Luke Combs' new album reflects a time of change for the country artist. Photo / Getty Images
Luke Combs' new album reflects a time of change for the country artist. Photo / Getty Images
America's biggest country music star Luke Combs hadn't picked up a guitar until he was of legal drinking age in the United States.
It's the Kiwi equivalent of a man picking up his first rugby ball at age 21 and then making the All Blacks - and it turns out Combs nearly made it big as a rugby player too.
Now, he's cemented a name for himself as a Grammy nominee, CMA winner and Grand Ole Opry member, and has already sold more than seven million albums.
And he's done it with all the hallmarks of a Kiwi legend: unparalleled modesty, always being adorned in Hunting and Fishing apparel and nearly making the American rugby team.
"I was just one try away from making the Eagles," Combs laughed. "Making the All Blacks never happened.
"It was fun, I played for three and a half years in college and I had a really great time doing that. I played football in high school, so it was kind of an easy transition. Obviously, there are some major differences. At the end of the day you get to hit people and that was pretty gratifying," he jokes.
"I love rugby, I love watching it."
So how did he go from college rugby star to his debut record, This One's For You, becoming the highest-selling country album of 2018 - and how does a humble bloke even begin to cope? For Combs, the process hasn't been without its speed bumps.
"It's been pretty wild and it took some getting used to. It was hard at the beginning, you felt like you couldn't go anywhere and do anything. You felt like people were staring at you, and maybe that's still the case, but I don't notice it anymore," he tells the Herald.
Now, tomorrow his new album, Growin' Up, is set to drop - and the new father reveals that's exactly what he's spent the last two years doing.
"I'm 32, it's just a transitional period from feeling like this young college kid and slowly turning into a dad and a husband."
It's a time of change for Combs, and many of his fans are going through life's milestones with him after watching Combs marry his wife, Nicole, in 2020, and welcome his son just three days ago.
Nicole Hocking and husband Luke Combs welcomed their first child three days ago. Photo / Getty Images
"You're in between, you're not old but you're not super young, but you feel like you are still learning. So the sound of the new album reflects that a lot," he said.
And according to Combs, that unity with his fans is what makes the album so special.
"I always wanted to have my fan base growing up with me and feel like we are going through this thing together."
In recent years Combs has taken country music to a new level in the States, and he's done it in a way that is utterly refreshing. He's not a country music star by nature - he's the guy that listens to country music.
There are no cowboy boots and starched jeans. Instead, there are crocs and khakis. You won't find him doing the honky tonk in his best plaid shirt. Instead, he's playing beer pong and sporting a Columbia dome shirt. And he's living his dream.
And the Hurricane singer admits there could be even bigger career moments on the way, listing music legends as some of the artists he would love to work with.
"Chris Stapleton. I'm a big [Ed] Sheeran guy, big Adele fan. I would really be open to anything."
So what's next for the country singer, and will New Zealand be graced with his soulful sound anytime soon?
"I would love to," Combs said of hitting our shores, and the possibility of nabbing seats to an All Blacks game during his time.
"On my list of things to do there's going to the Australia thing and hit New Zealand while we are there. That's definitely in the plans for us."
And when this writer said to Combs that all his favourite things, hunting, fishing, rugby and beautiful people ready to embrace his country sound are right here in Aotearoa, his excitement was clear.
