Joe Rogan Experience #1956 - Luke Combs

Narrator 0:00 (drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan 0:06 Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (rock music) Cheers, sir.

Luke Combs 0:13 Thank you, cheers.

Joe Rogan 0:14 Pleasure to meet ya.

Luke Combs 0:15 Yeah, and likewise, man. (liquid slurping)

Joe Rogan 0:17 Mm. Ah. I love your shit, dude.

Luke Combs 0:20 Thanks, man. Appreciate that.

Joe Rogan 0:21 You got a great voice and great songwriting.

Luke Combs 0:25 (slurping) I try my best. I really do.

Joe Rogan 0:26 It's great shit. S- solid country.

Luke Combs 0:29 Yeah, I try, man. I really do, you know? It's ... You never know. A lot of, a lot of, uh ... I don't know. You al- ... I guess you always have doubts, something that comes with ... You know, at least I do. You know?

Joe Rogan 0:39 Yeah.

Luke Combs 0:39 Constantly, like, is this good enough or is it country enough or is it ... I don't know, it just always... I'd be lying if I said I didn't have-

Joe Rogan 0:49 I think that's what makes you great. I think you have to have those doubts to e- m- ... You're- ... You have to ... I think every artist is always, like, s- self-analyzing and-

Luke Combs 0:57 Always.

Joe Rogan 0:58 You have to be.

Luke Combs 0:59 Yeah, you have to, I mean, or else you're just ... You know, my biggest fear is, like, making the same record 100 times, you know?

Joe Rogan 1:06 (inhaling through the nose) Yeah-

Luke Combs 1:06 'Cause we-

Joe Rogan 1:06 ... 'cause we all know people who've done that before.

Luke Combs 1:08 Mm-hmm. And stuff.

Joe Rogan 1:08 And when you're a fan of someone and they do that.

Luke Combs 1:11 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:12 That's one of the things I love about Sturgill, is like every album, it's like he's a new artist.

Luke Combs 1:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:18 It's like, "Who are you?"

Luke Combs 1:18 It's very different. Yeah, everything's way different with him, man. I-

Joe Rogan 1:21 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:21 I remember Turtles All The Way Down coming out and I was like, "Man, this is just such a departure from the last thing."

Joe Rogan 1:28 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:29 And that can be scary as an artist too, 'cause you're like, "Well, all my fans that I have were the fan of this previous thing," right?

Joe Rogan 1:37 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:37 So does the new thing alienate those people? It's just tough, man. It's weird.

Joe Rogan 1:44 I think if you ... E- people have to do that, though. If you, you know, if that's what you feel, it's-

Luke Combs 1:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:49 ... like I think they go along with you. Especially today, I think people are more willing than ever to let people take chances.

Luke Combs 1:56 No doubt, and I mean, I think that comes with the artist now has the power in a lot of ways.

Joe Rogan 2:01 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 2:01 Right? With the rise of the internet.

Joe Rogan 2:02 Yes.

Luke Combs 2:03 I mean, I think I was really kind of one of the first people who was able to bring something to ... Like when I got my first deal, it was like, well, I already had all- ... A built-in fan base, and that wasn't really ever happening at that time. Like as I was on this social media app called Vine. Do you remember that?

Joe Rogan 2:21 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Luke Combs 2:22 And it was like ... I mean, I wasn't, like, you know, mega big on there or anything, but I had enough, enough fans I guess where I was selling music that ... And I didn't realize that that was weird 'til I got to Nashville, and they're like, "Wait, you're selling how much?" And I'm like, "Oh, I thought that was ... That's low, right?"

Joe Rogan 2:39 (laughs)

Luke Combs 2:39 And they're like, "Not really. It's not really that low at all." And I was like, "Oh, that's cool," you know? So then you got some negotiating power too when you're going into your room.

Joe Rogan 2:45 Were you one of the first artists that l- ... Uh, in the country scene that kinda made it off of social media?

Luke Combs 2:52 I would ... Yeah. I would say me and, uh, Kane Brown probably were, like, the first two. And he ... We both got signed at Sony, and I think that's to credit to, you know, I mean, Randy Goodman, who still runs Sony Nashville, has always been forward-thinking in that. Like at least before all- ... In my opinion, all the other labels in Nashville were thinking about that stuff. He was always thinking about-

Joe Rogan 3:14 Mm.

Luke Combs 3:15 ... "What's the next thing?" Or, like, "How do we stay ahead of the trend?" Or whatever, and other, other labels weren't doing that at that time.

Joe Rogan 3:22 And when you first started doing it on Vine, were you just doing it because it was just a thing that you could put your shit on? I mean, you d- ... You obviously didn't think that it would take off the way-

Luke Combs 3:31 No.

Joe Rogan 3:31 ... it did.

Luke Combs 3:31 It just made sense, right?

Joe Rogan 3:32 Yeah.

Luke Combs 3:32 It was like, it was like, "Okay, well this is a tool," and all I was doing on there was s- ... I mean, the content on that app was six seconds long.

Joe Rogan 3:40 Right. Right.

Luke Combs 3:40 It was like, it was like TikTok but six seconds.

Joe Rogan 3:43 Right.

Luke Combs 3:44 And so it was like you would have to pick out what's the most impactful section of a George Strait song or of a Waylon Jennings song or anything I can sing or of ... Something that's on the radio, a Lee Brice song or whatever it was, and go, "What's the singing-est ass part of this song?" And I would get on there and just sing that six seconds of ... On my guitar, and then put it on there, and people were sharing and sharing. And then when I put my own music out, I'm like, "Well, obviously I'm gonna market to these people that are already like my voice and stuff," and it just worked out. That was ... It was never a master plan.

Joe Rogan 4:20 Right.

Luke Combs 4:21 You know? I wasn't like ... I would love to say, "Man, I had this big scheme-"

Joe Rogan 4:25 (laughs)

Luke Combs 4:25 "... and I've had it all planned out." It just, like ... It was this lo- ... These, like, logical steps that just made sense to me.

Joe Rogan 4:32 I think it's kinda better that it's not a master plan, that just you just followed your instincts.

Luke Combs 4:36 Yeah, it was ... I always tell this ta- ... I mean, there is just so much luck involved, no doubt. I mean, anybody that has success ... Obviously, you have to be able to sing and you have to have songs that people like, right? Those things are ... You know, that's a given. But there's a lot of people that I know in town that I would argue are a lot more talented than me, singers, songwriters, that went for the artist thing and it was just ... It wasn't the right time, or their music didn't connect at that time with whatever the mainstream k- kinda fan base was.

Joe Rogan 5:10 Yeah.

Luke Combs 5:11 And now they're just, they'll just ... They're just songwriters instead, because it ... Now they're ... They might be 40-something, you know? And they're like, "Well, I don't wanna ... I'm not gonna get a deal and go on a radio tour. I got three kids, you know? Make, you know, half a million dollars a year writing songs or something." You know?

Joe Rogan 5:25 Right. Yeah, but that would suck.

Luke Combs 5:28 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:29 That would ... L- listen to somebody else belting out your hits.

Luke Combs 5:32 (clicks tongue) Yeah, but there's also a contingency of guys that, like, d- ... Like I have some friends that went the route, like they had the deal, they had the songs, it wasn't the right time, but then the artist thing just wasn't for them either, like going around and doing PR stuff, like, that gave them anxiety, like-

Joe Rogan 5:51 Yeah.

Luke Combs 5:51 ... having fans, that gave them anxiety. And that's like ... I think there's people that lean more into they would rather just do the creative stuff and, and hope-Okay. I hope I can, you know, write I Hope You Dance for Lee Ann Womack instead of being Lee Ann Womack-

Joe Rogan 6:07 (laughs)

Luke Combs 6:07 ... and singing I Hope You Dance.

Joe Rogan 6:09 Yeah. Well, that I get. I mean, some people just, they don't have the personality for it. They don't enjoy it. They're-

Luke Combs 6:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 6:14 ... more introspective.

Luke Combs 6:16 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 6:16 They're more, you know, in- introverted. Yeah, I get it. It's a weird world, right? The world of, uh, taking your thoughts and putting them down and then sharing with people. And then, y- you know, like, I mean, what is it like for you when you're, like, at a red light and you hear some dude playing your music next to you?

Luke Combs 6:36 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 6:36 Does that ever happen to you?

Luke Combs 6:37 Yeah. It's, uh, it's even crazier. Like, um, like, the place that always gets me is, like, on, like, when someone's listening to it on a boat. To me, that's the ultimate test of a song.

Joe Rogan 6:48 (laughs)

Luke Combs 6:48 It's like if somebody's listening to you on a boat, dude, they love you, dude.

Joe Rogan 6:52 (laughs)

Luke Combs 6:52 They absolutely love your shit if they're listening to you on a boat, dude.

