Though two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Luke Combs grew up listening to country artists such as Eric Church, Garth Brooks and Vince Gill, he also soaked in the sounds of rock and pop acts, including the five-member boy band Backstreet Boys.
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In a new episode of Hot Ones, Combs spoke about how listening to the vocal group taught him about singing.
“I mean obviously there’s five different singers in the group, right? And they all kind of get turns to showcase their particular style. And everybody’s kind of got different ranges and different natural tendencies that they try to use,” he said. “They’re incredibly singable verses and choruses. Those songs were engineered to be like musical drugs. Like you hear them and it’s just like I want to hear this again. I need to hear this again.”
He added, “And you know as you kind of study those things, learning to write songs, you realize that was done intentionally. Like there is a science to writing those kind of songs. And there needs to be a hook every 20 seconds that people remember and moments that people want to come back to. And you learn that. You also learn how to do the same chorus melody, maybe in a different style. Because if Nick Carter is singing it, and, you know, Kevin [Richardson]’s singing the next one, it’s like they just have these little differences and inflections that ultimately matter and lead to the success of a group like that and help a young singer who’s learning to find their voice and hone their talent, it helps them learn five different things at one time instead of hearing one singer do something. You get to hear five singers sing the same chorus instead of one. So, it’s really interesting.”
Combs’ own commanding, silk-and-sandpaper vocal is unmistakable. His debut single, “Hurricane,” peaked at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart in 2017 and has since been certified RIAA 12x Platinum. Combs poured not only his talent into this debut single, but also his money. During his Hot Ones episode, Combs said he spent his final $200 at the time on mastering his debut single.
“Interestingly and luckily enough, it was the only song that was in any state close enough to putting out. So, it was basically a Hail Mary of like, ‘Well this is all we got. It’s either this or nothing.’ So I spent the last $200 I had. I hadn’t done that previously so I hadn’t put that in my budget as an expense that I needed to be aware of. And it comes down and I’m like ‘dude I don’t have enough money to master these. Which one is good enough?’ And he’s like ‘this one.’ And I’m like ‘perfect, let’s do it. Put it out.’ It sells 10,000 units the first week. Which I thought was cool, that’s probably what everyone’s doing. Or that’s less than everyone’s doing. Because, again, I don’t know.”
He added, “And it turns out apparently it wasn’t what everyone was doing and it was a lot more for an independent kid who’s dropped out of college to move to town and doesn’t have anything going on. And that’s kind of what led to 100 other dominoes falling in my favor so I’m very thankful for that moment and obviously it was supposed to work out that way.”
“Hurricane” was the first of 19 No. 1s Combs has earned on the Country Airplay chart so far. Combs’ upcoming album The Way I Am releases Friday (March 20).
See Combs’ full episode on Hot Ones below:
