Blending a love of classic country and Southern-fried soul -- a fusion inspired equally by fellow modern mavericks Eric Church and Chris Stapleton -- Luke Combs updates these traditional sounds with a hint of modern R&B. This combination, which flourished on ballads, made Combs stand apart from both slick country-pop crooners and bro-country revelers, a distinction that helped him become a hit right out of the gate. His first single, 2016's "Hurricane," launched a series of five number one Billboard Country Airplay hits in a row, including "When It Rains It Pours," "One Number Away," "She Got the Best of Me," and "Beautiful Crazy." All were pulled from his 2017 debut album, This One's for You (or its expanded reissue), a period that saw Combs become one of the biggest stars in Nashville. That status was cemented when he won the Country Music Association's Best New Artist award in 2018 and by the subsequent success of his sophomore album, 2019's What You See Is What You Get. Combs' third album, 2022's Growin' Up, was another chart-topper, and the first edition of a companion set he completed with 2023's Gettin' Old. It included his chart-topping cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," which won him a Country Music Award. He followed this with 2024's Fathers & Sons, a warm and understated concept album about fatherhood. Luke Combs is from North Carolina, born in Charlotte and raised in Asheville, where he moved when he was eight years old. As a teenager, he played football and sang in vocal groups. While attending college at Appalachian State -- the same school Eric Church went to years earlier -- Combs decided to put his studies on the back burner so he could concentrate on country music. Learning how to play guitar, he amassed a catalog of original songs as he played shows on a regular basis. When he was just shy of earning his degree, he dropped out of college. After gigging regularly in North Carolina, he headed to Nashville in 2014 to pursue a musical career. In February 2014, Combs self-released The Way She Rides EP, which was followed in July by Can I Get an Outlaw. The single "Hurricane" arrived in 2015 and generated enough buzz to secure the singer a contract with River House/Columbia Nashville. The label released the This One's for You EP in November 2015, then reworked "Hurricane" to country radio in 2016, accompanying it with a new EP, also titled This One's for You. In November 2016, "Hurricane" entered the Country Airplay charts, reaching number one in early 2017. Its success set the stage for Combs' full-length debut, This One's for You, which debuted at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart upon its June release. "When It Rains It Pours," the singer's second number one on Country Airplay, kept the album on the charts throughout the year, then This One's for You gained additional momentum in 2018, thanks in part to "One Number Away," Combs' third number one single, but also due to the June re-release of an expanded version of the debut. Called This One's for You Too, this revamped edition of Combs' debut contained five new songs, including "She Got the Best of Me," an anthemic single that followed its predecessors to number one Country Airplay, helping the record reach a peak of four on Billboard's overall Top 200 Albums chart. Combs continued to gain momentum during the back half of 2018 thanks to the ballad "Beautiful Crazy." Originally an Internet sensation, the track became a smash on radio late in 2018, reaching number one on the Country Airplay chart in March 2019; its success was a factor in Combs receiving a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 2019. "Beautiful Crazy" spent seven straight weeks at number one on Country Airplay, breaking the previous records for longevity on the charts. The single also helped Combs earn the distinction of being the first artist to simultaneously hold the top position on all five of Billboard's main country charts: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs, and Country Digital Song Sales. Combs teased out music from his second album with the May 2019 release of "Beer Never Broke My Heart," a single that became his sixth number one Country Airplay hit. The song anchored the June EP The Prequel, which offered five songs from his second album, What You See Is What You Get, which arrived in November 2019 and entered the Billboard 200 at number one. In May 2020, Combs released the song "Six Feet Apart" as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The track landed at number ten on the Hot Country Songs Chart and was included on a deluxe version of What You See Is What You Get -- dubbed What You See Ain't Always What You Get -- which also topped the Billboard 200. "The Great Divide," a duet with Billy Strings, arrived in 2021, followed by the Grammy-nominated ballad "Forever After All," the Country Airplay number one "Cold as You," the football anthem "South on Ya," and "Doin' This." The latter was the first single from Growin' Up, Combs' third album, which appeared in June 2022. Working once again with producers Chip Matthews and Jonathan Singleton -- the pair both appeared on What You See Is What You Get -- Combs stayed in his comfort zone on Growin' Up, a move that resulted in his third Billboard Country number one album. His next single, "Growin' Up and Gettin' Old," revealed the title of his next LP. Recorded at the same time as Growin' Up, Gettin' Old was released nine months later in March 2023 as both a follow-up and companion album. On it was a cover of Tracy Chapman's 1988 hit "Fast Car," a song he cites as one of his earliest influences. Combs' version became a major hit, topping numerous charts and reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It won him another CMA award and in February 2024 he performed it live with Chapman at the Grammy Awards. Led by the poignant "The Man He Sees in Me," Combs' next record was a concept album of sorts. Released in the middle of June to coincide with Father's Day, Fathers & Sons bore a more thoughtful, acoustic-driven sound with songs devoted to both Combs' young children and his own father. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Jazz Aspen Snowmass 2019

Luke Combs

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