Willie Geist (B.S. ’97) hosted a live taping of his podcast “Sunday Sitdown” with guest Luke Combs at City Winery Nashville Jan. 19. The pair discussed Luke Combs’ career as a country music artist, from gigs he played in college, to chart-topping songs, to his tour for his upcoming album “The Way I Am.”
On the podcast, Geist interviews celebrities from a variety of fields about their lives and work. “Sunday Sitdown” has been taped in front of a live audience only three times before — when Geist interviewed Ina Garten, Nate Bargatze and Jim Gaffigan — but the show has never been taped outside New York City.
Geist began by asking Combs about an Instagram post he recently made. The photo shows Combs at his first show at Parthenon Cafe in Boone, North Carolina. Geist praised how far Combs has come since that photo.
“That’s the first gig, and now he’s at Wembley for three nights,” Geist said.
Combs reflected on the beginning of his career, where he was able to thank every person who came to his show and shake their hands. Despite Combs no longer being able to do this for every fan, he said he recognizes that his fans are the reason his career has gotten to this point.
“You know I enjoyed meeting people and doing those things, and when you go up there and realize it’s still, ‘every person in here is the reason why I’m here,’” Combs said. “There’s just more people than there were in the beginning.”
Combs then reflected on his journey and shared details about his new album, “The Way I Am.”
“This album’s just fast balls. You know, like to just kind of be like, ‘I still got it,’” Combs said. “The ‘Fathers & Sons’ album was a really selfish thing for me. It was for me and ultimately for my kids. And so, I haven’t put out a record in an official capacity in like four years.”
Combs recorded around 40 songs for “The Way I Am” but ultimately decided to include 22 of the tracks in the final album.
“It was tough rolling them down. It’s tough going through that much material and not having any burnout,” Combs said.
Geist asked Combs if he ever thought he would be a performer growing up.
“I came from a really working-class family, and so my parents were always like, ‘Chase your dreams,’ you know?” Combs said. “But then in my mind, I’m going like, ‘I mean to an extent, right?’ Chase your dreams, but I’m not gonna be in the Olympics.”
Combs then discussed how his parents always encouraged him, but he didn’t stumble upon the idea of performing as a career until he picked up the guitar. He dreaded the thought of school being over because he had no idea what he was going to do.
“I really didn’t know what I was going to do,” Combs said. “And I worried about that a lot, and the end of my time in college was just rapidly approaching. It was like, man, I really don’t know. Like I feel like I’m supposed to know and just don’t.”
Combs came to Nashville in September 2014 to pursue his music career. He had saved enough money to focus strictly on music and not have to get a different job. Combs said he would write with anyone who would write with him.
“My first album, by the time it was done, there must have been probably sixteen writers on it,” Combs said.
He also discussed how the people he met and wrote his first album with eventually became his family, with whom he shared his success. In 2015, Combs recorded his hit song, “Hurricane” for the album “This One’s for You.” He had previously recorded an EP but had never mastered a song.
“I had 200 bucks left. I could [master] one song, so I asked Scott, ‘Hey, which one of these songs is close enough to being finished to release?’ And he said, ‘The only one that’s close is ‘Hurricane,’” Combs said.
Combs said once he spent the $200, he put the song out, and it sold 10,000 copies in the first week. Geist noted this fast change to Combs’ career and asked about how Combs adjusted.
“Ultimately, I’m no different than I was when I started,” Combs said. “I’m just in different circumstances.”
Combs said that if you were to look at him in a vacuum you would think he’s just another guy who lives down the street, and that he strives to reflect that in how he treats the people who work for and with him.
“I have 45 or so salaried employees that I employ on my own, and I can walk up to these people and have a conversation with them, and they do not feel weird talking to me. But a lot of those people came from other places, and when they come to us to work, they’re almost like a shelter dog,” Combs said. “It’s like, ‘No, dude, I’m talking to you,” and they’re like, ‘Oh, really? Well, the last person I worked for we weren’t supposed to talk to.’”
Combs said this was a sad reality of the music business but that it doesn’t have to be that way. Combs and Geist then transitioned to talking about his hit cover of the song “Fast Car” and the moment when he got to perform at the Grammys with Tracy Chapman, the artist who recorded the original song.
“I didn’t think that it would be the moment that it was right afterwards, but I knew it was really special for me,” Combs said. “It was everything I wanted, and it ended up being the most special night for that reason.”
Geist concluded the interview by asking Combs a few questions audience members submitted on a range of topics, from writing duets, to how he spends his free time to his advice for navigating the music industry.
“You can’t be afraid to bet on yourself. You know what I mean? I know that’s really cliche sounding, but I got told no many, many times, and that’s okay. That’s part of the process,” Combs said. “In this town, there are so many good people, and it takes a long time to get in front of the right person, on the right night, with the right song, in the right room and have it all work out. And it can happen, man, like I’m proof positive that it can happen. I’m a guy that it probably shouldn’t have happened to, and it did.”
Following the interview and a brief intermission, Combs returned to the stage to play two songs for the audience: “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” from his forthcoming album and “When It Rains It Pours.” The full “Sunday Sitdown” episode will air Feb. 1.
