Luke Combs Shares Iconic Country Music Influences and Stories

Before we start the music, just introduce yourself. >> What's up, guys? I'm Luke Combmes.

>> How you doing? >> I'm good, man. Doing well. >> You know what we're gonna do on this

show? >> Yeah. >> Play some songs. You just have to tell

me who the artist is. >> Okay. >> And any stories you have about the

artist or what they mean to you. [music and singing] >> Tim McGra, man. The classic.

>> Every time I hear that song, it makes me happy. >> Tim has a lot of songs like that. I

mean, he's a staple of obviously my childhood, many many people's childhoods, and still still doing it

today, man. I got to come out on stage with him at CMA Fest a number of years ago. There was this moment on this, it's

somewhere in the like ether of the internet and it's like me and him are on stage and like he goes to give me this

big dap dude like dap me up like you're me and we're like this and he starts like he's like boom boom and then it

happens like 15 or 20 times and I'm like I'm going to knock this guy over if he keeps going like I'll go there.

[music] >> Oh, that's amazing. All right, we one for one. [music]

>> [singing] >> Leon calls his child Jesus. >> Elton John. Unbelievable, man. That

music is like filled our home growing up. And when you're a kid, you're like, "Oh, it's like my parents music or

whatever." Now it's like all I listen to is like the music my parents listen to cuz I realized how good it was.

>> What else is like that for you? There was a lot of melanchamp. Tom Petty was in going on a lot in there. My dad

listens to everything. My mom was more like that kind of heartland rock country stuff was kind of like from my mom. My

dad was more like the rust belt of Ohio. So he was more like Zeppelin. His first concert was Led Zeppelin and the James

Gang. The night we landed on the moon was my dad's first concert. Yeah. Like pretty crazy. Hard to beat that night.

There's It's all downhill from there. Unfortunately, I think two for two Isbel

>> beautiful >> that song. Uh, Elephant, another one that's like one of the best songs

probably ever written, I would think. Yeah. >> Don't know him personally. Haven't met

him. The music, especially Southeastern was like >> that's like come on, that's a

no-brainer. >> Yeah. Southeastern record like got me through like the entire like beginning

of my career like on flights like just like had it downloaded on the on the phone and just like could just put it on

repeat and just let it run and run and run like over and over and over again. I think it's one of those songs that will

in the sphere of people who know it will be like fast car where it's like it will be covered again in like 20 years and

will be huge again in 20 years. It's like, yeah, it will just continue to be like a fantastic thing.

>> Brooks and Dun, Red Dirt Road. >> Tell me about Brooks and Done. That's that's that's like an easy one. That's

obvious. >> Yeah, that's an alltimer. >> The nostalgia factor is there. The

quality, like, you know, there's some music I think that that gets really popular and then maybe the quality kind

of like fades or drops off over time and Brooks and Dunn has never had any of that like fall off. To me, one of the

biggest songs in our set is like a cover of Brand New Man. [music]

>> [music] >> I feel like their music when it came out was like ahead a little bit ahead of its

time. It sounded futuristic or something. It sounded like contemporary. >> Yeah, it sound it could be. Yeah, it

could definitely be contemporary country music right now and would pass the test. >> Is there a definitive album for someone

who doesn't listen to country music that they should listen to to get them into it? God, there's so I mean Chief I mean

Eric Church chief is like very digestible and it's like there's all this what's country, what isn't, what's

contemporary, what's you know real country or whatever. It's like >> falls in the rock category too like

Harley. >> Yeah. So it's kind of like you could kind of get into but Chief was the album

to me that rode the razor's edge of like the rocky sound and the country thing like perfectly. His first two albums to

me are like 10 out of 10 as well. You know there's so many dude. I mean some of the Brooks and Done. So, if you've

never listened before, I mean, give me a shot, you know, if you're out there, you know, this one's for you. Great album

I've heard. Great album I've heard. There's a lot of really, really great albums out there. And I think Country is

more for everyone than everyone realizes or thinks. I think it's been highly stigmatized for a long, long time. You

know, it's music for rednecks or it's music for, you know, people that live in middle America. And it is all of those

things, but it's not exclusively that thing. It's for everyone. I mean, I would say six of my biggest, you know,

cities demographic wise for tickets and streams are all international. The streaming age, I think, has ushered in

the ability for people to hear music that maybe they wouldn't, you know, and I think that's a great thing.

[music] >> Tom Petty, I mean, ain't got wings. Oh, yeah. The classic. He's so influential

to so many artists that do things similar to what I do. I mean, influential to anyone almost, I would

think, that's making music for a living, you know, and yeah, it's wild, but yeah, one of my all-time favorites

[music] hag, dude. >> Where'd you get that hat?

