Luke Combs’ Success as a Songwriter is Still Surprising to Him

Luke Combs first first three singles – “Hurricane,” “When it Rains it Pours” and his recent “One Number Away” – all went to No. 1, an impressive feat for any artist. But Combs isn’t just any artist. The North Carolina native co-wrote the hit singles, as well as all the songs on his freshman This One’s For You record, although he still has trouble thinking of himself as a songwriter.

“I think at least I can speak for me and Rob [Williford]; Rob is my bandleader too,” Combs shared with PopCulture.com at a recent media event celebrating the success of “One Number Away.” “We went on the road together pretty much full time, so there’s not much time to just sit down and I guess digest everything that’s happened – not only this song, but the last two years I guess. It’s just been a complete blur, at least for me. I don’t think there’s anything like your first one. It’s pretty unbelievable, they’re all pretty unbelievable.

“I think its a super rare achievement for anyone to achieve,” Combs continues. “I can’t believe I’m sitting up here talking about a third one. Because when we were writing these songs, I mean I didn’t have anything going on, I didn’t have a [record] deal when I wrote any of these songs.”

This One’s for You might only be a year old, but Combs is already hard at work on his sophomore album, where he promises finding enough songs won’t be a problem.

“I think you’re always working on new stuff,” the 28-year-old says. “I recorded 20 songs in January, [and I’m] recording hopefully 20 more this January, all songs that I’ve co-written. And so, there are definitely big plans for a second record. I’m, in a way I guess, feeling the pressure. I had a lot of the pressure to put out another good album but I think I’ve written so many songs since we wrote this album. I think my thing has always been to just do the same thing.”

Combs’ desire to write stems as much from his desire to record authentic songs than it does from him to have creative ownership on all the songs on his projects.

“I felt like there wasn’t really much that I was hearing that I was like, ‘Man I love that,’” he admits. “And I was like, ‘Well, I’m gonna go set out to kind write the stuff that I feel like I wanna be hearing,’ and I’ve been doing that ever since. So I think album two will be great, and yes, it is in the works.

Combs’ lastest single, “She Got the Best of Me,” is from his deluxe This One’s For You Too. Download the album on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Tim Mosenfelder