LUKE COMBS: The Man Behind The Success (Marriage, Fatherhood & Life With OCD)

16:45Luke Combs:But when you're in it, it's not like you don't have the capability of to turn it off. You know, I remember my dad would say, and this is no slight to him, this is, you know, this is classic like dad stuff. He'd be like, well, son, just don't think about it. And I'd be like, well, man, that would be great. That's kind of the whole point of like, well, that's what I'm trying to get to. I'm trying to figure out how to do that. That's kind of the struggle, you know? And as no slight, because again, we, I'm undiagnosed. We don't know what's going on. Like no one talked about it. Go out and take a walk, you know, or say, and it's like, it's not that simple.

17:22Luke Combs:You know, I'm sure that would have actually helped quite a bit, but it's not quite that simple. And so, yeah, I mean, you know, you spend the whole day, like, I mean, there's days when I'm like, I don't even want to go to school, man. Like, cause I'm just going to be thinking about this all day and be stressed about it and be thinking about it at football practice and think about it in choir and think about it in math class and think about it at lunch with my friends and just, you're just constantly, your brain's just constantly bombarding you with like these like life or death feelings of like, you need to address this issue.

17:54Luke Combs:It's a big issue and it has to be addressed right now. And you, you are in this heightened state of like, you're almost in like fight or flight mode all the time. And it's just exhausting. It's so mentally exhausted, like having this battle with yourself. And I'm very thankful to be, you know, to have gone through that. It's definitely made me a better person and made me more appreciative of the life I have now, the grasp on it, the understanding of my own mind and, you know, thankfulness and just joy and reveling in the good times when they're around, which thankfully now is 99 % of the time.

18:32Luke Combs:You know, I just, I'm well equipped to have the tools, you know, and not that I'm immune to it or anything like that, but I'm hyper aware of it. And I can, I'm more aware now of the things that, the thought patterns and the way that it happens and the way that it comes about. And I'm an expert at combating that in my own head. And that's been a really great blessing, you know, but I, and having the platform now to speak about it, and be okay with it. And it's never something I was particularly ashamed of. It was just something that I didn't know how to verbalize and know how to like speak about in a way that other people can understand.

19:13Luke Combs:And I feel lucky to have the ability now to be a voice for someone that's out there right now that may be in the situation I was in and they're 12 or 13 years old. And they're going, look at this guy. Like maybe, maybe there's, if there's one kid that doesn't feel as hopeless as I felt watching this now, like that it's all worth it to me. Like being able to like be that light for someone else and hopefully, you know, um, is, is a really great feeling to be honest.

19:45Jay Shetty:Which relationship was most negatively impacted in your life at that time because of it?

19:50Luke Combs:My relationship with myself. I didn't really have a lot of time to figure out who I was. because I couldn't think about anything else. Maybe I would have picked up guitar in seventh grade when my parents bought it for me because I would have had time to focus on that. I can't do anything about that now. And things worked out the way they were supposed to work out. I mean, obviously, here I am. That was the one that was tough. You don't get any time to do all these. My childhood was great. It was idyllic, really. besides this. I don't want to sound like it was like constant dread and doom and like, there were certainly spells of that.

20:32Luke Combs:And it was like, those were kind of like the defining things along the way. And, but there was a lot of good too, you know, I don't want to make it sound like I had the worst life ever cause I didn't, but it was, it was very, very hard at times and it was very isolating and made you feel very alone and like very vulnerable and very confused, you know, what is going on? Like, I don't imagine my friends are dealing with this, you know, and if they are, I would talk to my friends about it. I mean, Austin, who I'm sure you met is my best friend from childhood really. And I talked to him about it, you know, he knew, I mean, it's like, but that, you know, they don't have any answers, but they're like, bro, you're, it's, it's all good.

21:13Luke Combs:You know, like they were always very supportive. No one was like, you're weird. I can't believe you're doing this. Like, I'm lucky that everyone in my life was supportive of my struggles. And I'm glad that I was open about them and felt the ability to be open about them. That in and of itself is a blessing. You know, I can't imagine a kid out there right now whose family's like, listen, you better stop talking about this. I'm sick of hearing about it. You know what I mean? It's like that would just crushes my soul, you know, it's already so hard, even if everyone is open to the whole thing. Um, so that would say that that was the relationship honestly affected the most because if I didn't tell you, if you would have met me at 13 years old or 14 years old, like you wouldn't have even known.

21:54Luke Combs:It's not something you can see. It's all in here. Like that's why they call it purely obsessional because like only because that's a bit of a misnomer in my opinion, dear medical people, it's a misnomer, but there are tons of compulsions. They're just all mental compulsions. They're not outward. So they call it purely obsessional because all the compulsion, it's not like I'm like, oh gosh, this glass, I better get it, you know, this thing, this moving this glass around and getting it to feel right is all happening in here instead of out here. You know, they're like checking the stove a hundred times to make sure it's off.

22:31Luke Combs:I'm doing that up here instead of doing it. There's no physical manifestation of the compulsions. Um, so yeah, huge, huge part of my life.

22:40Jay Shetty:Yeah. No, I appreciate you saying it. I mean, you sharing it is helping so many other people, as you said, listening, learning, trying to, you know, that kid who wants to tell their family, tell their friend, you know, and recognize that it's not some dysfunction that they have, but just something that they're experiencing. What does OCD look like now in your life?

22:58Luke Combs:What happens is not any different. Um, I think now when it does happen, I'm just so much more aware of it, you know? Um, and it's good, it's good. Cause when it happens, I can just, I straight up tell her like when I'm like, Hey, this is going on. Like, just so you know, like if I seem a little absent-minded or if I'm like, if you say something and I didn't quite pay enough attention to it, like it's not just me being aloof. It's like, I'm kind of going through this. And so she understands that. So I don't have to worry about that. Like, I don't have to worry about her. Why are you being weird?

23:34Luke Combs:Like, it's just an honest thing. And she feels for me, which is nice to know that there's someone that understands what I'm going through that's supportive of it and doesn't judge me for that at all. And, you know, I mean, again, she's no therapist either. So, but I, I'm so well equipped now. What, what has been that equipped? What's actually helped the people who are struggling? Honestly, the interesting thing about it is like not, like not giving any, like any credibility or attention to the thoughts is ultimately the thing that makes it go away. Right. But the years and years and years of not knowing that, your go-to is like, think about the thoughts and try to figure it out and try to solve it.

24:15Luke Combs:So when you do that, like I didn't find out what I had till I was probably like 19 or 20, really. Like I didn't find pure OCD until then. I'd been dealing with it for seven or eight years at that time. And once I found it, naturally enough, I obsessed about it, trying to figure it out. Like, what does this mean? And a lot of that, not, not from, I don't want to try to like, I'm not trying to say like, oh, it was really great. And I figured it out. It was basically like one of the big no-nos of OCD is seeking reassurance that whatever the thought you have is not founded in any fact or reality, right?

24:55Luke Combs:Like that's the trap. It's like trying to solve the problem. So when you're, when you're young and you're in it, you're constantly seeking reassurance in your own mind to like discredit the thoughts that you're having. And so I would use that diagnosis. I would go and study this. I would go study what's Piro and what's, you know, understand the way that people that have it think and the tools. And like, I was looking that stuff up to try to alleviate the anxiety from the thoughts. Little did I know, and not that anyone should do this, I would not suggest it, but little did I know I was basically teaching myself to be an expert on the disease that I had or the mental illness that I had.

25:44Luke Combs:And so now I'm so well-versed and studied in it. And again, not a therapist, don't claim to be. Now I know the thought patterns and I'm so familiar with like, I can feel it coming on. I know when it's happening. I know why it happens. And I know, I just have the entire tool belt of like getting rid of it if I need to. And I think that as, I mean, it's a blessing and a curse. You know, it was a curse the way I got to it, but it's a blessing now. You know, having that knowledge, it keeps me from, from, you know, slipping into that state a lot, a lot, you know? And when I talk about OCD, I mean, that's the most interaction I get from people reaching out to me a lot is like, Hey man, like you're the only guy I know that's ever talked about this because it's kind of like an obscure variant of OCD.

26:38Luke Combs:It's not as common as like stereotypical, you know, you're hearing about it more and more now. certainly it's like it's definitely an understudied thing I mean there was a time even 10 or 12 years ago I was looking it up that some OCD doctors were like that's not a real thing yeah I'm like wow what a dangerous thing to like say in a public like what an arrogant thing to say like if you've never had it even though you're an expert regardless and I'll probably get roasted for this online like how dare you say it if you've never like you like saying someone's mental condition like doesn't exist is an incredibly damaging thing especially given the nature of the one that you're talking about because that in and that statement in and of itself could send someone into a six-month spiral like that statement could kick off an entire another episode of like life crippling OCD for someone with OCD because then they would read it and go oh my god it's not real i really am a murderer or i really am gonna crash my car into a school you know what i mean like yeah it's like that and it just makes people like so

27:52Jay Shetty:panicked you know yeah and i had a friend who just constantly kept thinking she was gonna do something bad to her kids and so she had to be away from them for weeks oh it's yeah i get it

28:03Luke Combs:avoidance behavior another terrible thing one of the worst things you can do because then you're giving the thoughts like the power of like yeah that's what there really is an issue so now you're isolating yourself from your kids so there really is a problem now it gives the thoughts more credibility so you're taking action and telling yourself these thoughts are important so i need to remove myself yeah you know it's crazy man it's a vicious it's like a rip current in your mind yeah yeah for sure your instinct is to you know swim this way and really you should just not struggle and just swim this way.

