You would never believe Luke Combs was a pop star. If asked to guess the profession of the bearded burley chap in the battered baseball cap, you would probably be much more likely to suggest truck driver rather than country music singer.
This would not bother 27-year-old Luke in the slightest. In fact, he would likely be pleased to be thought of as an ordinary person instead of someone special.
“I’ve always been a regular guy,” smiled the Asheville, North Carolina, native. “I’m not extra cool or extra different. I’m an honest dude not trying to be anything other than who I am.”
Luke isn’t quite so ordinary as he makes out. He has been singing since childhood and performed with numerous vocal groups during his years in high school. One show was at New York’s world-famous Carnegie Hall during which Luke performed a solo.
But becoming a country artist was a different matter. Although Luke could sing, he couldn’t play an instrument. Seven years ago, he picked up an acoustic guitar with the intention of playing a chord.
“I had no thoughts of immediately becoming Kenny Chesney. I just wanted to play one chord. When I’d done that, I wanted to play another one, then play a song, then sing while I’m playing the song. I’m a small goals kind of guy. It’s just one step at a time.”
The next step was accumulating enough material to perform a show. Then studying at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, the alma mater of his country music hero, Eric Church, Luke created a set list of covers, plus some of his own songs, and began performing in North Carolina’s college towns.
“I was getting a great response from the audiences. I used social media to promote my songs and shows. Everything was so positive that I decided to record and self-release an EP. This did so well that I decided to quit my job and move to Nashville with the objective of becoming a professional gigging country musician.”
Further EPs solidified Luke’s position on the country music scene with 2015’s This One’s For You reaching number 24 on the Top Country Albums chart. His track, Hurricane, not only became a sing-along anthem at Luke’s shows but notched up so many online streams and digital sales that it entered the Hot Country Songs chart.
A major label deal with Columbia Nashville rather confusingly saw This One’s For You also chosen as the title of Luke’s debut album. His fans were not confused though. The album has debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and taken pole position on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
The album was promoted on the back of a re-release for Hurricane. The track peaked at number three on the Hot Country Songs chart and spent two weeks at number one on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Luke became the first male solo artist to hold top spot on the Country Airplay chart for multiple weeks with a debut single since Darius Rucker achieved the feat in 2008 with Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.
Luke’s success has been gained with an unusual style of music. It is a combination of modern-day and 1990s sounds.
“I loved country music as a kid but stopped listening between the ages of ten and 18. I only really got back into country after discovering Eric Church. This left a big gap in my country music influences and probably explains the hybrid style of my songs.”
His style has certainly proved popular but why did Luke choose to give his debut album the same title as his previous EP?
“So many things and so many people led me to the point where I was about to release my album. I get the glory but those other people go unsung.
“I always felt uncomfortable about that so I used the title for my last EP. The songs from the EP are also on my album and releasing my debut album was the perfect time to acknowledge and thank everyone whose help and support got me to that stage of my career. I felt I had to re-use the title.”
The extent of his success is such that it would seem hard for Luke to remain a regular guy. But he gives the impression of someone who will have no difficulty in doing so.
“I’m just a person who loves writing songs and singing them. Thankfully, people seem to like my songs. That’s all I can ask for. I didn’t get into music to try to be a celebrity or whatever. I’m just a lucky guy who is able to earn my living from doing something I love.”
In brief
Charlotte Lawrence
Singer, songwriter and model Charlotte Lawrence recently celebrated her 17th birthday. She marked the occasion by releasing her latest single which, coincidentally, happens to be called Seventeen.
The daughter of TV producer/writer Bill Lawrence and actress Christa Miller, Charlotte developed an affinity with music at a young age.
“I started singing when I was very little,” she smiled. “Neither of my parents can sing so no-one knows where I got my voice.”
Charlotte was just 14 when she released her debut single, The Finish Line. It can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=i73YFtpXGBQ
This was followed a year later by Ever After which is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=MatVLJlUXus
Both songs were used on the soundtrack of Cougar Town, a television series created by Charlotte’s father and starring her mother. This may seem like nepotism but not when you hear the tracks and appreciate their quality.
She attracted critical acclaim last October for her appearance with Dixie Chicks at the Hollywood Bowl performing a cover of Lana Del Rey’s Video Games.
Earlier this year, Charlotte’s totally different version of Olivia Newton-John’s 1978 world-wide smash, You’re The One That I Want, made a significant impression on the Spotify streaming charts. It can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEQd16R1Bo
Despite her work receiving enormous praise, Charlotte has yet to achieve any mainstream chart success. Perhaps this will come with Seventeen. As with her other releases though, there is again no video. An audio posting of the song is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkdYIWdP_5M
Artists for Grenfell
The music world has come together to raise money for the approximately 600 people who suffered the horrors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. One week after the blaze that killed so many and left the other residents homeless and destitute, music mogul Simon Cowell had the charity single, Bridge Over Troubled Water, recorded, mastered, mixed and available for everyone to buy.
A certain chart-topper, contributing artists included major names from the international music scene in addition to all the British stars. Perhaps the most moving contributors though were the Grenfell Tower survivors who formed part of a 300-strong choir of local residents.
Simon Cowell lives near Grenfell Tower. He was heartbroken by what he saw and, having donated 100,000 GBP of his own money, wanted to raise as much as possible for the victims. He had created other charity singles in the past so this route seemed the obvious one to take. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s classic song was chosen for several reasons.
“You’ve got to be sensitive,” Simon stated. “You want to do something where the people involved are sending a message to those who are suffering as well as raising money. I felt the lyrics of Bridge Over Troubled Water did this so it was the right song to record.”
The accompanying video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O1CcwYf79I
Proceeds will be donated to The London Community Foundation.
George Harrison
George Harrison’s widow, Olivia, has discovered the lyrics of a lost Beatles song written by her husband.
Entitled Hey Ringo, the words form a conversation between George and Ringo suggesting neither could make music which was of the same high quality without the other. It is thought George may have written the song around the time of their 1970 split as a kind of entreaty for The Beatles to remain together.
Olivia found the typed lyrics in a piano bench.
“They were inside a folder,” she remarked. “George would often put things down and forget where he left them. A piano bench was the obvious place to stash things ready for working on later.
“Ringo was shocked when I presented him with the lyrics. He’d never seen the song before.”
Olivia hopes Ringo and fellow surviving Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, might put the lyrics to music. She intends to keep searching in the hope of possibly finding a demo recording which Ringo and Paul could use.
Luke says he is u201cjust a person who loves writing songs and singing themu201d.
