Luke Combs Recalls Awkward First Meeting with Blake Shelton: ‘I’m the Weird Guy in the Room That’s Sick’

Luke Combs is now one of country music’s most well-known and well-loved artists because of his skills as a singer and songwriter and his genuine interest in supporting up-and-coming artists. However, there was a time when he was also new and making his way around Nashville. It was around this time that he thought he bombed his first meeting with country music royalty, Blake Shelton.  

In an interview with PEOPLE to promote the new Las Vegas location of his Category 10 bar, Combs recalled meeting Shelton during a gathering held at a farm owned by Colin Reed, the Executive Chairman of Ryman Hospitality.  

The 36-year-old singer said, “I'm the new guy, nobody knows who I am, and I felt like I wasn't supposed to be there. I'm in there, and Colin has this beautiful farm in Mississippi, and there's deer, and I'm like, 'Man, this is like Mecca for a redneck.' There are ducks in the pond, and here I am, chugging the Imodium on the toilet."  

He was convinced that he had blown his chance to make a good impression on people who could help him launch his career. “It was less than ideal. I remember thinking, like, 'Well, this is it. My career's over.' I finally got invited to a cool thing, and I'm the weird guy in the room that's sick."  

But of course, we knew that wasn’t the case.  

Before the three-day trip ended, Combs managed to mingle with everyone and sat around a campfire where Shelton and others sang songs that had shaped their careers. Reed, who knew the North Carolina native had been sick at the start of the trip, braced for Combs’ turn, expecting it to be a “disaster.” He said, “I'm thinking, he's been sick for 48 hours. This is going to be a monumental disaster. I can see it.”  

When it was his turn, Combs looked at Sheldon and told him, “I don't even have a record deal. I've never had a No. 1, but if I get a record deal, this song I'm going to play is a song I've written.”  

Combs played his debut single “Hurricane.”  

Reed looked back on that time, “I get chills even now describing it because everyone in that room went completely and utterly quiet, and it was like, holy crap, this is unbelievable. And that was the first time I met this guy."  

Safe to say, Combs is doing just fine these days. He’s headlining his My Kinda Saturday Night Tour, and opening night already broke attendance records.