locations all over the place. And my thanks to all of you again for listening this week. If you want to hear more of our conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes.

I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday, Sit Down Podcast.