28:38Luke Combs:You just want to swim. That was all you want to do. You know, it's crazy. It's a crazy spiral.

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31:52Jay Shetty:You've spoken so beautifully about your parents. What's something that your parents did for you? What's a lesson they taught you that you're trying to pass on to your children?

32:00Luke Combs:Yeah, I mean, I think really just work ethic, you know? I mean, my parents, I mean, they taught me a lot of things, you know? My mom was just, you know, she's, like, wonderful, you know? And my dad was wonderful. And my dad wasn't, like, he wasn't, like, my buddy growing up. Like, he was, like, he was my dad. You know what I meant? Yeah, yeah, physically. He was a maintenance man at the bank, and it was, like, he worked 40 hours, and he came home and he mowed the grass and he drank beer with his buddies. And like, not that I was neglected in any way, but like, we weren't like palling around a lot because there wasn't time.

32:33Luke Combs:He was constantly working to provide me with food and provide mom with, you know, mom was working too, you know? So it was a very, very working class home. And that's what our life centered around was mom and dad have shit to do and they're going to do it. And that's, you know, that's just the way it is. And, you know, obviously that provided me with a lot of things and I'm grateful for that. I never had to wonder what, you know, clothes I was going to wear to school or what food I was going to eat when I got home. I think those worries were gone. And so, you know, nothing but gratefulness for that.

33:10Luke Combs:And my, you know, it was like they, I learned so much from seeing that, you know, luckily I'm in a position now where it doesn't have to be that way. It had to be that way for them. There was no other option. It was either, you know, it was work and provide or, or don't provide, you know, those were the two options that were presented with. my life now is obviously a lot different than that it's I have the ability to do both I have the ability to do it on my own schedule when I want to and where I want to I spend you know I have conversations with people that you know everyone wants to know what's it like to be you know musician and you know being when you're touring and well do you miss your family and so Well, obviously I miss him when I'm gone, but I'm not gone like that much now.

34:00Luke Combs:Like I guarantee I spend more time with my kids than 90 % of people probably because they're not in school. And if I'm not here with you, I'm there. Like I'm nowhere else basically except for deer season. But other than that, I'm not anywhere else, you know. Like I'm there. And, you know, in a couple of years, they'll be at deer season too. You know what I mean? And so I get to, you know, like when I'm home and like I'm home and I'm not, I'm not splitting my time at home between, okay, well, I've got to do 50 work things today. And, you know, the kids are at school and I don't ever see them. And then I leave and they're, you know, begging me to, you know, play with them for five minutes.

34:45Luke Combs:It's like when I come home, dude, like I'm cooking breakfast, I'm cooking lunch, I'm cooking dinner and like I'm changing diapers, I'm giving baths. Like I'm in it. You know what I mean? Like I'm hands on. I want to be, I want them to know that, you know, at the most critical stages of my career, that they were still the top priority for me. And my parents showed me that in a different way. It was like, hey, we're going to go work these jobs that we don't like so that you can have the best life that you can have. And so I learned that from them. I just get to manifest it in a different way for my kids.

35:22Jay Shetty:Yeah. I like the way you put that. Yeah. Yeah. That for you, for them, it was doing something they didn't like to show you that they're number one out of love. And yours is almost like, I'm actually going to put aside something that I like to show you how important you are. Exactly. It's a, it's a different version of the same sacrifice for sure. Absolutely. From the outside, I'm always fascinated by how things look from the outside and the inside. From the outside, your career, we had this like meteoric rise. What was it like for you? What was the feeling that was actually Yeah. Yeah.

35:53Luke Combs:I mean, it was certainly, but it also felt like it feels like I've been doing it for a year and it feels like I've been doing it for a hundred years at the same time, if that makes any sense. you know tell me about those early years man were really hard you know i mean the music industry has changed so much in the last 11 years um i mean i really have been in it in a in like an official like i've got a record deal like i'm promoting my music and in the in the grand way that it's done now that's only been going on for i mean i guess like this would be year 10 for me probably year nine maybe yeah year nine because of 2017 was my first number one signed my record deal in the fall of 16 and then didn't really ramp it up until like the beginning of 17 um but had been doing stuff on my own for a long time before that um and you know you almost learn more doing that stuff like doing it on your own and you know i wonder if people miss that a little bit now because it's like you, you know, you almost get invited to the table when it's time to be there, you know, instead of like fighting for this spot at the table, like in town.

37:08Luke Combs:Like, I don't know if as many people are like moving to Nashville now, like you almost know if you're going to make it or not now because of social media. And I was one of the first people that did that, not intentionally. I don't want to make myself sound like a genius. I'm not. it's like that I just got I just lucked into that like I had vine came out on this big platform I'm just singing on there and playing little six second covers and then Instagram comes out I'm doing that and I use that as a marketing tool for myself again not in like any way of like this is the future I don't want to be like I predict you know I'm not trying to Steve Jobs it and say I invented iTunes.

37:50Luke Combs:That's not the case. I just lucked into it. It happened to be the perfect time for that, for people to be receptive to that. And now that has become the model. That is the way you do it. So I was just one of, if not the first guy to do that. I wish I could say it was intentional. I just lucked into that really. And so when I moved to town, I had all of these sales numbers, ticket sales that to me, I was like, well, this is normal. Like, this is just how could people not be doing it this way? This is the way it goes. But I moved to Nashville. I don't really know anyone. I have one or two connections to like some buddies that were new in town that wrote songs and didn't have anything else going on.

38:35Luke Combs:And I would just go out to writer's nights and try to meet people. And, you know, I found like minded people and we wrote songs together and then you know one thing turns into another and here we are but i don't know that that happens as much now because if let's say you were a new artist and you go i want to be a country that's my dream well you just get on tiktok or instagram

38:57Jay Shetty:and you write songs at your house and you see how people feel you see how people feel and if all of

39:03Luke Combs:a sudden it becomes this like undeniable thing and then the record labels are calling your house So when you get to Nashville, it's like the culture of that, like the new people in town that are all banded together trying to succeed and do this thing. Like that's kind of not there right now, you know, because why would you now when you could just stay, live at your parents' house and not pay rent and not take any risk? You don't have to go play shows because why would you? It's all an unnecessary risk at this point. And I'm not saying that's right or wrong. everything progresses and changes but I think it has kind of like unintentional consequences and again not that that's inherently wrong it's just the the nature of the beast right now so I'm thankful for that I was of the kind of the last generation like I kind of got to experience both I got to do the social media like get feedback instantaneously create my own space my own community, have my own fans before anyone else got to decide or control that process.

40:09Luke Combs:But I also got to move to Nashville and be a part of a culture that, you know, we created ourselves and IE we being like me and my friends created kind of our own bubble of success that we all came up in together. That was really cool to be a part of. It's one of my favorite parts of my whole story. I mean, my first seven number ones was everyone's first number one song. When my first record was turned into Sony, there was one person on the entire record that even had a publishing deal. Wow. It was just all people I had met at bars and shit and wrote songs with that are now lifelong friends of mine, and people that I still collaborate with to this day.

40:54Luke Combs:Not everyone I'm still super in touch with, but the core crew. It was like people that I like go on trips with and like have around my kids and stuff. You know what I mean? So it's like, that's like, you can't create that artificially. It has to be an organic thing. So I feel sad for some of this generation that may lose that. And they probably have their own community and ecosystem that I'm unaware of that feels just as great as mine. But I long for the like, the nostalgia of that. It's like, I want other people to get to experience that the same way that I did. but they may just be having that same experience in a different lane.

41:31Luke Combs:You know?

41:31Jay Shetty:Yeah.

41:32Luke Combs:At least I'm hopeful that they are.

41:33Jay Shetty:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can relate to a lot of what you're saying because my work, kind of around the same time, 2016 was the year I, again, just like you, no strategy, no technique, just started sharing what I believed and what I cared about on social media. Right. And it took off. So you were 28 at that time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It took off organically. Right. I didn't know where it was going. I didn't have a plan for where I was going. And so I can totally relate to what you're saying about this idea of just putting something out there and you weren't doing it because you thought the platform was going to get you somewhere else.

42:07Jay Shetty:It was just the platform was available.

42:09Luke Combs:The thing that I love about it is it creates no barrier to entry.

42:15Jay Shetty:Totally.