Joe Rogan 6:56 That's so true. That's so true.

Luke Combs 6:57 You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 6:57 Right.

Luke Combs 6:58 I mean, how many artists that you listen to in your car you probably wouldn't listen to on a boat? It's a different thing.

Joe Rogan 7:04 Yeah.

Luke Combs 7:04 Right?

Joe Rogan 7:05 Yeah.

Luke Combs 7:05 Like to me, it's like if it's summer, the weather's nice, the drinks are flowing.

Joe Rogan 7:09 Uh-huh. Yeah.

Luke Combs 7:10 You know, and dude, your song's on the boat, that's the soundtrack to, like, the best time that someone could possibly be having.

Joe Rogan 7:18 That's so true.

Luke Combs 7:19 You know?

Joe Rogan 7:20 That's so true.

Luke Combs 7:21 You're the highlight of their weekend or their summer or whatever.

Joe Rogan 7:25 Yeah.

Luke Combs 7:25 Like that song is like a huge part of their life if they're playing it on a boat.

Joe Rogan 7:28 I've never thought of it like that, but that's true. Like, boat music? (laughs)

Luke Combs 7:33 It's, dude, it's a different-

Joe Rogan 7:34 (laughs)

Luke Combs 7:34 It's a different breed, dude, you know?

Joe Rogan 7:36 It's the ultimate.

Luke Combs 7:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:37 Yeah.

Luke Combs 7:38 Yeah, it's crazy, man.

Joe Rogan 7:39 Yeah. My 14-year-old, she loves Kanye West, and she likes to crank Kanye West on the boat.

Luke Combs 7:44 Yep.

Joe Rogan 7:44 And I'm always like, "Okay." (laughs)

Luke Combs 7:46 You're like, "All right." "Just like, just-"

Joe Rogan 7:47 "Cool." Yeah.

Luke Combs 7:48 "I hope nobody gets mad." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 7:49 Yeah. (laughs)

Luke Combs 7:53 It's like, "Forget about what he said. These are bangers."

Joe Rogan 7:55 Is it like new Kanye or is it old Kanye though?

Luke Combs 7:58 She likes all of it.

Joe Rogan 7:59 All of it?

Luke Combs 8:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 8:01 Huh. I like the, I love the old stuff. I can't say- Yeah. ... I'm jamming the, the Ye stuff or I can't say I'm ja- I just, to me, the choruses, his choruses in the beginning were just- Incredible.

Luke Combs 8:13 Incredible, dude.

Joe Rogan 8:15 Yeah.

Luke Combs 8:15 You know? Incredible.

Joe Rogan 8:16 Yeah. I'm, I'm very curious to see what he comes up with now after all this, uh, cancellation shit.

Luke Combs 8:21 It's crazy, man. Like-

Joe Rogan 8:23 I bet he's gonna come up with some fucking bangers.

Luke Combs 8:25 Is, is he like m- missing or something? Well, you know, he's kinda like- Was that a thing?

Joe Rogan 8:28 ... laying back. There was some photos of him with some lady th- the other day that, you know, he's out and about smiling.

Luke Combs 8:34 So he's confirmed?

Joe Rogan 8:36 I mean, he's around. I don't, I don't know what he's up to. It's, uh...

Luke Combs 8:40 'Cause he lives, like, middle of nowhere or something now, right?

Joe Rogan 8:43 He's got a place in Wyoming.

Luke Combs 8:44 Okay.

Joe Rogan 8:44 Yeah. He's got a ranch in Wyoming.

Luke Combs 8:46 Man, that must be nice.

Joe Rogan 8:48 Fuck yeah.

Luke Combs 8:48 That'd be cool. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 8:49 Yeah. That's lit.

Luke Combs 8:50 I'd love to have one of those.

Joe Rogan 8:51 A ranch in Wyoming. Everybody who saw Yellowstone was like, "Goddammit. I wanna live like that."

Luke Combs 8:56 They're like, "Montana's too expensive."

Joe Rogan 8:58 (laughs)

Luke Combs 8:58 "So I'm going to Wyoming." Yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:00 Yeah. Montana's overrun by yuppies.

Luke Combs 9:02 Yeah. I love Montana though.

Joe Rogan 9:04 God, it's fucking beautiful.

Luke Combs 9:05 Oh.

Joe Rogan 9:05 Out where, uh, Rinella lives.

Luke Combs 9:07 Yes. I just went to Banff last week-

Joe Rogan 9:09 Yeah?

Luke Combs 9:09 ... for the first time. Have you ever been there?

Joe Rogan 9:11 No.

Luke Combs 9:13 Dude, it, it's like even more Montana Montana.

Joe Rogan 9:18 Really? How could it be?

Luke Combs 9:20 It's hard to explain, man. I mean, it, it's just so, so, like, we had, me and my wife flew into Calgary, 'cause the closest you can get is Calgary. Even flying private-

Joe Rogan 9:31 Really?

Luke Combs 9:31 ... the closest you can get is Calgary.

Joe Rogan 9:32 So it's a land in another country?

Luke Combs 9:34 No. It's, they're both in Canada. They're both in Canada.

Joe Rogan 9:36 Oh, okay.

Luke Combs 9:36 So you go Calgary, and it's an hour and a half drive to Banff.

Joe Rogan 9:40 Oh.

Luke Combs 9:40 But it is like the sickest drive. Like 20 minutes outta Calgary, it turns into, like, the most Rocky Mountain thing you've ever seen.

Joe Rogan 9:50 Really?

Luke Combs 9:50 And it's ju- I mean, it's outta control, man. I mean, I'd never seen anything like it. We stayed in this hotel that was, like, built in 1889-

Joe Rogan 9:59 Whoa.

Luke Combs 9:59 ... up there. I'm like, I c- it's hard for me to get there now.

Joe Rogan 10:02 Right.

Luke Combs 10:02 What was it like in 1889 to try to get there?

Joe Rogan 10:05 What's it made out? Is it made outta logs?

Luke Combs 10:07 It's stone.

Joe Rogan 10:08 Whoa.

Luke Combs 10:09 Yeah. So I'm like, "How do you even get there?" It's, had to be, there's a railway that goes through there, but I imagine like...

Narrator 10:14 Is that it?

Luke Combs 10:15 Yes. It's called the Fairmont.

Joe Rogan 10:17 Wow.

Luke Combs 10:19 Yep.

Joe Rogan 10:20 Wow. Look at that fucking place.

Luke Combs 10:22 Dude, it-

Joe Rogan 10:22 Look at that view. Holy shit.

Luke Combs 10:25 ... was wild, dude.

Joe Rogan 10:26 What a beautiful place.

Luke Combs 10:27 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 10:28 That's from 1889?

Luke Combs 10:29 Yep. 1889.

Joe Rogan 10:31 How did they even get there? Like, we're talking-

Luke Combs 10:33 I don't know.

Joe Rogan 10:33 ... pre-automobile.

Luke Combs 10:34 Yeah. Well, I, so I grew up in Asheville, and I always think about the Biltmore House.

Joe Rogan 10:38 Hmm.

Luke Combs 10:39 Have you ever been to the Biltmore House?

Joe Rogan 10:40 I've been to Asheville. I've never, I, I don't-

Luke Combs 10:42 Dude.

Joe Rogan 10:42 ... know if I've seen the Biltmore.

Luke Combs 10:43 Pull up the Biltmore House. This place is staggering, dude. I mean, it is like, you can't even bel- so if you sit on, it kind of sits on this hill, right? So the Vanderbilts built it. So it was the largest-

Joe Rogan 10:56 Oh.

Luke Combs 10:56 Yeah. Largest-

Joe Rogan 10:57 That's in Asheville?

Luke Combs 10:58 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 10:58 Holy shit.

Luke Combs 10:59 So if you stand on top of that building, they owned everything you can see from the top of that building, which is like-

Joe Rogan 11:07 (laughs)

Luke Combs 11:07 ... hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of acres.

Joe Rogan 11:10 Wow.

Luke Combs 11:11 I mean, it is unbeliev- it was the largest residence, private residence in the United States for a long, long, long, long time. Um, they have the chess set in there that Napoleon's heart was put on after he died.

Joe Rogan 11:22 (laughs)

Luke Combs 11:23 Just crazy.

Joe Rogan 11:23 They cut his heart off and put it on a-

Luke Combs 11:25 It's crazy.

Joe Rogan 11:26 They put it on a chess set?

Luke Combs 11:27 But that's the kinda stuff they have in that house, dude.

Joe Rogan 11:31 Is there still a blood stain?

Luke Combs 11:32 Uh, I don't know. I can't attest to that.

Joe Rogan 11:35 (laughs)

Luke Combs 11:35 I can't attes- but I used to go, I mean, I've been in that place four or five times. I mean, and it's just staggering.

Joe Rogan 11:40 Do you stay there? Can you stay there?

Luke Combs 11:41 No, you can't stay there. It's tours.

Joe Rogan 11:43 Oh, wow.

Luke Combs 11:43 But they, they have a hotel on property, but it's not, you don't stay in there. They had a swimming pool, bowling alleys. I mean, it was like decked out, the biggest mansion you've ever seen, but it was built in, I mean, I can't attest to the date that that one was built in, but 1800s no doubt.

Joe Rogan 11:59 Wow. Well, I wonder why they built such a big place in Asheville. Why, why, what brought-

Luke Combs 12:03 I, you know, I don't know. So they have, they built a whole town around it, right? It's called Biltmore Village. Um, and I actually sang in a choir at the All Souls Cathedral there in high school, which was built by the Vanderbilts as well. And so it's like super old Episco- it's an Episcopalian church.

Joe Rogan 12:20 Wow.Look at that fucking place.

Luke Combs 12:22 Dude, it is-

Joe Rogan 12:23 Oh, my God.

Luke Combs 12:23 It's ... I mean, everything's marble, dude. It ... I mean it's ... Can you imagine living there in the 1800s?

Joe Rogan 12:29 exhales sharply Wow.

Luke Combs 12:30 What that was like?

Joe Rogan 12:32 Wow.

Luke Combs 12:33 Staggering, man.

Joe Rogan 12:34 Again, pre-automobile. These people were riding horses to this house.

Luke Combs 12:37 Uh-huh. Yeah. Dude, they imported... And I ... They ... You ... Someone's definitely gonna fact-check me on this, but I believe they imported everything from overseas on this whole place, the marble, the stone.

Joe Rogan 12:48 Wow. Look at the ceiling in that place.

Luke Combs 12:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 12:52 That's incredible. Wow.

Luke Combs 12:55 250 rooms, dude, in that place.

Joe Rogan 12:59 Jesus Christ. What a fucking place. Some people just have too much money. That's too much money.

Luke Combs 13:05 Yeah. They ... You should-

Joe Rogan 13:06 (laughs)

Luke Combs 13:06 You should ... If you're ever in Asheville, you gotta go tour that place, man. It's unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 13:09 My buddy, Duncan, grew up in Asheville, and he lived there before he c- moved back here to Austin. But, uh, he, uh, he grew up there and they used to, uh, give the cows, like, a special antifungal feed because they were growing mushrooms so much-

Luke Combs 13:24 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 13:24 ... that all these kids-

Luke Combs 13:26 Sounds-

Joe Rogan 13:26 ... were going out to the fields picking that up (laughs) .

Luke Combs 13:27 Sounds very Asheville. And it's funny, growing up in Asheville, like, I heard about that. Like, I heard it would be like, "Oh, if you go under the c- the cow paddies, man, there's mushrooms under there."

Joe Rogan 13:36 Yeah.

Luke Combs 13:37 And I always thought it was like, "Man, that's a total lie," but it's not apparently.

Joe Rogan 13:41 No, apparently those spores are just in the hills. He said, like, on any given day you go out there and there's mushrooms everywhere.

Luke Combs 13:49 That's wild, man.

Joe Rogan 13:50 Yeah, there were so many that they'll ... Again, they were giving these cows some sort of feed to discourage the mushrooms from growing-

Luke Combs 13:55 From growing.

Joe Rogan 13:55 ... in their shit.

Luke Combs 13:56 I believe it. That sounds-

Joe Rogan 13:57 Which seems like a crime against humanity.

Luke Combs 14:00 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:00 Like, why the fuck would you do that?

Luke Combs 14:02 Well, it's like, why mess with it, right? You know?

Joe Rogan 14:04 Yeah, just let the kids pick them.

Luke Combs 14:06 Yeah. Let them do what they're gonna do, you know?

Joe Rogan 14:08 They'll ... No one's dying from mushrooms.

Luke Combs 14:09 Yeah. Let them do what they're gonna do.

Joe Rogan 14:10 Yeah.

Luke Combs 14:10 I'm in agreeance with that.

Joe Rogan 14:11 Also, it's awesome. (laughs)

Luke Combs 14:13 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:17 Yeah. It's a ... Asheville's a special place. It's a very interesting place.

Luke Combs 14:21 It is. Yeah, I g- I moved there ... Me and my parents moved there when I was eight, from Charlotte. I was born in Charlotte and moved there, and we lived there ... I mean, I went to Appalachian State University-

Joe Rogan 14:30 Oh, wow.

Luke Combs 14:31 ... which is hour and a half away from Asheville. My parents actually just moved, um, two months ago to Nashville 'cause we had ... You know, I just had my first son, and so they wanted to be close to the grandkid and ... It was wild. It was like they didn't wanna ... They wanted to move, but they were really torn 'cause they've, they've loved that. We've been in that ... They've been in that same house since I was eight, you know? And so it was tough. I mean, we still have the house at the moment and stuff. We're trying to figure out, like, if we wanna keep it or, you know, sell it. It's ... I don't know. It's a w- ... It's tough, you know?

Joe Rogan 15:02 Yeah, it's hard when you have roots in a place.

Luke Combs 15:05 Yeah, my f- ... My dad, you know ... My dad's 69, and his two best friends live in, in Asheville. And you know, they drank beer every Friday and ... For 25 years, you know? And it's like, he moved to, to Nashville and it's like he doesn't know anybody, you know?

Joe Rogan 15:22 Oh.

Luke Combs 15:22 And it's like ... So I think he struggles with that a lot, which I ... You know, it's tough for me too 'cause I don't want him to, like, not be living-

Joe Rogan 15:30 Right.

Luke Combs 15:30 ... his best life either. You know what I mean? It's like I'm ... I love that he's close to, you know, my son, and my son's close with his grandparents, but I also want them to, like, enjoy their, enjoy their life too, right?

Joe Rogan 15:41 Tell his friends to move.

Luke Combs 15:43 I know, right?

Joe Rogan 15:43 That's what you gotta do.

Luke Combs 15:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:45 (laughs)

Luke Combs 15:45 Get them to move to Nashville.

Joe Rogan 15:46 Tell 'em to move.

Luke Combs 15:46 All right. All right.

Joe Rogan 15:48 Yeah, you just gotta talk everybody into moving. Get that mass exodus going.

Luke Combs 15:51 Yeah. It's a ... Dude, Nashville's like ... It's a, it's a hot, hot market too, man.

Joe Rogan 15:56 It is.

Luke Combs 15:56 It's-

Joe Rogan 15:57 Well, it's like in Aust- ... It's like Austin in a lot of ways, where the, the pandemic opened it up.

Luke Combs 16:01 Mm-hmm. Really did.

Joe Rogan 16:02 A lot of people are like, "I'm getting the fuck out of wherever I am."

Luke Combs 16:04 Yep.

Joe Rogan 16:04 "It sucks and I'm-"

Luke Combs 16:05 You know?

Joe Rogan 16:05 "... I'm gonna go somewhere that's a little freer and-"

Luke Combs 16:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 16:08 Yeah.

Luke Combs 16:08 That's a little less stringent, you know?

Joe Rogan 16:11 Yeah. Yeah.

Luke Combs 16:11 Nashville's a good place, man, but it is. It's-

Joe Rogan 16:13 It's a great place.

Luke Combs 16:14 It's changed a lot, unless ... Even since I've been there. I don't wanna act like I've been there, you know, 30 years, you know? 'Cause I'm probably considered a new Nashvillian myself.

Joe Rogan 16:23 How long?

Luke Combs 16:23 Um, so I moved there in 2014, so nine years. So not that long.

Joe Rogan 16:27 Yeah, I think you need, like, 10 years.

Luke Combs 16:28 Yeah. You need 10 years-

Joe Rogan 16:29 Before you can start talking shit.

Luke Combs 16:30 Before you can be like, "Yeah, see, it's changed." You know?

Joe Rogan 16:33 (laughs)

Luke Combs 16:33 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 16:33 Yeah. We ran into this guy the other day that was talking about Austin. He's like, "Man, Austin's just not the same." And Tony goes, "How long you been here?" And the guy goes, "Five years." He goes, "Shut the fuck up."

Luke Combs 16:45 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 16:46 (laughs) He goes, "Bitch, you just got here."

Luke Combs 16:47 Yeah. (laughs) I'm that guy. I'm that Nashville guy. I'm like, "Yeah, it used to just be so, so different," you know?

Joe Rogan 16:53 People love to say things like that, though.

Luke Combs 16:55 They do. It makes them feel like ... I feel like it's almost like if you're saying that, you're taking ownership that-

Joe Rogan 17:00 Yeah.

Luke Combs 17:01 That's your home now.

Joe Rogan 17:02 Right.

Luke Combs 17:02 Right?

Joe Rogan 17:02 Yeah.

