Luke Combs is undoubtably one of the faces of the current country music scene. Two-time CMA “Entertainer of The Year,” sixteen number one songs, selling out the biggest stadiums across the nation- the man is absolutely crushing it.
With his massive success now, it’s easy to look past his humble beginning as an artist in his college town of Boone, North Carolina. However, as they say, from humble beginnings come great things, and this has proven to be the case for the chart-topping superstar.
On a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Combs discussed his start as a country singer/songwriter and tells the hilarious story of his first official gig. He asked a coke-head to hire him, borrowed a buddies guitar and speakers, and had the bouncer charge $1 at the door for a ticket. Combs tells the story:
“I booked a gig down the street just like at this bar my rugby team always hung out at, cause I figured that guy, you know, he was like a coke-head wild card, like he’d give me a show… I was like this guy will give me a show if I want to do a show.”
It turns out he was right and the “coke-head wildcard” bar owner gave him a shot. Combs didn’t even have a band to play with or any prior solo-performing experience. On top of this, he had to just throw together a set and use equipment that wasn’t his own- really pulling out all the stops.
“So I borrowed my neighbors guitar because mine wasn’t even acoustic-electric, it was just a straight up acoustic and sat on a stool. My other buddy let me borrow his PA speakers and two hundred of my friends came out and paid a dollar to see me.
Not too bad for an inexperienced college kid with none of his own equipment. Combs notes he made more money that night than he had in that whole week at his two other jobs. He was $200 richer and discovered this wave of passion for performing that he hadn’t quite been able to experience in the past.
“I was hooked man. I was like dude this is awesome… I was like I love doing this anyways and I’m having a great time- I’m like having drinks with my friends. Everybody is psyched to see me here and stuff and I was like it just made sense, man. It wasn’t one ounce of hard work in my mind after that point.”
“I don’t know what I’d be doing if I hadn’t done that.”
What an interesting start to an incredible career thus far. Despite the disorganization and comical circumstances, Combs threw together an experience that would change his life. He opened a door for himself by going out on a limb and while many country artists get their start by begging bar owners for gigs, Combs’ route was different than the average path.
Watch the video clip below and listen to the full interview here.