42:16Luke Combs:It's purely what resonates with people. It's strictly talent-based. It's strictly work ethic-based. like it's all based on like how hard are you willing to work how much do you resonate with people what's your music what do people think of your music yeah um so it's cool in that sense and whether it's a podcast or a music or i don't even imagine like or a chef like hey i think of like you know joshua wiseman who's like he starts out putting videos on youtube and he's like now he's like this one of the most influential food creators in the world you know what i mean like It's just so cool that you can create something from nothing on your own accord now.

42:56Luke Combs:And you get to control the narrative of how your career is going to go as opposed to, you know, this kind of nameless, like these nameless people and entities going like, well, you're going to do that and wear that. And, you know, basically they get to, it's great for everybody because there's no risk for the labels in a lot of ways. They don't have to go, well, sign 10 guys and hopefully one of them works out. And they go, now we'll just sign 10 guys and they're all going to work out. Yeah, exactly. Because we know. We just know it's going to work out. It's already proven. We have the proof right there.

43:27Luke Combs:So it's kind of a win-win for everybody in this situation, at least I think. But it's cool, man. It's a cool time.

43:34Jay Shetty:Yeah. There was a moment in your life, you were talking about your family being a priority now, but there was a moment in your life that kind of shifted you back in that direction, right? That made you take a bit of a break.

43:44Luke Combs:I mean, I think it was, I mean, COVID was a big reason for that. Obviously, it was like my career was white hot when COVID happened. And it was kind of like it was a bummer. It was a bummer for a lot of us. You know, a lot of musicians, you know, there's a lot of people that didn't survive the whole COVID thing. You know, like you kind of come in and it's like all of a sudden you're, you know, I can't imagine having been a new artist, like a brand new artist when that happened. because then it's like you kind of only get the one shot. And then if it dwindles at that time, just because of what's happening in the world, like, well, that can be kind of it.

44:22Luke Combs:That was tough. But my family thing, you know, we have our first son, Tex, and then five months later we find out we're pregnant with our next beau. And so that was a whirlwind. I mean, like, you know, you're having a five-month-old, you're figuring out how to be a parent, have a baby, and then all of a sudden you have another baby. You know, you have two babies at the same time, you know. I almost would have rather had twins, would have been an easier transition, to be quite honest. You know what I mean? Like, it was almost more difficult having, like, because then they're at two different ages, but they're both so fragile.

44:57Luke Combs:And, like, I mean, when Bo was born, like, Tex couldn't even walk yet. So it was like, my wife's got one on the hip and one in the cradle. And it's like, I'm out. I'm in Australia when Bo is born. And that's like crushing the devastating things. My whole identity is that no matter what, I'm going to prioritize my wife and my children over my job, over what I do. Like they're my number one priority. I want them to know that. And then here I am having this moment of like, well, guess who wasn't there? like the guy that says he's always going to be there and that will do anything to be there is the only guy that's not there and so it was a huge blow to like it was like man well you set yourself up to do everything you can to be there and then the plan doesn't go the way that you thought it was going to go and it's nobody's fault obviously it's just a way of you know it was the universe's decision at that point I mean he comes two and a half weeks early four days from going home and he decides to show up.

46:05Luke Combs:And everyone's like, what are you going to plan the tour that close? The tour is already planned. The tour is planned before we even find out we're pregnant with Bo. So there's no canceling the tour. It's sold out before we even know we're pregnant. So you have this obligation to your fans to go and do that and put the shows on and power through. And I didn't tell anyone that until after I got home. You know what I mean? Like I kept it to myself because, you know, there was never this big, like I didn't want it to be this big woe is me, like PR campaign of look how sad I am and look how hard it's been.

46:44Luke Combs:I mean, it's kind of what you know that that could happen going in, I think. And so you have a right, you have a duty to your fans to continue the show on, you know. I mean, even if I would have left, I would have not been home. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I woke up. Yeah, you wouldn't have made it in time. Right. It's 8 a.m. Sydney time. My wife texts me 6 a.m. Sydney time or whatever. I don't even know what that time zone is called, but 6 a.m. So I wake up two hours after the text of like, I'm going to the hospital. Obviously call her first thing. She's in the hospital. I mean, thank God my sister-in-law was there.

47:21Luke Combs:My mother-in-law was fine in that day. My parents lived in town. So the support system was there. And for that, I am eternally grateful. You know, it brings serious perspective to the it takes a village kind of thing. You know, I can't imagine if my wife would have been alone during that thing, it would have been even more crushing. But knowing that she had people that she trusted and cared about being around was a huge relief for me. it didn't make it any easier but it was better um and so that really shifted my focus of like what happens from here like how do i make you know how do i make changes based on this thing like i dread the conversation with my son at some point like because obviously he doesn't know that he's two and a half like he's not even gonna understand that for five years you know but i dread that conversation of being like you know well dad you you know you made this record about being such a good dad and then you weren't there when I was born, but you were there for Tex and you were there for the next kid.

48:23Luke Combs:And why was I the only one that you weren't there for? So I worry about that a lot. Interesting. And I think that it will be okay, but I haven't quite yet processed when to have that conversation, obviously not anytime soon. But when I do have that conversation, how do I, you know, say that to a seven or eight year old and it be meaningful? I think it's bigger than one conversation. It's not like, Hey, I wasn't there. Get over it. That's it. We're not talking about it. You know, it's, it's more nuanced than that. I'm sure it will be a lifetime of, you know, conversations and, um, I'm hopeful that he'll be understanding.

49:04Luke Combs:I'm sure that he will if I do my job right and my wife does her job right, I think he will be. If he turns out to be a good person the way that I hope that he does.

49:14Jay Shetty:What do you think you'd say?

49:15Luke Combs:I'd probably just break the news, you know. I think the first conversation is going to be, I want to tell you before you find out first. I think that's the most important thing is getting ahead of, you know, I don't want him to one day, you know, have access to the internet and come across this thing and it's, you know, Luke Combs misses the birth of his child to be at the show. And then he's like, well, I didn't know that. Which child is it? And then it's like, oh, it was me. Why did he ever tell me? You know, I think that avoiding that is like number one. So I think that's the first conversation you kind of like let that like wash, the shock a little bit of that like wash over him.

49:59Luke Combs:and then I think there's a follow-up conversation which is hey you know like you know I would do anything for you you know I would have given anything to be there but like even if I make the best effort I can like there there's no way I would have been there like he was born at by 10 a.m. and like two at two hours after I wake up he's born so like I wouldn't even have been able to like get a plane and be at the airport yet and he would have been born already so um it's not like i tried and didn't make it it was like there was no way that i was going to make it and so i think i'm like mentally like past the guilt of it now um like because i beat myself up about it for a while i couldn't even talk about it for a while without getting super emotional about it and i think you just have to move forward and you just have to you just you just have to you know cross that bridge when you come to it and I'm lucky to still have you know to be five years older or five years wiser you know when that conversation has to happen and have had more time to process and think about it but I mean it's the nature of the beast man like yeah you know and if you work at the butcher shop you're probably going to get blood on you when you're when you're at work or you're probably going to come home smelling like raw meat you know what You kind of knew that going in.

51:20Luke Combs:It's not like you knew it could happen, you hoped it wouldn't, and it did. And so now you just have to live with it and deal with it and address it and not let it become an issue.

51:28Jay Shetty:Yeah. In Days Like These, you sing, when the sky is blue and the grass is green, how much better can it be? If I got you and you got me, we got everything we need. And even if it grew on trees, well, money can't buy Days Like These. And you talk about money in that song and in Rich Man as well. and how money can't buy happiness. How do you define a rich life?

51:54Luke Combs:This is always such a tough subject for me because I think there's no hiding that I do really well. And that's something that I have some guilt around. Not guilt from having money or having success. I feel like it's a question of why do I deserve it more than maybe someone else? I don't deserve it more than anyone else. But you feel this guilt of like, I almost feel, it's not an imposter syndrome. It's not the same as that. But like, you feel like, man, well, I just, I feel like I have more than I deserve or I don't deserve to have been this successful or you feel guilty for being this successful.

52:36Luke Combs:And you kind of get this feeling like, well, I, maybe people like can't relate to me anymore. And like, I hate that because like, I haven't changed other than the circumstances of my life now. At least I think that I would like to think that everyone around me would agree with that. So I hope I'm not sounding like egotistical by saying that. But like, I would, I would be willing to bet that a lot of the people that know me well would say, it's the same guy with a different, different bank account. and so those songs are even difficult I find it a little bit like cliche for me to even say that and I danced around putting rich man on this record because I was worried about sounding hypocritical right because the whole idea of the song is a guy in a bar who's basically supposed the character his character is supposed to be a farmer right like the narrator of that song is It's not supposed to be me.

53:38Luke Combs:It's supposed to just be a guy who's in a bar and he sees two other guys having a conversation. And it's basically a guy in overalls who is supposed to be, in my eyes when we wrote it, was a farmer or whatever. You know, older guy and then a younger guy who's kind of in a suit. You know, he's doing the whole business guy thing and he's stressed out about the stock market. He's stressed out about work and all these things. And, you know, the farmer just kind of gives him this allegory in the song of like, you know, hey, rich man, you know, I know you didn't ask, but I'll say this, man, all the money in the world don't mean shit, man, because it can't go with you when you die, buy you time or hold your wife and kids hands.