Luke Combs 17:03 Like, whether you've been there five years or 50 years-

Joe Rogan 17:06 Yeah.

Luke Combs 17:06 ... when you say things like that, it, it really shows that you feel some sort of ownership to that place.

Joe Rogan 17:11 Yeah.

Luke Combs 17:11 And maybe that's the place that you wanna be, or you feel like is home. So maybe it's a good thing, you know?

Joe Rogan 17:16 Yeah, it's a pride thing. It's, it's better than, like, shitting on it.

Luke Combs 17:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 17:20 I mean, it's like you just want it to stay good. But, you know, things change and they evolve. And there's ... It's not that it's not as good. It's just different.

Luke Combs 17:29 Yeah. I mean, I can imagine, you know, some of the, some of the guys I ... That, you know, I love listening to that, you know, were in Nashville in the '60s and '70s. Like, what would they think of it now? You know?

Joe Rogan 17:41 Is the scene in Nashville ... The, the music scene, is it H- Hollywood-ized in any way, or is it still gritty? Like, what is it ... What's, like, the-

Luke Combs 17:51 So there's, like, two sects of it, right? Like, there's ... There is still a very, like, gritty scene, and there always has been, right? So you've got ... Uh, you know, you've got, like, Black Keys type kinda thing-

Joe Rogan 18:05 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 18:05 ... you know, going on in East Nashville. Like, there's so many bands that have come out of East Nashville that are not part of, kinda, the mainstream Nashville thing, and that community still really exists. And a lot of, I think, artists ... Country artists that people love, that would kind of even two or three years ago have been considered, like, Americana-Like, that term, I'm not even sure what that means, right?

Joe Rogan 18:31 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 18:31 Like, to me that's just, like, country music that... You know, there's all these people on the internet that are like, "Well, it ain't, you know, Luke Combs, he ain't a real country singer." You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 18:40 (laughs)

Luke Combs 18:40 'Cause he's not. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 18:42 What does that mean?

Luke Combs 18:42 He's not Sturgill Simpson or whatever it is, right? Like, there's always these people who are trying to discredit you. But there's these, definitely these two different sects of, like, mainstream and non-mainstream that exist in Nashville.

Joe Rogan 18:55 Right.

Luke Combs 18:55 And there's people that are trying to chase, kind of, those, those things separately.

Joe Rogan 19:01 Hmm.

Luke Combs 19:02 And sometimes when popularity on the not chasing that goes through the roof, then it kind of can transition into the major labels. Like, "Well, maybe, you know, we should sniff around this guy." You know? And I, I was always... I, I didn't move to Nashville to, like, be... necessarily be like, "I'm gonna be a country artist." I just wanted to do music for a living in any way, right? Like, I worked, you know, a bunch of jobs in high school and college. And, and I, you know, I went to college for five years, didn't graduate, which I'm sure my parents loved.

Joe Rogan 19:35 (laughs)

Luke Combs 19:35 You know, I was 21 hours away from getting my degree, and I was like, "I'm gonna do music." You know? And it was whatever that was, sweeping floors in a studio would have been great to me because I would be around music. I'd be trying to write music, publishing deal. I mean, realistically, I thought to myself, especially at the time I moved to town, is like, "Dude, everybody that was doing music when I moved to town was hot, dude. 6'5", abs, dude."

Joe Rogan 20:04 (laughs)

Luke Combs 20:04 I mean, I had, didn't have a chance, bro.

Joe Rogan 20:07 (laughs)

Luke Combs 20:07 You know, I didn't have a chance. And so I'm going, "Well, cool, I'll just write songs for these handsome cats."

Joe Rogan 20:13 (laughs)

Luke Combs 20:13 "And, like, it'll be whatever, dude. That'll be fine with me, you know." Um, but I just re- I really... Like, again, back to the luck thing, man. Like, I stumbled into it at the right time. I think Chris Stapleton singing Tennessee Whiskey with Justin Timberlake at the CMAs was a, an earth-shattering moment for country music.

Joe Rogan 20:30 Hmm.

Luke Combs 20:30 And that opened the door up for guys like myself to pursue a career, like, somebody who didn't look like every other guy-

Joe Rogan 20:37 Hmm.

Luke Combs 20:38 ... in town. And everyone knew about Chris Stapleton in town. That guy was a legend in town. Had been there for 12, 13, 14 something years at that time.

Joe Rogan 20:48 Hmm.

Luke Combs 20:48 He had 250 cuts as a songwriter when that performance happened.

Joe Rogan 20:52 Wow.

Luke Combs 20:53 So it wasn't, it was just no one gave him a chance 'cause he was a husky guy with a beard.

Joe Rogan 20:57 Yeah.

Luke Combs 20:58 And that-

Joe Rogan 20:58 But Goddamn that voice.

Luke Combs 20:59 Oh, man. He's unbelieve- That national anthem at the Super Bowl, dude, was-

Joe Rogan 21:03 No, it was amazing.

Luke Combs 21:04 That was, that's the... It's, it's that and Whitney Houston, two best national anthems ever, in my opinion, at the Super Bowl, ever.

Joe Rogan 21:10 He's got some fucking bangers, that guy.

Luke Combs 21:13 I was sitting in a box with Adele at the Super Bowl, and he sang that thing, and she was watching. And like, like two lines in, she just goes, "Holy shit."

Joe Rogan 21:25 (laughs)

Luke Combs 21:26 Like, she just was losing her mind, dude. It was, I mean-

Joe Rogan 21:29 See if you can play that. Can you find that?

Luke Combs 21:31 It was unbelievable, man.

Joe Rogan 21:32 Let's listen to it.

Luke Combs 21:32 I mean, h- I mean, he's unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 21:34 He's a good dude too.

Luke Combs 21:35 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:35 I had him on couple years back. He's fun to hang with. He's a very, very genuine person. It's, it's always-

Luke Combs 21:42 He's quiet.

Joe Rogan 21:42 Yeah.

Luke Combs 21:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:43 He's... It's always nice when you meet someone that you really admire, and they're just cool as fuck.

Luke Combs 21:48 Oh, is this it? To honor America with the performance of the national anthem, eight-time Grammy Award winner- Dude, when- ... Chris Stapleton. When Nick Sirianni cries in this thing, I felt like a bald eagle was gonna fly over the stadium, dude.

Joe Rogan 22:06 (laughs)

Luke Combs 22:06 It was the most American thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

Joe Rogan 22:09 Yeah.

Luke Combs 22:09 Uh. ... ten.

Joe Rogan 22:10 Look at him.

Narrator 22:13 Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hail. And the twilight last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. O'er the ramparts we watched...

Luke Combs 23:00 Oh, God. He's unreal.

Narrator 23:02 Were so gallantly streaming. And the rocket's red glare.

Luke Combs 23:14 Whoo. (cheering)

Narrator 23:16 Of our friends still there.

Luke Combs 23:19 Wow. That got me, dude.

Narrator 23:23 May their soul...

Luke Combs 23:25 Whoo, whoo.

Narrator 23:26 ... through the night. And our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave.

Luke Combs 23:51 Whoo. Dude. Whoo.

Narrator 23:54 For the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Luke Combs 24:08 God, dang, dude. (cheering) Wow. That was electric, dude. I can't even-

Joe Rogan 24:18 Whoo.

Luke Combs 24:18 ... explain to you what being there in person was like for that.

Joe Rogan 24:20 Wow.

Luke Combs 24:22 It was unbelievable, man.

Joe Rogan 24:24 Whoo.

Luke Combs 24:24 And I remember when Sirianni came on, on the big jumbo screen in there with the tears coming down. I was like, "This is like all, this, this will never be a moment like this again." Like, "I'll never be, be present for a moment like that again."

Joe Rogan 24:37 Wow.

Luke Combs 24:37 And like felt the gravity of it in the moment too. It wasn't just like when you saw it on TV, it was cool, you know?

Narrator 24:43 Yeah.

Luke Combs 24:44 It was like they were showing that same feed in the stadium and it was that like even more imp- I'd never been to the Super Bowl before, so it was like, I was already soaking it in, you know?

Narrator 24:53 Right. There's already something about a big event like that, but to have him sing it like that. Whoo.

Luke Combs 25:00 Man.

Narrator 25:00 Woo.

Luke Combs 25:00 Yeah. It, it, it, it was unreal, man. It really was. That guy's an incredible, I mean, generational talent.

Narrator 25:06 Yes.

Luke Combs 25:07 No doubt. I mean, just no doubt about it.

Narrator 25:09 No, he's incredible. That's pretty fucking badass. When did you, when did you first think that you wanted to do music?

Luke Combs 25:18 I mean, it honestly wasn't till I was... So I'm 33. It was when I was 22 probably.

Narrator 25:25 Yeah?

Luke Combs 25:25 It was when I was really like, "I could do this." And it was-

Narrator 25:28 Did you enjoy it before? You just, like as a hobby?

Luke Combs 25:31 Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I, I'd... It was beyond a hobby for me, but I didn't even realize that, you know? So, I was... So in sixth grade, right? So I'll p- paint the kind of how these things happen is like in sixth grade, the first year of middle school, right? What they did in my middle school was it was like these six-week grading periods. And so, in the first year of middle school, they made you take every elective. So you would take gym class for six weeks, and chorus for six weeks, and band for six weeks. Actually, I think you got to choose chorus or band, but you had to do one music, and then you took art, and you took home ec. And so a- a- and during that sixth grade year, you try out every elective they have in the school. And then seventh grade, you pick what elective you wanna take for like... So you get one elective per semester. So you could have two electives in your seventh grade year. So there was an option for chorus that was a one semester of chorus, or you could try out for like the advanced chorus, which would be both semesters. So I liked chorus a lot and so I was like, "Well, I'll do, I'll do the one semester chorus and then I'll do gym or whatever." You know? 'Cause like I like it, but I don't wanna take it that serious, right? So I do my first semester, I'm in chorus and my teacher, Miss Rayburn, she comes up to me like last week of school and she's like, "Will you please change your elective and be in advanced chorus with me?" And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, if you really want me to." Like, I liked it a lot and I was like, "Man, I wish I could do that in gym or whatever," you know? And so I did, I switched it. And so from seventh grade until I graduated high school, I was in chorus class every day of school for six years, you know? And then I got to high school, I get to high school my chorus teacher, Miss Bryant, was like, I mean, she was like my mom at school. She was like my school mom. Me and her became super tight, I mean, I was her teacher assistant my senior year, I was in her class a fourth of my entire high school career was spent in her classroom. And I was in every musical every year. So after school for half the year, I was doing the musical. And I just, I just liked it and I, I didn't realize I was even any good until like ninth grade when Miss Bryant was like, "Hey, you're like, you're, you're like good. You're really good." And I was like, "Oh, cool. That's nice." You know? 'Cause I like doing this, that's fun and remember I was transitioning to go to college and she said... I asked her, I was like, "Hey, should I do music in college?" You know? And she- I remember her telling me, "Don't do music in college if you can see your thing, self doing anything else."

Narrator 28:15 Wow.

Luke Combs 28:16 So if you can imagine yourself doing anything else other than music, you shouldn't pursue music in college. So in my brain I'm thinking, "Okay, well I..." I only thought the only option was to be a music teacher. In my head I'm going, "Well, that's the only option is to be a music teacher," and I, I don't want to be a music teacher 'cause I'm really bad. Like, I, I can't read music. I, I, like, I'm, like I can't do math. Like I, I have some sort of like... I just can't learn it.

Narrator 28:43 So you can't read music?

Luke Combs 28:45 Mm-mm.

Narrator 28:45 Wow.

Luke Combs 28:46 Not at all. And like, I, like it's like probably some sort of form of like dyslexia probably, to, to truest extent, like barely pass math, like-

Narrator 28:55 Have you tried to read music?

Luke Combs 28:56 Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean-

Narrator 28:57 What happened?

Luke Combs 28:58 (clears throat) I was in, um... So her, so her husband was actually the band teacher. He taught advanced placement music theory, which was a new class my senior year. I took that class and got like a D because it was like all these, the kids that were the best at band and the best at chorus were who was in that class, there was only like eight students in the class. And it, all it is was advanced, like here's the notes, here's this. I tried out for all-state chorus three years in high school and didn't make it because you had to be able to read. You had to do a sight singing audition, which is where they would hand you a piece of sheet music and you had to sing it just by reading the notes on there.

Narrator 29:37 Ah.

Luke Combs 29:37 Right? So it was a combination of what your voice sounded like and your ability to keep up with the all-state choir teacher, whoever that was picked out to be, and I never made it because I couldn't read the music. I just couldn't do it. I, I, I don't know why.

Narrator 29:52 Did you get coaching on it? Did you get like...

Luke Combs 29:55 Yeah, I mean, I, I try, I mean, I busted to t- try it. It, it, it's just something about it doesn't, doesn't make sense to me, like to my brain. Like I get it, like if I sit there and like plink it out really, really slow, I mean, I could figure it out, right? But it just doesn't... It's just such, to me, it's such an instinctual thing.

Narrator 30:15 Mm.

Luke Combs 30:15 You know? (clears throat) And so, I was in an acapella group my freshman year at college for a year. Um, I en- I enjoyed that, but again, it was just like an after school kind of activity thing with other people in college, you know? (clears throat) Excuse to have people to drink with really, you know? People with common ground or whatever. And gave that up...... my beginning of my sophomore year, really, um, and then didn't do music. I played rugby. I got into playing rugby in college. I did that, loved that. And I was just the guy that would, like, sing at parties or whatever. Like, my buddies that I played rugby with knew I sang. They'd be like, "Dude, sing for these chicks," or whatever, you know? It was kind of like, I was like party trick guy.

Joe Rogan 30:58 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 30:59 You know? And then after my junior year, I move home to Asheville. And I, we, I'd always moved home every summer up to that point. And then my mom goes... 'Cause I was sulking, because all my buddies that year, they all stayed in their college town for the summer. I was the only guy that moved back. So all my friends are gone. They're in Raleigh, they're in Charlotte, they're in Chapel Hill, they're in Boone, they're in, you know, Cullowhee at all these different schools. So I'm working at the same job I had when I was 16, at a go-kart place, with a bunch of high school kids. I'm 21 years old. I got nobody to hang out with, I'm living at my parents' house. I'm not doing well in school. I don't know what I want to do with my life, at all. And I'm sitting on the porch, I remember sitting on my parents' carport, and it was like, my mom come out. And she was like, "What's wrong with you?" Like, "What's, what's..." I'm an only child too, so she's like, "What's, what's going on?" And I was like, "Well, I don't know, Mom." I was like, "I don't have any friends here." Like, "I'm working at fucking go-karts," you know? Like, "What am I doing?" And she's like, "Well, you know, you know what, Luke? Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, they didn't even learn to play guitar til they were 21 years old." And I was 21, right? And so my parents had bought me a guitar in 7th grade that I never played. I did two guitar lessons and hated it, 'cause my parents wanted me to do it. You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 32:21 Yeah.

Luke Combs 32:21 Like anything your parents want you to do, you don't want to do, really. And so I went in the closet and I got this old, it was like a Ibanez, like $50 acoustic guitar, you know? Just d- horrendous condition. But I didn't know that. Didn't know anything about guitar. Didn't know what a good guitar was. Didn't know nice guitars even existed. So I taught myself all summer. I just sat on the porch when I wasn't at work, playing, playing, playing. 'Cause I knew I loved to sing, and I was like, "Well, I'll just learn how to play, and then I can sing at like parties for my buddies or whatever," and taught myself all year, and then just kind of became obsessed with like learning how to play. And by the time I was 22, I'm back in school, I'm in Boone, hanging out with my buddies. I'm starting to dabble around with like writing my own songs, 'cause I was like, "Well, I could... You know, this would be cool. I like this." And then I wrote my first two or three songs, and I booked a gig down the street, just like at this bar my rugby team always hung out at. 'Cause I figured that guy would, you know... He was like the coke head, like wild card, like he'd give me a show or whatever, you know?

Joe Rogan 33:22 (laughs)

Luke Combs 33:22 That guy was awesome, you know? I was like, "This guy will give me a show if I want to do a show." So I borrowed my neighbor's guitar, 'cause mine wasn't even acoustic-electric, it was just a straight up acoustic, and sat on a stool. My other buddy let me borrow his PA speakers, and 200 of my friends came out and paid a dollar to see me. I made 200 bucks that night.

Joe Rogan 33:42 (laughs)

Luke Combs 33:43 That was more than I made at both my jobs that week. And I was hooked, man. I was like, "Dude, this is awesome." Like, "I love doing this-"

Joe Rogan 33:51 One show.

Luke Combs 33:51 ... "first off." Yeah. I'm like, "I love doing this anyways, and I'm having a great time." I'm like having drinks with my friends. Everybody's psyched to see me here and stuff. And I was like, it just made sense, man. It wasn't, it wasn't one ounce of hard work in my mind after that point. It was just always fun, man, and I always loved it.

Joe Rogan 34:10 Wow.

Luke Combs 34:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:11 So it's like a door opened up, you walked through it.

Luke Combs 34:14 Yup.

Joe Rogan 34:14 And your life changed forever.

Luke Combs 34:15 It just made sense, dude. Yeah, it was like a true, like, aha moment, right?

Joe Rogan 34:20 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 34:21 Like you hear about those from people... Oh, I think I might have forgot to flip the top.

Joe Rogan 34:25 Yeah.

Luke Combs 34:26 Yeah. And you hear about those things, but it truly was that. It was truly an aha moment, man. And it was life, it was life changing, man. I don't know what I'd be doing if I hadn't done that.

Joe Rogan 34:34 That's so awesome. I love those kind of stories. I really do. I love those stories because it gives other people hope too. Like y-

Luke Combs 34:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:43 I guarantee there's someone listening out there that's in that same state that you were in when you were 21. They're like, "What the fuck am I doing?"

Luke Combs 34:50 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 34:51 And everybody has that feeling.

Luke Combs 34:52 I feel like most people, right?

Joe Rogan 34:54 Yes. Yeah.

Luke Combs 34:54 Like most people-

Joe Rogan 34:55 Yeah.

Luke Combs 34:55 ... are like... And you're in, you graduate college, I think about myself at, you know... If I graduated on time, 22. I didn't even graduate. But if I would have graduated on time, I'd have been 22 years old. And at 22, I, it's like I've just by the hair of my chin figured out what I was gonna do.

Joe Rogan 35:10 Wow.

Luke Combs 35:10 And that's got to be kind of abnormal, right? Even. Like you go to college and it's like, "Okay, I'm a business major."

Joe Rogan 35:16 Right.

Luke Combs 35:17 And then I get out, and then I realize I hate business, 'cause I'm only 22 years old then-

Joe Rogan 35:21 Right.

Luke Combs 35:21 ... I don't know anything, really.

Joe Rogan 35:23 Yeah.

Luke Combs 35:24 All I know is like getting drunk and like smoking weed and stuff, you know?

Joe Rogan 35:28 Yeah.

Luke Combs 35:28 And hanging out and going to class.

Joe Rogan 35:30 Well, for most people too, you're looking for something that you could do where you can survive. You're just looking for a living.

Luke Combs 35:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:38 You know?

Luke Combs 35:38 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 35:39 And if you can find something that's not a living, but is a passion-

Luke Combs 35:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:43 ... something that you really enjoy, you're already way ahead of the game.

Luke Combs 35:47 I always think to myself, "Man, don't make a living, make a life." Right?

Joe Rogan 35:50 Yeah.

Luke Combs 35:50 It's like... And that's, I wish I would have known that at the time.

Joe Rogan 35:54 Yeah.

Luke Combs 35:55 But now-

Joe Rogan 35:55 But you can't.

Luke Combs 35:55 You know?

Joe Rogan 35:55 You can't know it. You're too young.

Luke Combs 35:57 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:58 It's just-

Luke Combs 35:58 And people tell you those things and it doesn't...

Joe Rogan 36:00 Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:00 It just doesn't register.

Joe Rogan 36:02 No.

Luke Combs 36:02 It's like when we were having this kid. It's like people tell you, "Well, you're gonna think this and this and this," and I've heard it all.

Joe Rogan 36:08 Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:08 And it's all true, Joe.

Joe Rogan 36:09 (laughs)

Luke Combs 36:09 Every single bit of it is true. But it's like you don't believe it until it happens-

Joe Rogan 36:14 Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:14 ... you know?

Joe Rogan 36:15 Yeah. Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:15 You just, you just can't. Like you have to experience it.

Joe Rogan 36:17 Yeah. When my friends who don't have kids ask me, I'm like, "I can't even tell you."

Luke Combs 36:21 No.

Joe Rogan 36:21 "There's nothing I can tell you." It's, it, it'll change everything about who you are.

Luke Combs 36:26 It does, man. It's, it's definitely like a earth shattering-

Joe Rogan 36:29 Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:30 ... thing. But it's... And there's never that right time, right? There's always could be an excuse to be like, "Well-"

Joe Rogan 36:36 Sure.

Luke Combs 36:36 "... we'll wait a couple years til we're this."

Joe Rogan 36:38 Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:38 And then you get there and it's like, "Well, we'll get a bigger, we need to get a bigger place."

Joe Rogan 36:42 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 36:42 And by that time, you're 40.

Joe Rogan 36:44 ... yeah.

Luke Combs 36:44 Or something, you know? When you're-

Joe Rogan 36:45 Then, by that time it's hard to get pregnant.

Luke Combs 36:47 Yeah, if you're set up, if you're set up in the-

Joe Rogan 36:49 Yeah.

Luke Combs 36:49 ... in the bunker that you wanna have with-

Joe Rogan 36:51 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 36:52 ... you know, $10 million in the bank. You might be 50-something years old at that time, you know what I mean? Like-

Joe Rogan 36:57 Yeah, that's the theory behind population collapse, is that people start getting into their careers, and women wanna have children older, and they wanna have less children, and they're, they're, you know?

Luke Combs 37:08 It's- I didn't even realize that was a thing until Musk started talking about it.

Joe Rogan 37:14 Well, Japan is apparently in dire straits. Because the way it works is you always have to look at 18 to 20 years out from now.

Luke Combs 37:22 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 37:22 You know? And when people are looking at life now, you're like, "Oh, there's so many people. There's no population collapse."

Luke Combs 37:28 Right.

Joe Rogan 37:28 But when no one is having kids, and you realize when these people die, that's it.

Luke Combs 37:32 Yeah, 'cause the mainstream belief is that the world's overpopulated, right?

Joe Rogan 37:35 Right.

Luke Combs 37:36 Essentially.

Joe Rogan 37:36 Yeah.

Luke Combs 37:36 That's what I always remembered hearing growing up is there was too many people.

Joe Rogan 37:40 Well, there's t- The real problem is not too many people. The real problem was lack of economic opportunity and, um, you know, this, these places where people are starving and poor.

Luke Combs 37:54 Right.

Joe Rogan 37:54 They, they, those are the people that are, ironically, are having the most children.

Luke Combs 37:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 37:58 Which is crazy.

Luke Combs 37:59 Yeah, it's nuts, man. I mean, it's, I remember thinking, like, my grandmother, you know, she's one of 12 or 14, right?

Joe Rogan 38:07 Wow.

Luke Combs 38:07 And then my other, my, my dad's dad, he was one of, I mean, 10.

Joe Rogan 38:14 Yeah.

Luke Combs 38:14 Right? And it's like, my dad's best friend, uh, born in Ohio. He's one of a t- ton, but they, it's like they all grew up on farms.

Joe Rogan 38:22 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 38:23 So it's like you're having the, essentially the kids are, had to like help with the farm, right? Like that was the idea-

Joe Rogan 38:30 Yeah.

Luke Combs 38:30 ... at that time for those people. It's like, "Well, if I got more kids, I got more people to help." You know what I mean?

Joe Rogan 38:34 Yeah, you're raising a staff.

Luke Combs 38:36 Right, it's-

Joe Rogan 38:36 Yeah.

Luke Combs 38:36 ... which is wild. And that's just not happening, you know? And not that-

Joe Rogan 38:39 At all.

Luke Combs 38:39 ... obviously that's the reason no one should be having children. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 38:42 (laughs)

Luke Combs 38:42 To have people to work at their home, you know? But it was a necessity at that time.

Joe Rogan 38:47 Yeah. It's, uh, it's always fascinating to me the, the roots of the kind of music that you enjoy.

Luke Combs 38:54 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 38:54 Country music, 'cause its country is so, it's so ingrained in struggle, and, and life, and hardship-

Luke Combs 39:05 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 39:05 ... and heartbreak, and-

Luke Combs 39:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:06 ... you know? It's, it's such a, it, it, that, that music resonates with people.

Luke Combs 39:11 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 39:12 You know? There's a thing about th- you know, that, that k- that kind of life that comes through in that music that's so appealing to people.

Luke Combs 39:22 Yeah, I remember, you know, I mean, I, I think back to, you know, my, my grandfather's favorite artist was Chet Atkins, and when he passed away in 2015, the thing that he, you know, gave me was every Chet Atkins record ever, on vinyl. And I remember thinking like, "What a cool thing," right?

Joe Rogan 39:41 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 39:41 Like he loved that guy so much. I mean, one of the best guitar players ever, not to mention, but he loved that guy so much that he bought every single, and I'm talking it's, those guys were putting fucking records out, dude, back then. I mean, they might put out two albums a year.

Joe Rogan 39:59 Wow.

Luke Combs 40:00 I mean, go look how many Merle Haggard records there are, or Waylon Jennings records. There's a bunch, dude. Willie Nelson records. There's 90 Willie Nelson records? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:10 Is it really?

Luke Combs 40:10 It's 60 or 90.

Joe Rogan 40:12 Wow.

Luke Combs 40:13 So either way, it's not a low number, right?

Joe Rogan 40:15 (laughs) That's so crazy.

Luke Combs 40:17 But like, because those guys would, they just went, they just lived in the studio, man.