>> Uh, that's a eBay find. >> Yeah. >> But one of my biggest regrets, never

seeing Merl. I had tickets to see him when he passed away. Like, I had tickets in hand. He was supposed to be playing

at the uh Opry House in Nashville and doing like his own show there and had tickets to that and was just devastated.

Like there's George Jones and Merl Haggard like had a whole record of them just like playing together. It's pretty

sick though. I don't know if there'll ever be a time where there was that many like prolific artist writers that were

like all friends and working together and making records together. Like back then they were like, "You want to make

an album next week?" And they're like, "Yeah, man. Sure. >> Let's get in. Let's just go to the

studio, make a entire album, and put it out like the next week. >> We could make [snorts] that happen.

>> I would be down to bring it back. Just do a whole collab album. >> A whole album. What's happening with you

right now? >> About to be a dad of three. I know your first is coming.

>> First is on the way right around the same time. >> But yeah, so that that's kind of number

one. Obviously, I did Fathers and Sons. The idea of the record is like my kids could listen to that in the future, you

know, and know that when they were young, they were my priority. even though my career was going really well

and things were great and we were busy, it was like they were always top of mind when it came to what was most important

in my life and I wanted them to just have something. You know, they don't obviously don't understand it now, but

hopefully one day they'll be able to listen back to it and appreciate it and and that was just kind of the goal is

to, you know, make a record that maybe other people could relate to in that way as well. [music]

>> Oh, Reeba. I mean, the voice is iconic. I mean, the voice is immediately like badass like rodeo gal, like turned into

like massive country music star, like does it all like hosting stuff and I mean absolute icon.

>> She sounds amazing. It's like the songs are fun and playful. >> The vocal quality is insane and still

rocking it. What you mean? She's like late 60s, early 70s somewhere in the and just like crushes, dude. She's always

doing stuff like just out looking like she's still like 35 and just killing it. Honestly, unbelievable.

>> Go a little deeper. >> Yeah, go ahead. [music]

>> I just stand here and listen to these the whole day, dude. >> Come on.

>> Too much fun. I ain't never had too much fun. >> One of the best most underrated voices

in the history of country music [music] to me. Single Terry. I remember I got to see him one time in Nashville. He was

playing Whiskey Jam and we went cuz we were like so stoked about just him being there and he comes in. He's like he's

rocking a plaid shirt and like gym shorts and just like the best sounding country voice you've ever heard in your

entire life. >> What is that sound? I'm thinking like Jingly Jangly kind of thing.

>> Yeah, it's like he just has that voice. You have to like have that voice to pull that off. Being able to capture that

sound so well and eloquently. I think Daryl was the king of that thing. Just that '9s like honky tonk.

>> It's like a subgenre country. It honestly own little >> Yeah, like '9s honky tonk.

>> This is not hard, but I wanted to play this for you cuz I figured probably uh an important artist

>> on [music] >> North Carolina guy much like myself, Randy Travis, just another voice of my

childhood. My mom, you know, she was like, "Well, we used to go see him at the restaurant." you know, he was

playing little acoustic gigs. I mean, like without Randy Travis, there's like a slew of the most impactful artists of

that time. Like there's so many artists that don't exist if he doesn't exist, right? Not just the direct descendants

being Travis T, Alan Jackson, G, Clint Black, like all these guys that were like so fundamental to the '90s country

era that then like the guys like me probably wouldn't be around either if those like it's this whole chain of

things that fell into place. And Randy was the guy that really started that that movement.

>> Last one. [music] >> All right, get me. You're gonna have to

get me on this one. >> Harry Ne. >> Okay, this one's eluding me.

>> Midnight Cowboy. >> This is eluding me right now. So, give me the spill me the spill me your beans.

Let's flip the script on this. >> All right. You ever see Midnight Cowboy? Yep.

>> Like New York City. The guy comes here. I guess he becomes like a male prostitute or something.

>> Friends with Ratzo and they become this like odd couple. [music]

>> And that song is just plays in that movie and it's iconic. But Harry Nilson was like a great ' 60s7s songwriter.

>> Okay. became very good friends with John Lennon and they were kind of ping around together and he was someone who was like

wildly respected by the Beatles and he just had this crazy range like wrote all different types of songs. Sure.

>> He was never mega famous but he was one of those people that like the famous people.

>> He was like your we there's some guys in Nashville it's like your favorite songwriter's favorite songwriter

>> and he doesn't stick to one genre. >> Tony Lane is a Nashville guy that's like that. Like he has one songwriter album

he put out but has written like so many iconic songs. It's great to meet you, brother, dude. Yeah, man.

>> Thank you.