{"id":15899,"date":"2019-06-12T14:41:24","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T20:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1807912"},"modified":"2019-06-12T14:41:24","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T20:41:24","slug":"exclusive-luke-combs-on-the-fans-in-the-outskirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/exclusive-luke-combs-on-the-fans-in-the-outskirts\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Luke Combs on the Fans in the Outskirts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Alison Bonaguro<\/a><\/span> 1m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

Before Luke Combs was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry, before he played CMA Fest, and before he won a CMT Music Award<\/em>, he played the kind of show that really made its mark on him. Because of all the fans they lost count of.<\/p>\n

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It was the Patriotic Festival held on Virginia Beach. Combs played it June 1 with Muscadine Bloodline and Faren Rachels. And here\u2019s what happened:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played this festival in Virginia, and I was like, \u2019Man, this is interesting. My bus is just parked by the public beach access,’\u201d Combs told CMT.com a few days after that show. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve never played an event before, sometimes you\u2019re like, \u2019How\u2019s this gonna be? Are people gonna show up?\u2019 But at this one, they lost count of the fans at 68,000. So I was like, \u2019Okay. This is awesome, for sure.\u2019 Because obviously the festival grounds ended somewhere, and there were just people beyond that who weren\u2019t officially in<\/em> the show.\u201d The festival map even shows that \u201cbeyond,\u201d dubbing it the Free Zone on the beach anywhere north of 6th Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really shocking for me. I\u2019ve been that fan on the outskirts many times,\u201d he said, \u201cso it was cool to be on the other side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Combs told us about the handmade posters and signs his fans bring to the shows, and why he can\u2019t always devote as much time and attention to them as they deserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople bring signs. A lot. When I\u2019m up there on stage and I\u2019m singing, it\u2019s like muscle memory. I don\u2019t need to think about what the next line is,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut when signs come into play, I really want<\/em> to read the sign. But if I start reading the sign, it jumbles up the muscle memory thing, and then I\u2019m like, \u201cOh my God. What is the next line?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough, because if I read it, then I\u2019m compromising and I might mess up in front of 25,000 people.\u201d (Or in the case of the Patriotic Festival, more than 68,000 people.) \u201cSo I promise I have seen the signs and I appreciate the making of the signs, and I always try to read them at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the interview with Combs was right before the CMT Music Awards<\/em>, we had to know what he considered to be the best country music video ever made. He couldn\u2019t pick one, so here are his top two:<\/p>\n

Alan Jackson\u2019s \u201cChattahoochee\u201d from 1993<\/p>\n

Embedded from www.youtube.com<\/a>.