Joe Rogan 40:21 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 40:21 And they wrote, and they cut their buddies' songs that they loved. And it was like, it was quick, 'cause it was all one take. We'll go in with the band, get a take. We like the take. Done, print it. Now it's go in, do the thing, record the songs, get every part right, comp the vocals, comp the guitar parts, comp the drums. Like-

Joe Rogan 40:40 Mm.

Luke Combs 40:40 ... it could take days, and days, and weeks to get one song right now, because everything has to be perfect in everyone's mind.

Joe Rogan 40:49 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 40:50 Right? And I think that's the uniqueness of, of, I mean, Stapleton. He goes in and cuts records with a band.

Joe Rogan 40:56 Yeah.

Luke Combs 40:57 And they each cut it live to, to tape, and it's like, that's why it's different.

Joe Rogan 41:03 Yeah, it's i- it's interesting what resonates too. You know, uh, I'm a big Colter Wall fan. And, uh-

Luke Combs 41:10 Sleeping on the Blacktop.

Joe Rogan 41:11 Oh my God, he's the shit.

Luke Combs 41:12 Yep.

Joe Rogan 41:12 I play that song, Kate McKinnon.

Luke Combs 41:14 Yep.

Joe Rogan 41:14 And I tell people, "This guy was 21 when he sung that."

Luke Combs 41:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:17 And people are like, "What the fuck?"

Luke Combs 41:18 He sounds like a cowboy from 1860 singing that thing.

Joe Rogan 41:21 Like a dude who's been smoking four packs of Camels a day.

Luke Combs 41:25 Yeah. Canadian guy, right? I believe.

Joe Rogan 41:27 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Luke Combs 41:28 Have you had him on?

Joe Rogan 41:29 No, man. He doesn't do interviews.

Luke Combs 41:31 Really?

Joe Rogan 41:31 Yeah, he works on a ranch.

Luke Combs 41:34 That's super cool. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 41:37 (laughs)

Luke Combs 41:37 Dude, that guy's so much cooler than me, dammit.

Joe Rogan 41:40 (laughs)

Luke Combs 41:40 That guy's so much cooler than me.

Joe Rogan 41:41 I've been trying to get him on for like a year and a half, two years. He's like, he just doesn't do interviews. He's just a musician. He's just an artist. So like, he's pure-

Luke Combs 41:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:52 ... in the strangest way. I just love to hang with him.

Luke Combs 41:54 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 41:54 I just wanna meet him. I'm like, I just wanna tell him, like, "Hey man, like even if you don't wanna do a interview, let's just talk."

Luke Combs 42:00 Right.

Joe Rogan 42:00 "I just wanna see what you're all about."

Luke Combs 42:01 If he works on a ranch, dude, he hunts, right?

Joe Rogan 42:03 I'll guarantee you he hunts.

Luke Combs 42:04 You would think so.

Joe Rogan 42:05 It's, yeah.

Luke Combs 42:05 I mean, that's a pitch.

Joe Rogan 42:06 Yeah. I mean, there's so many people from Canada that hunt too.

Luke Combs 42:09 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:10 It's a different world up there.

Luke Combs 42:12 It really is, man. It's wild up there.

Joe Rogan 42:14 Yeah.

Luke Combs 42:14 It's a wild place up there.

Joe Rogan 42:15 How did you meet Rinella?

Luke Combs 42:17 Okay, so I'm Rinella, uh, stan dude. I'm a Rinella stan. Meat eater. I've been watching it for years, man.

Joe Rogan 42:24 Yeah.

Luke Combs 42:24 And it's just like I've, and you probably feel the same way, man, like there's a lot of like machismo, bravado stuff in like h- the hunting-

Joe Rogan 42:35 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 42:35 ... like industry.

Joe Rogan 42:36 Yeah.

Luke Combs 42:37 That really, like, turns me off to it.

Joe Rogan 42:40 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 42:40 Because I feel like it's why so many people, like have a disdain for hunting. It's not-

Joe Rogan 42:47 Right.

Luke Combs 42:47 ... necessarily, obviously there's people that go, "You shouldn't kill animals. You shouldn't do this, shouldn't do that." Right? There's always gonna be those people.But there's the people that go, the type of people that hunt.

Joe Rogan 42:57 Yeah.

Luke Combs 42:57 It's almost a stereotype, right?

Joe Rogan 43:00 Yeah. Yeah.

Luke Combs 43:00 And I didn't get into hunting till I was, till I moved to Nashville. But I didn't grow up hunting. My dad's from the Rust Belt in Ohio, like steel mill, you know, his dad was a truck driver, like they didn't own land, you know, kinda thing. So he didn't hunt. That was just not a part of my upbringing, right? I used hunting and like inherently, the guys I started writing songs with and the guys I connected with all love to hunt, right? So started out as like, "Okay. Well, cool. These guys will take me out. That'll be super fun." And as I fell in love with it, as my care- because my career was taking off at the same time, right? And so life became more and more and more hectic. And it became this cathartic experience of like being able to process some of what was happening to me and just enjoying that hunting was the opposite of everything else I was doing in my life.

Joe Rogan 43:51 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 43:51 Right? It was like this pursuit of this thing that was so like pure, it's calm, like it's like I can, I'm in control of like what's going on out here. And it's like, uh, you know, obviously not the animal but just being here and being like present and not having my phone and not worrying about posting to Instagram or whatever it is.

Joe Rogan 44:11 Yeah.

Luke Combs 44:11 And I fell in love with that rapidly. And so as I begin to go, "Well, dude, I wanna watch this on television, you know? I wanna see this." So I start watching stuff and I'm like, "Dude, some of these guys are brutal on here." Like it's just not for me.

Joe Rogan 44:27 Yeah.

Luke Combs 44:27 Like this hunting, like, "Uh, we're going, if it's brown, it's down and fucking kill it," you know? And it's like this whole thing about it to me was odd.

Joe Rogan 44:36 Yeah.

Luke Combs 44:36 Like I just-

Joe Rogan 44:36 Posing.

Luke Combs 44:37 Right. Like it felt-

Joe Rogan 44:39 Yeah.

Luke Combs 44:39 ... like this fake-

Joe Rogan 44:40 Uh-huh.

Luke Combs 44:40 It felt fake to me, right?

Joe Rogan 44:43 Yeah.

Luke Combs 44:43 So then I turn on, I see this show Meat Eater on Outdoor Channel. And I'm watching it and it's like I see the intro where it's like, "I'm Steven Rinella and hunting's not just about the pursuit of an animal and all the..." And I was like, "Okay. That's different than all the other shows that I've seen," you know? So I watched it and then there's this mega intelligent cat on there and he's cooking dude and he's ta- and he's like a wealth of knowledge, right?

Joe Rogan 45:09 Yeah.

Luke Combs 45:09 And that's the thing that like, that gets me, like my dad's a big like thinker, you know? Um, and he's always been interested in just learning about new stuff, like he's always just taken in information and learning things. And so I think I kind of inherited that from him. And so then I became kind of obsessed with like this show, this Meat Eater show, so I started watching it on Outdoor Channel. And then it comes on Netflix, this new, the new kind of version that comes on Netflix and I'm like, "Dude, this is, this is like earth-shattering for me." This is like it's marrying the intelligence of what this is and it's exposing people to, in my opinion, what's the right side of hunting to be on.

Joe Rogan 45:52 Yeah.

Luke Combs 45:53 Or the thing that I love about it so much. And I just for y- so then my career's starting to go and go and go. I saw you on there. You know, I was like, "Man, that's cool. He's having guests on, you know? That's pretty sick," You know? And all his buddies were like wicked smart and like-

Joe Rogan 46:08 Yeah.

Luke Combs 46:08 ... knew everything and they do all this, go to Alaska-

Joe Rogan 46:11 Yeah.

Luke Combs 46:11 ... and they go on these incredible places, dude. And so I just had my PR team and I was like, "Just reach out to this guy." Like, "Please get me, like how do I get on this show?" Like, "I wanna be on this. I wanna meet this guy and like be buddies with him and stuff." And it took like two years to finally get like, "Okay. We got a time, he wants to do it." And what was it like when you first met?

Joe Rogan 46:33 Well, I met-

Luke Combs 46:33 Him.

Joe Rogan 46:34 ... him when he didn't have Meat Eater. I met him when he was doing a show called The Wild Within. There was a show that was on, I r- I forget what network it was on, but it was a show where he was kinda recreating how, um, like the, the people that traveled across the West for the first time, the, the early settlers-

Luke Combs 46:52 (clears throat) Right.

Joe Rogan 46:52 How they hunted and, you know-

Luke Combs 46:53 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 46:53 ... he, like he shot a moose with a musket and-

Luke Combs 46:55 Right.

Joe Rogan 46:56 ... and turned its, its, uh, cape into, uh, like a raft and-

Luke Combs 47:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:00 ... and was drifting with it.

Luke Combs 47:02 Yep.

