Luke Combs just kicked off his 2024 Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour, playing back-to-back nights in stadiums all over the country. The 34-year-old, who wrapped up his World Tour last year, still can’t quite believe the life he gets to live.
“It’s just surreal,” Combs tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I feel like I get to live so many amazing, surreal moments. And, I’m really thankful for that for sure. It’s crazy. It’s crazy.”
Combs might be one of the biggest hitmakers in country music right now, but it comes with a cost. Not only does he have to leave his wife, Nicole, and sons Tex, who turns two in June, and eight-month-old Beau, but he also works hard, on and off the road, to give fans the best show possible.
“I try to do everything I can do to take care of my voice, take care of myself, make sure that we’re doing everything we can,” Combs shares. “People that come are the only reason we get to do what we do. Putting on an A++ show is really important to me.”
Whatever Combs is doing is paying off. He leads the list of nominees for the upcoming ACM Awards, with eight nominations, including the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year.
“It’s really awesome,” Combs says. “Always surprising, I think … In a lot of ways, it feels like I’ve been doing this a lifetime. And, in a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve been doing it for six months. So, I feel like sometimes I’m so conflicted with knowing what to feel or think.”
For a man who struggled in college, and pursued music thanks to the influence of Eric Church, Combs doesn’t take lightly how much his hard work is paying off.
“It’s an honor,” the “Fast Car” singer says. “It’s my wildest dreams coming true. So, I’m a very lucky guy every day.”
After his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour, Combs will likely follow that with another tour. For Combs his main goal is to get in front of his fans, and put on a show that they will remember for the rest of their lives, night after night.
“When we’re doing a show like this, whether it’s going over ticket pricing, or picking openers or picking cities. we try to think of them first at every turn, truly,” Combs tells his record label. “And I hope that comes across when they see the show, and when they’re at the box office to buy their tickets, I hope those things kind of come across.”
Combs also makes it clear that he isn’t alone in his endeavor, praising his large staff of people who help him and his career, every step of the way.
“It takes a ton of people to put on a show of this size,” Combs concedes. “Definitely over 100 to 150 folks and that’s just my people; that’s not including the openers. It’s a tremendous, tremendous effort to get these shows pulled off. I’m very thankful to have the best team in the business to help me do these shows every night.”
The ACM Awards will air live on Thursday, May 16, from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The ceremony will stream live exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Tickets for the general public are available now, via SeatGeek. More information is available at ACMCountry.com.
Find all of Combs’ music and tour dates at LukeCombs.com.