54:21and for me I'm very aware of how much better my life is by having things that I have and I'm

54:31Luke Combs:cognizant of that and I'm not trying to hide that I'm very grateful for that and appreciative of it and I'm aware of you know that it makes me it can make me sound hypocritical in that sense and I I tussled with that a lot when putting the song on this record because I didn't want people to be like, look at this big blowhard telling me how to, you know, think about my life or whatever. Like, I'm not trying to tell anybody how to feel in any way on that song or on this record. And I think for me, though, there are these moments in life where I am, you know, you say the sky's blue, grass is green.

55:09Luke Combs:I remember that day. Tex was a baby and we're living in our house like an hour from Nashville at that time. We've since moved and it was just beautiful outside. And it was like, my beautiful wife is there and my kid is there and my career is going really well. And I'm just really thankful. It's almost just like, there are these days to me that like, you can't put your finger on like why they're so great. You're still surrounded by the things that you have and the people that you love in the same way that you were yesterday and the same way that you will be the next day. But it's like everything just lines up and it's like you just, you're almost on this like high of life.

55:51Luke Combs:Like it's the birds are singing and the temperature, you know, it's, you know, it's like the weather's like that every day here, by the way. You know, I forget it's January. Yeah, it's spectacular. Yeah, it's unbelievable. And it's like, you know, it's like these bluebird days and, you know, your family, everything's just hitting on the same wavelength length for what I don't really even know how to describe it, but that was my mindset writing days like these. It wasn't about I live in a nice house or I have this thing. It was like it wouldn't have mattered where we were or what we were doing.

56:23Luke Combs:It was just everything in the universe lined up that day for it to be like this perfect day. And it's not the first one I've had and it's not the last one I'll have. But damn it if they aren't few and far between and damn it if I didn't wish they came around more often, you know, and you just, I love those days and they're so rare and they're just that song to me totally captured that moment in time so perfectly, you know, and I just love those days. And I think that there's nothing that I owned or nothing that I bought or nothing that I could buy or nothing that I could do that could recreate that feeling.

57:01Luke Combs:So regardless of the situation that I'm in now, there's no doubt that that money helps with those things. There's no doubt. I don't want to sound like, I was like, well, it don't matter if you got, that's the bridge of the song rich man is, you know, I, I say that in the bridge of that song is like, well, you know, it ain't no secret having money's nice, you know, but making a living don't make a life, you know, and I believe that. And I know that's easy for me to say, so I don't want anyone to out there to think that I'm, you know, discounting the fact that I have, have it way better than a lot of people.

57:37Luke Combs:I'm painfully aware of that. And I struggle with that to be quite honest. Yeah.

57:42Jay Shetty:I appreciate you saying that part of just, you know, how you can walk around, especially when beautiful things happen to you and you totally, I couldn't agree with you more that it's not that you don't want to have beautiful things happen to you. You just want it to happen to a lot more people for sure and and you want beautiful things to happen to everyone around you you want beautiful things to happen to strangers that you've never met because that's that's the joy of it it's only beautiful if right more and more people get a

58:10Luke Combs:hundred percent a hundred percent yeah you know it is man it's a it's a crazy world out there man it's hard it's hard man it's really really hard you know and uh you you know when you're in you other position, God's like, us are in, man. Like we're so lucky, you know, and you just have to, like, I do everything in my power to, to give that feeling back to other people, whether it's people that work with me or giving money to charity or whatever it may be, or volunteering, me going to sing at something like any way I can give back. I always try to do that at any chance that I have, because that's just something that my mother instilled at me at a young age.

58:47Luke Combs:You know, we, I grew up working at the food bank in Asheville. She would take me over there and we would work at the food bank. And, you know, she's explaining what this is and what this place is. And, you know, that at the time made me like, wow, man, like, you know, this makes me really thankful for, you know, everything we got. And, you know, I can't imagine going home and opening up the cabinet. There's nothing in there. You know, there's no, it's not even a can of corn in there. You know, I couldn't imagine that feeling. And so she, she forced me to do that when I was younger. And I'm thankful for that because, you know, she's still doing things like that.

59:21Luke Combs:You know, she still goes out and works at the, you know, at the animal shelter, at the food bank in Nashville. And, you know, I got to go from that to, you know, after Helene, you know, that ravaged the part of the country that I grew up in. And when we put on the benefit concert in Charlotte, my portion of the proceeds, part of my portions of the proceeds rebuilt the entire food bank that I worked at growing up. It was completely destroyed, like completely gone. And I got to watch my success and influence have the ability to do something that great and rebuild their entire facility. and that is like something that's, you can't even put words on.

1:00:10Luke Combs:And like the amount of pride I have in that is immense, you know, like my most proud moment of my career from here on out and forever will be, you know, the show that we did that night and getting to see these charities send me videos and emails and here's what we did and here's how this worked and here's how this happened. And it's just cool to get to be a part of that, you know, and it's not, I don't come at it from, it's not like an egotistical pursuit. It's just like, you get to like, watch the money that you raised, you get to watch, you know, people be directly impacted by these things that we got to do.

1:00:49Luke Combs:And I, I owe all that to my team, you know, I owe all that to everyone else. Like I always say, Like I'm the guy that works the least amount. Like I have the easiest job in the whole thing. Like I think, obviously I do a lot of things. I'm in a lot of places. I go to a lot of different things and I'm constantly working. But when you love it, it doesn't feel that way. And I'm just grateful for everyone else on my team that allows me, you know, they're, you know, they get to be a billboard for me when they're out, you know, meeting. Even if I'm in there, you know, getting touched up before this thing and they're talking to you and you're like, man, well, these people are nice.

1:01:29Luke Combs:So I really do believe it's top down. You know, I try to be great and give my team the ability to be great because we work in a good environment. We respect each other. And that transfers, man. And people can feel that. People can feel that energy when you're around. And that's my biggest point of pride is when we're at a show, whether it's the stadium or we're going and doing a club gig for, you know, we did, we played a club gig last year, first time in five years. And it was wild. It's like 850 people in the Georgia Theater in Athens and like a venue we used to play. And like it felt like the biggest venue in the world.

1:02:07Luke Combs:and you go back and when I'm walking through the halls backstage or whatever, like even the people working the doors are like, they'll say to me, your team is the best team we've ever worked with. Like everyone was so kind and so gracious and they communicated so well and they're all professional and they were all in great spirits. And like, to me, that is like, that's the legacy I want to leave behind. It's like, sure, I had a lot of success. sure I had a bunch of hit records and sold a lot of tickets and sold a lot of t-shirts or whatever but all that be damned like you know my headstone you know here lies good man good dad good husband good friend good son good boss like that's the things that I want to be remembered for and so I live every day trying to make those happen to the best of my ability

1:03:06you

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1:05:59Jay Shetty:i saw a video of you starting a concert or at one point in a concert basically saying guys i'm not feeling well today i'm still going to do the show but we're going to give you a refund and i'm like dude you did the show like it was like you showed up yeah you did the show but you didn't you were like i'm not gonna be my best or something like that yeah i was like wow that's

1:06:22Luke Combs:amazing yeah i remember is i was uh it was in maine is where it was that's it yeah we did two

1:06:28Jay Shetty:nights in bangor maine and the first night that show was great run of the mill show which and by

1:06:34Luke Combs:run of the mill i mean we had a great time it's great it's fun we got buddies in town but the particular that venue is wonderful by the way um and we were backstage and they have great like They have a fire pit going and they're bringing you out food and like all the employees are so nice. And it's just a great atmosphere to hang out in. And so we had some friends in town and, you know, up having some cocktails, but we were all outside. I'm talking two or three times as loud as I normally was because we're playing music. We're having some drinks. We're staying up late. And the next day I wake up and I'm like, man, my voice is like just a little like it's just a little rough.

1:07:15Luke Combs:You know, like not my worst morning I've had, like by a long shot. And I know I've done that enough times to know how it goes and know how it's progressing. And so as the day went on, I'm like, I'm like, well, man, this isn't like progressing the way it normally does. Like it doesn't feel like it's getting much better. So I don't know, I guess maybe around two or three o 'clock I call my manager and I'm like, hey, this ain't going so hot. I'm starting to get a little bit worried because we have the show tonight. And I said, could you, and I've done this maybe twice ever. Once was in Australia.

1:07:50Luke Combs:This was the second time. I said, I was like, I need to get a steroid shot to do the show tonight. And I hate doing that. If you're any kind of singer, you should not get those because they're horrible for your voice in the long run. Don't, it's not something you should be doing a lot. It should be an absolute emergency parachute situation, which it was for me because I'm like, well, everyone's here. I get the steroid shot. I'm like, okay, I'm going to be good. I'm going to get through this. A couple hours goes by. I go to do my warmups. I do my warmups. Let's say we're on at nine. I'll do my warmups at eight.

1:08:26Luke Combs:It's 20 minutes, 25 minutes. And then I'll join the band and we all hang out and have some drinks, get together, whatever. And I get five minutes into my warmup. And obviously, I mean, everyone's already played, dude. Like the first to three is played, direct support's already done. Like people are just waiting for me to come out at this point. I get five minutes into my warmup and I call my manager. I'm like, dude, I'm not gonna be able to sing tonight. And he was like, what do you mean? I was like, I don't know, man, steroid shot. Like it didn't work. Like it worked the first time I got it. I was like, it didn't work.

1:09:00Luke Combs:It didn't do enough. Like I physically am not going to be able to do it enough. And so we were having conversations. Well, what's the options? You know, he's like, well, he's like, well, we'll just cancel We're just, that's what we do. And I was like, no, dude, that's what everyone else does. Like, we're not doing that. Like, I'm not, these people are here, dude. Like this is, those concerts, man, like concerts are expensive. And I'm aware of that. Like I have so much respect for how hard people work and things they sacrifice to come and see me play because I used to be one of those people. You know, I would work all summer to save up to go see one concert.

1:09:35Luke Combs:And it was a big event, It wasn't just, oh, this is the thing I'm doing tomorrow. It was like, I'm building my whole summer around this one night, you know? And I know there's hundreds of people, thousands of people, you know, a thousand yards away from me that have done the same thing. And I can't live with the idea that they are going to be let down. And they're sure as hell I'm not going to be let down by somebody else that isn't me. So I told Cappy, I said, listen, dude, I said, I'm going out there and I'm telling him. And he's like, what do you mean? And I'm like, I'm going out there and I'm telling them on the microphone that I can't do the show.

1:10:12Luke Combs:And I said, me and the band, we'll play for an hour. I said, we'll play all the hits. I'll sing the best I can, but like, we're just going to refund everybody's money. And he's like, I'm in dude. Like whatever, whatever you want to do, let's do it. You know? And he's, who cares about the money? Like, doesn't matter. We'll get, we'll all refund it. So go out. and usually we have like you know there's the big intro song and like the video and all that stuff i'm like we gotta kill this dude like we're not doing the hype up video and then i'm walking out telling them i'm not playing yeah so i walk out i remember being like so somber and like my heart rate is just through the roof i'm like so nervous because i've never done anything like this before and i remember saying it like hey guys i'm not gonna be able to do the show tonight and it's like just raining down booze, man.

1:10:59Luke Combs:Like it's just, people are brutalizing me. And like, as I feel like they have the right to do, like I would be pissed too, right? Like Mr. Big Time comes out here and tells me he's not going to do the thing or whatever. And I go, but wait, I was like, before you guys get upset, like I'm still, we're still going to play the show. It's just not going to be as good as I feel like it needs to be for me to take money from you and use it for the betterment of my life or my team. Like you deserve, you know, you spend all this money to be here and you've got hotel rooms and babysitters and like, I can't make that right.

1:11:34Luke Combs:So I still want to give you the show. I'm just not going to take the money from the tickets. Like, and I'll just, so this is just free show, but it's just not going to be as good of a show as I feel like you deserve for all the sacrifices that you've made to be here. And we played for probably an hour, hour 15, and we played all the hits and I sang the best I could and the crowd sang. And it was a really cool night. It was really stressful. And man, I got to give it up to my fans. Like a lot of fans reached out to me and they were like, hey man, I donated my refund. Because like we loved the show and we thought it was still great.

1:12:13Luke Combs:And we appreciate you being a stand-up guy. And we just felt like it was wrong to take the refund. Now, not everybody did that and I can understand that. I wouldn't be mad if nobody donated their refund, you know. But then we came back, I think it was two years later, we came back, like scheduling was crazy, but we came back and did a night there. We were like doing stadiums and then we came back and did the little amphitheater in Banger. And it was cool, man. That's awesome. Great story. Great, it's turned into a great story. I was very stressed about that.

1:12:44Jay Shetty:Oh, I can imagine. I can imagine, but that's awesome. I'm so glad you told me that story because I just saw the clit like on social media that I'd seen. And I thought, wow, that's incredible. But now to hear the backstory behind it. I mean, you know, earlier you were talking about your wife. You've been together for 10 years now, thereabouts. It's mine and my wife's 10-year wedding anniversary this year. We've been together 13 years. That's awesome. And so it's fun when you've lived that life with someone. How did you guys meet? We met.

1:13:11Luke Combs:She actually was living in Nashville. I was living in Nashville. We had met in passing a few times. um not not many not more than five minutes here and there like but we kind of had some of the same friend group like you know think of like the venn diagram there's like a couple people in the middle you know we all know different folks and stuff so met like that and uh she worked at b uh bmi which is a huge i'm sure you know what that is for those of you that don't the performance rights organization that um you know just collects and distributes royalties to songwriters and that's how they get paid for the most part.

1:13:49Luke Combs:There's a few organizations that do it. BMI is the biggest one and she was working there at the time. She did kind of like specialized like HR work there. BMI also puts on a songwriting festival in Key West. The Nashville branch puts on one in Key West and it's called the BMI Key West Songwriters Festival. It's every year, so much fun. So their whole office like shuts down. I mean, it's like I can't tell me how many people work there, probably in the hundreds. And they all just kind of go to the Keys and help out with events or just hang out or whatever, you know. It's not like a stressful work week.

1:14:28Luke Combs:And, you know, maybe it is for one or two people, but the rest of them are kind of chilling and having a good time. And so they invite around 200 songwriters down there, all like kind of in the country space. And it's cool because BMI, you know, they foot the bill for your flight. They put you up in a hotel. Like it's an all expense kind of paid like trip to Key West and you play a couple songwriters rounds and fans come and it's really fun. It's really killer. Like if you love country music, if you love songwriting, you have to go. It's really, really great. So it was my first year going to that.

1:15:00Luke Combs:I was probably the last guy picked to go. I have no publishing deal, no record deal. And my buddy Channing Wilson, who is fantastic, he was going down there. I remember me and him were having lunch and he was like, he's like, man, why don't you come down to Key West, dude? And I was like, well, it's like I didn't get invited, you know. So he called up his rep at BMI. I was like, hey, I'm eating lunch with this Luke Holmes guy. And I had had a meeting over there with them. I was there. And they were like, yeah, man, like he can just run with you or whatever. So I was like, hell yes. I was pumped up.

1:15:32Luke Combs:Get down there, run into her at an event and kind of hung out like for the evening with friends and stuff, like spent a couple hours together, um, hanging with friends and stuff. And then once I came home, we made plans to get together like a couple of weeks, like a couple of weeks after I got home, uh, we ended up staying in touch via text or whatever and made some plans to, um, made some plans to get together. And you should been dating ever since, man. Like it was just crazy. You know what I mean? Like she didn't have any reason to think I was cool at all, man. Like I was wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts when I ran into her and it was like, she was like working two jobs, like making a killing and I got like nothing going on at all.

1:16:19Luke Combs:Um, she just thought I was cool for whatever reason. So I thought that was pretty awesome. So, um, it worked out, man. And it was great. Cause she's been there with me, you know, since the beginning, um, and, you know, seen me through a lot and, you know, we made it through the whole rise together and all the craziness together. And, um, she's the best dude. I mean, you know, I mean, she really is like, I just can't imagine, like, I wouldn't be here without her. You know, I'd have, there's 10 hit songs that I wouldn't have written, you know, because I wrote them about her, you know? Um, so I'm very, very thankful for her, man.

1:16:51Luke Combs:And she's a great mom and she's a great wife and a great friend and, um, she's just a great person. So I'm very blessed to have that like connection with her, man. Like that's been a huge, huge positive light in my life. Like having her is, you know, she's one of the biggest reasons for my success. Certainly. How did you know she was the one? It's funny as you say this, like everyone's like, well, it's like, oh, well, you know, like immediately, like it's for love at first sight kind of thing. And, you know, I think that sometimes maybe does a disservice to the seriousness of like a relationship of like the level that me and my wife have.

1:17:31Luke Combs:We have grown together. You know, we have become adults together. We've become parents together. We've lived together. Like that's not something that happens overnight. Like sure, there are those feelings, like those inherent feelings of like lust or attraction. like I think sometimes that people can confuse that for like this love at first sight thing and they're like this is the person that I have to be with because I'm so attracted to them and like sure the physical connection is really necessary but the emotional connection I think we forget sometimes in today's day and age that that is like it's like a plant dude it's not something that that grows up overnight, dude.

1:18:16Luke Combs:Like it's something that takes nurturing. It takes, you know, you got to water it. You got to trim it. You got to like, you'd have to be doing maintenance to this thing. And when you do that together, you grow better together, you know? And there is no, like, this is when I knew, like, I knew that I was very attracted to her and I knew that she was a great person and I knew that I wanted to spend more and more and more time with her every time I spent time with her. And so I would say that like it just, there was never any moment where I was like, maybe this isn't the person I should be with. You know what I mean?

