It seems like when you really want to impress someone, that's when you get ketchup on your clothes, fall ill, or mangle their name. Country star Luke Combs tells a great story like that about meeting Blake Shelton for the first time. Circumstances were not promising at that time for the The Way I Am singer. Nevertheless, he soldiered on anyway.
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He looked back on his initial interaction with the "Sangria" singer during a private event on Friday, March 20. Combs was spreading the word about the forthcoming opening of his new bar, Category 10, in Las Vegas.
Let's set the stage for Combs' story of woe. Per People, it takes place several years ago. The site is a farm in Mississippi that is the property of Executive Chairman Colin Reed of Ryman Hospitality. Some high-powered top brass are there, plus Blake Shelton. The setting is idyllic, the group is top-level - and Luke Combs is sick as a dog.
Combs' Recollections of That Occasion Are Painful
Per the outlet, the singer must have been wincing when he recounted this tale. He shared, "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."
In fact, Combs was so ill that he holed up in his room downing chicken soup. Meanwhile, the rest of the people there had a jolly good time. He explained, "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."
He Managed To Sing
Conditions were obviously not auspicious for Luke Combs. He finally left his room and joined the others at a campfire. Blake Shelton played the guitar and people sang songs that meant a lot to them. Colin Reed figured that Combs would not be in a healthy-enough mode to impress anyone. "I'm thinking, he's been sick for 48 hours. This is going to be a monumental disaster. I can see it." he mentioned.
When it was Combs' turn to sing, however, this is what he gamely said. "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." Then he launched into "Hurricane," a future no. 1.
Reed was bowled over. "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."
