Luke Combs recently announced his new project coming out in June, and he's about to be a father for the first time! He stopped by The Bobby Bones Show today (April 29) to talk all about the new music, and some of the things he's been doing lately in his career.
Combs and his wife Nicole got married in August and according to Combs, they've been trying to have kids ever since. Nicole went on a girls trip, and while she was gone she started feeling sick and ended up finding out she was pregnant. Combs found out when she got back when they were on his tour bus together. He admitted he cried a lot after she shared the news with him because he was so excited. Despite being a songwriter, Combs hasn't written anything about the pregnancy. He thinks his songs inspired by dad life will kick in after their baby is born.
Growin' Up is the title of Combs next project and it's set to release on June 24th with 12 songs. "Doin This" and "Tomorrow Me" are the two songs that have already been released from the project. Looking back on his previous projects, Combs said "Lovin' On You" was one of the most fun songs to write. Though he tends to write sad, slower songs because there's something about them he really loves. "This One's For You" is the song that typically makes him emotional whenever he performs it acoustically at milestone shows. He recalled crying while performing the song at Red Rocks on Mother's Day, and when he played his first stadium show in his college town. Now Combs is playing in stadiums all over the country.
There are a few things that Combs has never done in his career. He admitted he doesn't pay attention to how many tickets get sold for his tour, he doesn't pay attention to what his songs do on the music charts, and he never watches his live shows back because it makes him feel too strange. There's only been one time in his career when he got nervous about his fans showing up for a show. It was the first show on their tour last fall. They were playing two nights in Raleigh, North Carolina and things were just starting to open up from COVID. He was playing a 360-stage for the first time ever, and when he saw Ashley McBryde out doing her opening, he thought the crowd looked scarce. But it turns out there were some difficulties with the security and the line was backed up to get everyone into the venue.
One collaboration Combs did recently was with Ed Sheeran on stage in London. The two of them sang Sheeran's song "Dive" together and fans couldn't get enough. Combs shared the story of how they first started hanging out. Sheeran hit him up when he was in Nashville. He was at the restaurant Twin Peaks with some friends and told Combs to come join them. Combs was worried about going in case people would recognize him, but he went anyway. When he walked in, Combs recalled it being like a "beehive" of people swarming him. Sheeran felt bad and told Combs that he never gets bothered at the restaurant. They ended up going somewhere else shortly after.
Combs has accomplished so much in his career already that now he's focused on continuing to write great songs. He wants to have a long career and continue to be part of the conversation in country music for the next 10 to 15 years.