1:18:53Luke Combs:She never, she never gave me that. There was never this thought of like, well, maybe this isn't, you know, it was like, there was never any questioning it. So maybe I do, did always know, But maybe I just wasn't smart enough to see that at the time. But I think the connection that we've grown over the years is the beautiful part of it, you know, and it's like it only gets better with time. It's like wine or something, you know what I mean? Like it's probably pretty good right out of the barrel. But then when it's, you know, 10 years old, it's a whole different story. And then 20 years old and 30 and 40 and so on and so forth.

1:19:30Luke Combs:It's, it's a really cool thing, man. And it's, it's a blessing to get to, to get to experience life with somebody in that way and have somebody to share your triumphs with and your, the peaks and the valleys and all of these difficult things. Like my OCD stuff, she's very supportive of all that. And it's like, she's always supporting me. she's never bringing me down you know what i mean like she doesn't take no shit for me that's important as well but it's like but that's cool to me man like it's you know i don't want somebody that's willing to just do whatever i say all the time that's not i don't want to get it twisted that that's the way it is because it ain't that like she's the boss bro like she is the boss and i like that's cool to me man like i like that like i like her being like getting her advice on like songs or getting her advice on merch.

1:20:21Luke Combs:Like she has such an eye for that so much more so than I do. And like, we've done all these cool like merch collections where it's like the Luke and Nicole thing. It's like her deal. And she does the photo shoots and like, she's doing all the merch and like letting her like, I can, I just trust her implicitly with that, like with not just with me as a man and as a husband, but like, even with my brand and like my business and like, she's not someone that like I'm ever worried about like embarrassing me or like you know what I mean and not that she ever even could but like it's just like having this high level of like trust and respect for her I like to think that she has that for me too but it's nice on my end to to have that and feel that it's a very comforting thing to know it's like you know when you go home there's this person that's like regardless of everything else is like on your team no matter what you know

1:21:18Jay Shetty:and that's that's cool what did she see in you before you saw it in yourself brother i got no

1:21:23Luke Combs:idea i got no idea if i knew i'd be selling it how about that if i knew what it was man i would be borrowing it up and putting it on the internet um you could amazon it right now if i knew what it was because there's some magic that's the new thing yeah dude nicole's potion yeah luke's whatever it was dude i tell you what it wasn't uh it wasn't my model like figure by any chance by any stretch of the imagination um i don't know you know i i haven't really considered that i've thought about it a bunch of times like i'm just like oh gosh i don't know like i remember i remember my dad saying to me one time like i think i had this crush on like a girl in high school or something.

1:22:05Luke Combs:I was kind of like asking my dad for like advice on it. And I was like, man, like, I just like, I'm like, this is kind of cool or whatever. I'm like, why is this going on? He's like, I'll never forget this. He was like, Hey, sometimes son, you just don't ask questions. And it was like, okay. When it was like, when it comes to that stuff, I'm like, maybe I don't want to know. You know what I mean? I'm just like, whatever, you know? and so I just think sometimes when things are good you don't really have to know why yeah um you know I think you can you know then you can maybe you can ruin something like that I don't I'm not sure but um I don't know I mean I think that you know I like to think maybe that she could tell that I'm a good person yeah I think and um you know I think that you know now she knows that you know I've got her back she's got mine you know she you know her and the kids are number one and, like, I'm doing stuff for them.

1:23:02Luke Combs:But obviously that wasn't happening when we met. Like, it wasn't like we had kids together, you know. But I think, you know, I think she could just tell, like, well, maybe this guy is, like, different than other guys that I've met. I'm not sure, you know. Maybe she dated a bunch of losers. I don't know. You know what I mean? I mean, I'm not sure, you know. But, no, she's rad, dude, but I don't know. Does she ever roast you? Bro, all the time. Yeah, my wife roasts me all the time. All the time. All the time. She rips me apart, and it's awesome.

1:23:33Jay Shetty:What would you say if she was here and she was roasting you? What would you say?

1:23:36Luke Combs:I'm trying to think.

1:23:37Jay Shetty:What would she tell the people?

1:23:38Luke Combs:She's like, she picks on, she's like, you're nerdy. She's like, you're definitely a nerd. She definitely thinks I'm nerdy. I like to play video games, and she's like, oh, God. She lets me do it. She's like, do whatever you want, but she's like, I'm not. You're a nerd. I'm not going to not call you a nerd while you're playing video games. That's funny. You know what I mean? It's like, it's just that kind of stuff, man. She just doesn't let me get away with anything, you know, in a good way, in a playful way, you know. For real, though, don't let me get away with nothing either. But, like, she can also be super playful.

1:24:10Luke Combs:Yeah, yeah. She knows herself, man. She's so confident in herself. And she's so confident in, like, in us and our family. And, like, I think that's really cool and it's really attractive, man, to, like, have someone that is so confident in themselves. And I've learned a ton from her, man. And I've learned a ton about, you know, being just, you know, proud of who I am and, you know, having, you know, these kind of strong convictions and not being afraid to speak your mind and not being afraid to say the things that you, you know, the things that you believe in and share your opinions. I mean, you know, I was, I was not as apt to do that until I met her and she helped me, you know.

1:24:50Luke Combs:So also the thing, this is a sleeper pick for a favorite thing about her. I wasn't a picky eater, as you can probably tell. I was not a picky eater growing up. But I was a little bit. If I didn't like something, I was completely out on it. I'm like, don't like it. Mushrooms, hate it. Mustard, hate it. There was a lot of things that I didn't like. And she really was like, you ought to try stuff. You know what I mean? Like, you're just kind of like, she's like, mushrooms are good and mustard is good. And I'm like, no, it's terrible. I've hated it since I was a kid. And, you know, it's just a little, I don't know, that's such a funny thing to like pick out.

1:25:33Luke Combs:But like, mushrooms are like probably one of my top five favorite foods ever now. And like, I would have probably never tried them if it wasn't for her. And I love mustard now. all these things like and it's just that's a small example of a bigger picture of like she's just helped me become more confident in myself and challenging me and pushing me to do things that are hard and pushing me to do and encouraging me to do things that are difficult that normally i would have you know faltered at before and um she's just like you know she's she's like she's my homie dude you know she's the best i love that i look forward to meeting her yeah She sounds awesome.

1:26:14Luke Combs:She is. She sounds awesome. Yeah.

1:26:16Jay Shetty:You, you sing in your song, the way I am, I'm sorry, baby. I really tried to change. It's like, there's something broken in my brain. The more I try to fix it, the less I understand, but you still love me just the way I am. And I'm like, it's like,

1:26:29Luke Combs:yeah, that song rips, man. I didn't write that song. And that's why I love it so much. It's like that statement. So perfectly fits, you know, a lot of the themes of my life, the OCD stuff, you know? Um, and, that was a friend of mine wrote that with another another great songwriter in Nashville and when I heard it it was just it was so sonically different than anything that's coming out of town right now I mean there's nothing like that song going out right now it's a very stereotypical country sound but probably from 40 years ago and that's kind of what drew me to it is like it just felt like this kind of moment that was unexpected not just from me but from anyone really it's very slow it's way too long it's got a just straight up steel guitar solo like old steel guitar not like cool steel guitar like that's in like you know some like poppy song like it is like straight up like tears like some george jones would be singing you know and not that i'm that but it's like lyrically i resonated with it so much already and then sonically it was just so different it was like, I mean, it felt like an absolute like layup of a song to do.

1:27:43Luke Combs:I just felt like, I feel like it's going to be a big moment for people. And I think that that's why ultimately I chose that song as the title for this record is it, it just like, you know, it's just, it really does just that that's, I'm so okay with the way that I am now, honestly, at risk of sounding ironic, you know, um, it's like I, at 35, I obviously don't have life all the way figured out, but I'm as comfortable, if not more comfortable in my skin than I've ever been. I feel like my mental health is way higher than it's ever been. My mindset, my outlook, um, is all so great. And I just, you know, I have so many people to thank for that.

1:28:30Luke Combs:Um, you know, my wife, obviously my kids have helped a ton. And just great friends, great teammates, great band members, great, you know, collaborators and great, you know, everybody just does so much for me, you know, and, and that's kind of, you know, that's made me into the way that I am, you know, and that's just that title in and of itself, really, I felt like encapsulated, you know, the message I was trying to say with this album is, you know, this is, this is where I am now, whether that's musically or as a person. And I'm just excited. I'm excited for people to hear this record. I haven't done like a commercial project in like almost four years now.

1:29:11Luke Combs:And it's time. And I just, you know, I hope it's as received as I want it to be. And if it's not, it's okay, you know. But you just have to put, you know, what you feel like is your best foot forward. And you just have to be willing to live with the results of that no matter what. And I'm more okay with that now than I've ever been.

1:29:32Jay Shetty:And that going away for four years was important. It was.

