Country singer Luke Combs experienced a meteoric rise from his debut, striking gold with his hit singles and albums. How much of Combs’ own songwriting does he contribute to his music?
Luke Combs has co-written all of his own songs to date, including debut studio album This One’s for You and chart-topper follow-up What You See Is What You Get. He co-wrote many of the songs on his first album with fellow songwriter Ray Fulcher.
Combs has always been involved in the writing process of his songs, owing to his desire to make music that he would like to hear. He has stated in the past that both of the driving forces in writing your own music, authenticity, and creative ownership, are equally as important to him.
Combs’ First Co-Written Hit Single, “Hurricane”
Although Combs had been writing and co-writing music for years prior, it was his song “Hurricane”, written together with Thomas Archer and Taylor Phillips, that would eventually catapult him into the limelight of the mainstream country audience. Though it would come to have this chart-topping moment of glory in its future, “Hurricane” was originally written by Combs a whole three years before it would later manage to top the charts.
The idea for the song was first conceived by Combs and Taylor Phillips, his fellow co-writer and friend, in a bar. The concept for the song was initially formed around the idea of a friend of one of the pair, who was having troubles with his ex. This idea was then simply combined with the word ‘hurricane’, a word that Combs had long been ruminating over.
It was this first piece of originally co-written music that would help Combs to kick-start his career. He spent the last of his money to remaster the track in a move that would in turn allow him to fund the rest of his EP whilst also grabbing the attention of future record label Columbia Records.
Co-writing With Ray Fulcher
Following on from his success with “Hurricane”, Combs continued as he always had with his writing as he co-wrote his debut studio album This One’s for You. Almost every track on the album was co-written with songwriter Ray Fulcher, with whom Combs had struck up both a good friendship and an enjoyable working relationship, a fire which was fueled by a shared love of country singer-songwriter Eric Church.
Combs’ writing with Fulcher would go on to yield even more success for him, as the second single from his first studio album, “When It Rains It Pours” would go on to top multiple charts in the US. This was a feat that would be repeated again by the pair with the second single “Even Though I’m Leaving” on second studio album What You See Is What You Get.
Combs’ Philosophy on Writing
Those curious for the details of his songwriting process, or simply interested in Combs’ philosophy on the topic, were given an answer by the artist upon his release of an EP entitled The Writer’s Cut and the short film that would go along with it.
Combs goes on to explain the reasoning for almost all of his work being co-written, outlining the fact that he does not enjoy writing alone, far preferring the feeling of working in a team during the writing process. This train of thought is exemplified perfectly in his remembrance of his co-writers receiving the credit they deserved when claiming the Song of the Year trophy, citing that he felt proud to call them his friends.
Writing Contribution to Other Artists
Not only does Combs write his own songs, his songwriting interests stretch far beyond his own body of work, prompting him to co-write for other artists. One other artist he has co-written with is Carly Pearce.
Together with Carly Pearce, Combs co-wrote the hit duet she performs with Lee Brice, helping it to garner top spot on two different country charts. Combs showed us his deep interest in songwriting again with this project, even taking to Instagram to post a small cover, sharing his take on the song that he helped co-write.
In the post, he reiterates his love of writing and how it helped define his interest in making Country music.