Luke Combs: “Don’t Ever Let Anyone Stop You”

Right after the first of the new year, Aidan Moher — a writer from Vancouver Island, BC — asked his 8,000 Twitter followers to tell him a story about themselves. One that sounds like a lie but is absolutely true.

That tweet went viral.

So much so that Luke Combs was one of the thousands to respond. And his answer is an absolute truth that is so startling that you might not actually believe it.

“When I was just getting started, I had one of my first meetings in Nashville…only to be told the songs I shared that day weren’t good enough,” Combs recalled. “They all went No. 1.

“Moral of the story, don’t ever let anyone stop you from chasing your dreams.”

Combs had elaborated on that sentiment last time we talked, saying, “The first eight months I was there, nobody would touch me with a ten-foot pole. I had meetings with publishers and labels, and people would say, ’Man, the songs just aren’t that great.’ But it was my songs, it was ’Hurricane,’ it was ’When It Rains.’”

So how did Combs go so seamlessly from no to yes? He turned Nashville’s rejection into his motivation.

“It was fuel for me. That motivated me so much. I don’t ever want to get to the pinnacle of my success and gloat to anybody. That’s not the right thing to do. I’m proud of what we have, and I’m proud of how it all happened.

“Those things that didn’t work out for me probably mean that at the time,” he added, “I wasn’t ready yet.”

Alison makes her living loving country music. She’s based in Chicago, but she’s always leaving her heart in Nashville.

@alisonbonaguro