1:29:35Luke Combs:Yeah. And it was like, you know, it's not like I retired, but it was like we really backed the touring stuff down. Like last year, I didn't have my own tour for the first time in ever since I started. And that was weird. It was really fun because all we did was these big festivals, you know, and so the festivals are fun. They're a different challenge than especially the stuff we did this year. You know, we did Bonnaroo, La Palooza, Newport Folk Festival, Austin City Limits, like crowds that we would normally never step in front of. And so I was I really looked forward to that challenge, you know, getting with my band leader and making set lists that were different for every one of these shows.

1:30:17Luke Combs:And how do we how do we meet this crowd in the middle? you know what I mean like as much as I there was to half the set I wanted to come out and kick the door down and play honky-tonk shit like country stuff like I wanted to do that and we did that but I also wanted to say I'm also willing to meet you where you're at a little bit and like help you understand not just me but that our genre in general is is not just this stereotype of it's It's not some caricature of like this thing. It's like, it's like, it's something that you can love too. And maybe you don't know that. And maybe tonight is not the night that you fully understand that.

1:31:01Luke Combs:But hopefully tonight makes you even be at the inception of maybe I could love country music. And maybe in 20 years, we're finally where I think we need to be. Not exclusively because of me, but that moment helps a couple people have that epiphany. or experience and, and, you know, the betterment of the genre is something that is really important to me, you know, and, and letting people know it's like, Hey man, like we're here, like, we're like, we're more popular than we've ever been now. And it ain't stopping anytime soon. And I want to do my part to be a part of that future and help out the genre.

1:31:43Luke Combs:Like in, regardless of what that means for me personally are my success. You know, I mean, a lot of those shows, I lost money doing those shows. I took a lot less money than I usually would to get the slot because I wanted to be able to go and do that. I hope some people felt that on those nights, but they were a lot of fun. We sure enjoyed them. And the crowds were just amazingly, like, welcoming and warm, which was really cool, man, because I was nervous, you know, like, not nervous, like, oh I don't want to go out there but just like gosh man like man like you could really fall on your face out here and it would be tough night if like it doesn't go well you know like if you're not well received headline and also city limits like that'd be tough or like you come out in Bonnaroo and you're headlining and it's like people aren't into it be pretty crushing night it could be like a pretty crushing night if it doesn't go well you know so I but I at least everyone made me feel like they went well and maybe they didn't but i felt like my perception was that they went really well and i enjoyed it yeah dude i can relate because i get asked to

1:32:50Jay Shetty:teach meditation in all these places like random places that you wouldn't expect this i did i did a meditational main stage at bonnaroo a few years back yeah and everyone was just like wanting the main act to come out and it's like you're having to get everyone into a zone before they experience the thing they want to experience and it's like the pressure of that and thankfully it went okay It wasn't, you know, everyone, everyone, everyone was surprisingly quiet. It was impressive. Wow. Uh, but it was, you know, it, I, I, my world's very different to yours, but it's that same pressure of just like, how do you get people at this music festival to be quiet?

1:33:26Jay Shetty:To have this moment. It's like the opposite, but.

1:33:28Luke Combs:It's like the antithesis of why they're there. Totally.

1:33:30Jay Shetty:But when people do it, what's fascinating when it's worked is the music that comes after it. Everyone's senses are like ready for it because they've gone so.

1:33:40Luke Combs:It almost gives them a moment to like reset. Totally. It's like sniffing the coffee beans at Yankee Candle before you smell the other candle. You know what I mean? You're like, I've smelled all these great candles and now I don't even know what this candle smells like. So you have the, you're the coffee beans. Yeah, I'm the coffee bean. That no one knows they need. And then they smell them and they're like, I'm glad I smelled those coffee beans. That's how I'm going to explain it.

1:34:00Jay Shetty:Next time I'm going to stay, that's what I'm going to say.

1:34:02Luke Combs:Dude, here comes your coffee endorsement right here.

1:34:04Jay Shetty:Yeah, I'm the coffee bean. I love that. It's common, dude. That's awesome. It's common, yeah.

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1:37:07Jay Shetty:because everyone said how much fun you were we were like we'll put together a fun game for you we do this for special guests okay so this one was done for you this game is called the everyday guy test so we're gonna see whether you fail or pass the test honestly it's awful fun uh i'm just putting it out there right now that i would fail this test so yeah so here we go the everyday guy test at a restaurant do you order tap or filter water let me tell you what i didn't grow up going

1:37:37Luke Combs:to restaurants where they even asked what kind of there was no water choice like that to me that's a whole new world for me yeah um but they they're like they'll come up and they're like was it do is tap okay or like or bottled or still or i'm like how many choices are there how many waters do you have, you know? It's like, would you like it boxed or bottled or decanted and like, like just water would be great. I usually, my answer to that question is whatever's easiest for you. Whatever's the easiest. To me, it's just all water. I'm not a guy that's of the belief that like 9.5 pH water is going to make a difference, to be quite honest.

1:38:19Luke Combs:And it probably does. And that may be my downfall at some point. But I'm like, hey, whatever makes your night less of a hassle for me. I love that. Just give me that. I'm fine with it. I love that. First thing you can grab, get it, and I'll drink it.

1:38:34Jay Shetty:I love it. Regular milk or almond milk?

1:38:37Luke Combs:Regular milk. I do like an almond milk. I have no beef with an almond milk. But I do, I would say probably if I had to choose regular milk, man, you're not going to beat the creaminess of it.

1:38:50Jay Shetty:All right. This one I was cracking up at when the team put it in there. Do you tip based on math or vibes?

1:38:56Luke Combs:Uh, oh, vibes for sure, dude. Vibes for sure. I'm an over-tipper. I'm like an over-tipper. I'm one of those. I'm like, I'm like, yeah, like we go to a nice meal, a hundred bucks, like great. Like, you know, depending upon the place, of course, but it's like, I always try to over-tip, man. I'm just grateful for anybody, you know, that works in the service industry. I, you know, I know how difficult it is. um, you know, dealing with the public and not everybody's so great. Not that I'm so great, but I try to just be, you know, it's just another version of like passing along the blessings that you have to someone else and being grateful.

1:39:32Jay Shetty:You're winning right now, man. This is amazing. You'll be, you'll be in this game. Like this game is, this game is losing guys. Uh, let's, let's do a few more. Uh, last time you went to the grocery store.

1:39:44Luke Combs:Uh, last week. Okay. I go every

1:39:46Jay Shetty:week at least twice a week choice of grocery stores there uh okay you're gonna like this one

1:39:51Luke Combs:i like a public's it's the closest one to me in the same shopping center i got a sprouts nice so if i'm going like if i'm going strictly food i'm probably going to sprouts uh paper goods diet coke yeah i'm going to public's you know what i mean i love a public's i love a pub sub uh but i love a sprouts man it's like i love sprouts it's like a less stressful whole foods you know what I mean like you go in and you're not like feeling like you're in the way you know and I went to this air one place yeah oh yeah yeah you want to spend 60 dollars on something going to that place dude I mean it's nice in there it is like if you had a different variant of OCD you would love that place because everything is like there's not a speck of dust in that place I mean but if there was you would have to pay for it probably because it is Not cheap.

1:40:41Luke Combs:I'll tell you that much.

1:40:43Jay Shetty:But great. Great. So good. So good. Do you pack your own clothes or does someone pack for you? Bro, I pack my own stuff, dude.

1:40:51Luke Combs:I might pack them for me, dude. I'm a grown-ass man, dude. I'm packing my bag.

1:40:57Jay Shetty:Oh, good. All right. Last one. Last one. This one's the last time you Venmo requested someone. Oh, gosh. Let me look. It's probably been a while.

1:41:05Luke Combs:Venmo request? Yeah, it's probably been quite some time, I would say. Let me see. I can pop it up here. I just, I'm, now I'm genuinely curious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know that I've requested Venmo. I've paid people on Venmo a lot. But actually requesting, I don't even know that I would even have one, to be quite honest. I've only used, I've got Venmo'd. My buddy sent me a Venmo for some deer stands, as redneck as that is. That's my last Venmo thing. but I can't even find a time that I Venmo'd someone else for something.

1:41:41Jay Shetty:Nice. Because I feel like a lot of the times, like, I'm not a guy, like, listen, dude,

1:41:45Luke Combs:if you're going out to eat with me, like, I'm paying. Like, I'm paying. Like, I'm not a guy that's like, well, you know, just send me, Venmo me$20 for the check or whatever. Like, so, yeah, not any Venmo request for me.

1:41:59Jay Shetty:You passed the test, the everyday guy test. I survived. You're the everyday guy. Yeah, you killed that. Your answers are amazing. I was like, we need to test a few more people on that.

1:42:09Luke Combs:So you should have been like, what kind of ranch would you need? A spanning ranch? Oh, is that what I mean? I thought it was going to be like, what kind of diameter? I'm like, oh, boy. I wouldn't know the answer. Yeah. Trust me. I wouldn't either. I wish I was handier than I am. My dad is very handy, but I did not get that gene.

1:42:28Jay Shetty:My dad was not handy, so I'm not handy. You missed out there.

1:42:31Luke Combs:I can do it a little bit, but not to the level I would like to. I would love to be able to, like, take an engine apart and just be like, yeah, we'll just build. Wouldn't that be amazing? Dude, people that do that are geniuses, man. I don't care what anybody says, dude. That stuff is so hard, man. My mind is not, like, math is not great for me. It just takes me a lot of time to do. I know how to do it, the basic stuff, obviously. But, like, dude, anything past division and multiplication, I'm like, oh, you're speaking Chinese, dude. I have no idea. You know, we got people for that. You know what I mean?

1:43:08Luke Combs:And I'm glad. That's the way the world is. Yes. You get somebody that's good at that. I do the thing I'm good at. You do the thing you're good at. Totally. Community. Bing, bang. Right there. And everyone wins. Yeah. And everybody wins. Everybody's happy.

1:43:20Jay Shetty:All right. Finish the sentence on these ones. The first thing that comes to your mind, the thing I take way too seriously is?

1:43:28Luke Combs:Video games. Which games? Battlefield 6 recently has been kind of my, that's kind of been my thing recently. Like NCAA football, I love my big football guy. Take that way too seriously. Yeah, definitely video games. Are you playing online or are you playing? I'll play online. I'm not playing NCAA online. It's too sweaty. Like everybody's too good, you know. There's people, obviously I don't take it seriously enough because I'm god awful online. But I just really playing against my buddies. But like, man, you were talking about like, I'm bent out of shape. Like I lose, I'm, it's like affecting my day to some extent and I lose a lot.

1:44:06Luke Combs:So I'm not very good. So maybe I probably shouldn't take it too seriously, but I do.

1:44:11Jay Shetty:I love it. The pettiest thing I've done recently.

1:44:14Luke Combs:Oh, it's all going to be practical joke, like joke related. Like me and my buddies are just, we just shred each other all the time. I mean, it's hard to pick a particular one, but like the jokes, like the jokes can be Like sometimes like when we have like me and my friends, we're so comfortable around each other and like we all kind of have a similar sense of humor and we all like know how it operates. Sometimes I have to forget like when we're around people that don't know us at all or they've just met us and we're in like full friendship, like joking mode that I'm like, maybe these people don't.

1:44:53Luke Combs:maybe we should just a little bit dial it back because people are going to think we're weird dude yeah we're going to be like these guys are complete assholes to each other so that it's like it's all love yes yes from if you didn't know us you might be like man these guys are ruthless

1:45:09Jay Shetty:you know what i mean me and my boys yeah like sometimes i just gotta back it off like forget that not everyone knows has known us for 20 years yeah my wife has to be like no personal jokes like like yeah you're not allowed to make when your guy friends are a little but don't make him around other people if there's if it's not just close friends let's avoid all the like all the jokes

1:45:27Luke Combs:about each other yeah that's my that's my pettiness right there uh my guilty pleasure artist or song is oh um right now it's olivia dean is my i love oh gosh her voice is so good man that's not like something people probably think i'm listening to but the melodies are so good man it's like there's like some uh there's like some amy one house stuff going on there which i loved her man unbelievable there's some like early john legend stuff going on like female john legend vibes like when he was really rocking the piano like the albums were real piano centric uh he had that the album another again was like a soundtrack to like probably like my junior year of high school and when i heard the olivia dean record for the first time my wife put me onto that i was like this is like like i felt like i was listening to another again like all over like for the first time and i loved that vibe of that album like i think her record it also came out at such a great time like and by time i mean like winter fall like it's that kind of like it's like a holiday adjacent like feeling like the piano like good like it just feels good to listen to um so i'm i'm really i'm really really vibing on that hard lately lately i love that uh two more

1:46:53Jay Shetty:of these which fellow country star would you call to help you bury a dead body oh man

1:47:00Luke Combs:fellow country uh probably craig morgan okay craig is like ex-military uh he's like one of the most wild dudes i know uh and he'd be so happy to like help you he's like the sweetest guy in the world but like if you crossed him i would be so afraid of like what potentially could happen um and like he's a guy to call him like hey man like i need you to come over here and he'd be like well hey buddy, I'll be right over there, you know? And he'd get over and just, you'd be like, what do I, what do we do with that? And he's like, oh man, I've done that tons of times. You know what I'm like? He's just like, he's done everything.

1:47:37Luke Combs:Like he's like, he knows how to do everything. Like he's like the perfect, like man's man guy. Like he's the sweetest dude ever. And I feel like he just wouldn't ask me any questions. He'd be like, man, well, let's get it done, buddy. You know? And he's awesome. So good. So good.

1:47:52Jay Shetty:All right. First artist you'd want next to you on a long tour bus road.

1:47:56Luke Combs:um okay um probably like jordan davis he has been on tour with me a couple times and i feel like we're just really we have like a similar vibe like our crews are similar like his relationship with like his team and his buddies i feel like is very similar to mine um and i he's i mean he's a family guy like great dad um another guy that i feel like is like that is not a country artist. Ed Sheeran is like that, man. Like he's, me and him like kind of connected on that level of like, we kind of have the same outlook on life a little bit. I feel like, and not that we're identical, obviously we're very different as artists, but like, you just pick up on that vibe of like, well, this guy's like, I get that this guy's like, like me.

1:48:44Luke Combs:The Good Charlotte guys are like that. Benji and Joel Madden to me are like two of my favorite. I had dinner with them last night. I have dinner with them every time I'm in LA and they're like i mean two of the best guys like i've ever met dude like and i just like i love finding those people you have that kind of like just connection with that kind of goes beyond like words sometimes like this like god this guy gets me i get this guy we get each other like we're just we just like we're just vibing dude like we're just we're just bros like from the second we met and jordan was like that ed was like that and benji and joel have been like that those would be like my picks for guys like if i had to spend a long time with then it would just be like easy man like there would be no like nothing weird nothing difficult like they're gonna just be easy to deal with like those would be my guys that sounds like a great tour bus yeah it'd be fun

1:49:39Jay Shetty:oh luke you've been so much fun man like i felt like i've learned about you you've been so thoughtful, profound, hilarious. Appreciate that. Good energy. I've had such a good time getting to know you. We end every interview with a final five. These have to be answered in one sentence maximum. We ask these to every guest. So Luke Combs, these are your final five. Question one, what is the best advice you've ever heard or received? Wow. What a profound question.

1:50:08Luke Combs:don't ask questions back to my dad don't ask questions second question what is the worst

1:50:14Jay Shetty:advice you've ever heard or received don't ask questions that's a good one that's a good one yeah yeah that's good yeah that's good uh question number three describe what it felt like performing

1:50:27Luke Combs:fast car with tracy chapman uh mount everest like like undeniable like just it's like almost like out of body. Yeah.

1:50:38Jay Shetty:I love that. In the future, when your kids are asked about you, how would you hope the first sentence goes?

1:50:44Luke Combs:He was the best dad. Nice.

1:50:46Jay Shetty:And fifth and final question. We ask this to every guest who's ever been on the show. If you could create one law that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be?

1:50:55Luke Combs:That is wild. I hadn't considered that. I'm sure you get some funny answers i'm sure you get some serious answers i would feel like it would it would be um like don't don't pee on the seat like the airport like it already sucks enough dude like and then when i sit down and you're old piss on the toilet like it's just that's the end for me like just come on dude like don't pee on the seat and i won't pee on the seat and we all just we're adults it's not that hard to not piss on the seat at the airport it's already gross to be in there you know and don't like it's like why are we audibly farting and like and like at the urinal like in the like you don't have to you know it's it listen if my buddies fart in front of me it's funny dude i I think it's really funny.

1:51:50Luke Combs:My kids fart. It's really funny. When a stranger farts next to me, like just pulls the Jake break at the urinal beside me. I'm like, this guy's an animal. And I respect him, but I'm also almost afraid of what he will do. And if he's willing to do this, he's willing to do anything.

1:52:13Jay Shetty:That has to be one of my favorite answers of all time. That is amazing. It is practical. it's important i fully stand behind it i fully agree i didn't realize how bad it was until i

1:52:26Luke Combs:went to other countries and i was like the bathrooms are so clean totally why why are all of our bathrooms disgusting what does that say about us and now i i can't unsee it i can't unsee how clean public bathrooms are in the rest of the world and i'm not okay with it we got it we got to stop.

1:52:44Jay Shetty:I love it. Luke comes the way I am. Luke, I'm so excited for everything that you have coming. Thanks, Jay. I love getting to know you. You're awesome. Likewise. And wishing you all the best, all the success, all the joy. Thanks for having me. Love that you're bringing so much abundance into the world and for others as well. I appreciate that. Yes, sir. Thank you, man. All right. If this is the year that you're trying to get creative, you're trying to build more, I need you to listen to this episode with Rick Rubin.

1:53:08Luke Combs:Follow your own inner guide. It directs us. It might not make sense to us Might not make sense to anyone else Certainly won't make sense to anyone else And that's okay It's fine

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1:55:20Jay Shetty:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.