Joe Rogan 47:02 And, and I was like, "What an interesting guy." Like really the, the whole thing behind it, he was... You could tell, uh, his, his integrity and his, his true, uh, appreciation for the outdoors and for-

Luke Combs 47:17 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:18 ... wild animals and conservation-

Luke Combs 47:20 It feels pure.

Joe Rogan 47:20 It feels very pure.

Luke Combs 47:21 Very pure.

Joe Rogan 47:21 And he's so well read. I'm like, "This is different than every other hunting show that I'd ever seen."

Luke Combs 47:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:26 The same thing-

Luke Combs 47:26 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:27 ... to me. And then I met (laughs) I met... He didn't even know what a podcast was.

Luke Combs 47:30 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 47:31 And, and but it, to his defense, nobody did back then.

Luke Combs 47:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:33 It was, it was very early. And, um, I think I met him in 2011 and then, uh, he said he was doing a new show and he asked me if I wanted to hunt.

Luke Combs 47:43 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 47:43 And I, I said, "I've always wanted to hunt and I never really knew how to get started."

Luke Combs 47:47 Right.

Joe Rogan 47:47 And so-

Luke Combs 47:47 It's intimidating, dude. It's a hard-

Joe Rogan 47:49 Yeah.

Luke Combs 47:49 ... thing to get into, man.

Joe Rogan 47:50 It's a big learning curve.

Luke Combs 47:51 Yep.

Joe Rogan 47:51 There's a lot.

Luke Combs 47:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:52 And then to try to figure out what to do and how to do it and there's so much to learn and there's so, there's so much involved in it. And so he took me and my friend Brian Callen to Montana-

Luke Combs 48:02 Mm-hmm. I've seen that one. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:03 ... and we went mule, mule deer hunting. And from then on I've never stopped hunting.

Luke Combs 48:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:07 That was 2012.

Luke Combs 48:08 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:09 I was hooked.

Luke Combs 48:10 What was it like the... Okay. I'm curious to know what it was like, like so when you, like you guys first meet, was he like a little cold when you first met him?

Joe Rogan 48:19 A little standoffish. Yeah.

Luke Combs 48:20 Yeah?

Joe Rogan 48:20 Because, you know, he thinks everyone's a douchebag, 'cause a lot of people-

Luke Combs 48:23 For sure.

Joe Rogan 48:23 ... are douchebags. (laughs)

Luke Combs 48:24 And I, it was, it was same thing for me. It was like, it was like we got there, we hunted in Wyoming.

Joe Rogan 48:29 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 48:30 And, uh-

Joe Rogan 48:30 You guys hunted pronghorn, right?

Luke Combs 48:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:31 Yeah.

Luke Combs 48:32 And had never, I'd never done that. Um, you know, it's a cool animal.

Joe Rogan 48:36 That's a cool animal.

Luke Combs 48:36 All new. Yeah. It's amazing, dude. And-

Joe Rogan 48:39 That's a ancient, ancient animal.

Luke Combs 48:41 Yeah. It is.

Joe Rogan 48:42 That's the, one of the animals that survived the, uh, mass extinction of megafauna 12,000 years ago.

Luke Combs 48:47 Yeah. It's because it doesn't have any known really relatives, right? I mean, in the States, at least.

Joe Rogan 48:52 It also, it has speed that rivals like fucking cheetahs-

Luke Combs 48:56 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:56 ... because they used to run from cheetahs. That's, that's the animal.

Luke Combs 48:59 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:59 It's fu- such a fucking ancient animal.

Luke Combs 49:01 It's so cool looking, man.

Joe Rogan 49:03 Yeah.

Luke Combs 49:03 'Cause it's not a cervid.

Joe Rogan 49:04 No.

Luke Combs 49:05 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:05 No.

Luke Combs 49:06 That's what I was so interested. Did you ... Have you, have you hunted these?

Joe Rogan 49:09 No, I have not.

Luke Combs 49:10 Dude, have you ... So, I didn't re- ... And Renell told me this in the episode. When we ... He was like, "Smell it. It smells like Fritos."

Joe Rogan 49:17 Hm.

Luke Combs 49:17 It does.

Joe Rogan 49:18 Hm.

Luke Combs 49:18 It smells like Fritos, man. It's so, so strange. And it... I didn't realize their hair was hollow.

Joe Rogan 49:24 Hm.

Luke Combs 49:25 So, he's like, "If you shoot one and it gets in the water, you're screwed, dude, 'cause it weighs like three times as much. 'Cause its hair absorbs all the water."

Joe Rogan 49:33 So, it just sinks?

Luke Combs 49:35 So, it's just like ... Well, if you gotta get it out-

Joe Rogan 49:37 Oh. It fills up with water.

Luke Combs 49:37 ... and you gotta drag it, it weighs three times as much as it did before you shot it.

Joe Rogan 49:42 Oh, wow.

Luke Combs 49:43 'Cause then the entire thing is just saturated with water.

Joe Rogan 49:46 That's interesting.

Luke Combs 49:47 Which I thought was crazy.

Joe Rogan 49:48 I wonder why.

Luke Combs 49:50 (inhales deeply) I don't know. It's got to serve some sort of purpose, right?

Joe Rogan 49:52 Yeah. Some ancient, evolutionary purpose. Yeah.

Luke Combs 49:55 But I thought Steve was ... H- h- he was like, it was crazy. It was like, we got there and we were all so hyped 'cause I brought my buddies, Dan and Reed, who I c- credit mostly with me getting into hunting. Like, two of my best buddies. I write songs with them. Um, you know, we hang... Our kids hang out together. We hang out together a ton, and, um, they've been hunting their whole life. And, um, w- I took them with me. I said, "Hey, if I do this, I want to bring my buddies."

Joe Rogan 50:21 It's a great episode.

Luke Combs 50:22 Thanks, man. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 50:23 It really is.

Luke Combs 50:23 I love, I love that one. And, and, uh ... But yeah. We were like, "Man, Steve, like does he not like us, dude?"

Joe Rogan 50:28 (laughs)

Luke Combs 50:28 It was like, it was that first like two hours where we were like ... You know, but then I realized more. I'm like, "Dude, you're around like people you don't know with like guns and stuff." You know when he chilled out-

Joe Rogan 50:38 Yeah.

Luke Combs 50:38 ... is when we went and shot that night 'cause we got those 6'5" .300 Weatherbys, that, the MeatEater gun that they made with Weatherby.

Joe Rogan 50:46 Hm.

Luke Combs 50:46 And (clears throat) we went and shot that night and sighted them in, and then he was like, "All right. These guys know what they're doing." And then he was like immediately great.

Joe Rogan 50:54 Oh, that's-

Luke Combs 50:54 Like, it was like-

Joe Rogan 50:55 ... interesting. Yeah.

Luke Combs 50:56 It was like he felt like comfortable or like with us. Like he knew we weren't like bozos who were just-

Joe Rogan 51:02 Right.

Luke Combs 51:02 ... out there and like didn't know at all what we were doing.

Joe Rogan 51:04 Right.

Luke Combs 51:04 And like we were gonna in some way be dangerous like to him-

Joe Rogan 51:08 Right.

Luke Combs 51:08 ... or to his crew or whatever. It was like immediately it was like he was a completely different guy after that.

Joe Rogan 51:13 I didn't, I didn't know anything. I didn't own a rifle at the time. I, you know, I didn't know anything. I'd never shot an animal. I'd been fishing. That's it.

Luke Combs 51:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:21 Never been hunting at all. And then next thing you know, we're in Montana on the Missouri Breaks-

Luke Combs 51:26 Right.

Joe Rogan 51:26 ... you know, hiking up mountains looking for mule deer-

Luke Combs 51:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 51:30 ... for days. And it was, it was fascinating. Yeah. I mean, he's just ... He's a serious dude, but he loves you. He immediately contacted me after you, you did a show.

Luke Combs 51:41 Yeah?

Joe Rogan 51:41 Yeah, and he's like, "You should get that guy on."

Luke Combs 51:43 Dude, he's ... Man, he's great. And I mean, he's just been so gracious to, to me. And I was up in Montana. We had a couple of days off, and I hit him up. I was like, "Hey, I'm in town." Like, "What's something I can do?" And he's like, "Dude." He's like, "Bring you." He's like, "You can park your bus outside." He's like, "Come on over." He's like ... Dude, he cooked dinner for me and my bus driver and my security guy.

Joe Rogan 52:05 (laughs)

Luke Combs 52:05 Like two guys he's never met. Like, it's like his kids are running around like shooting us with Nerf guns and stuff.

Joe Rogan 52:10 (laughs)

Luke Combs 52:11 Like, and I was like, "This guy's great, man." You know?

Joe Rogan 52:13 Yeah.

Luke Combs 52:13 I was like ... It was just great, man. I, I, I love him.

Joe Rogan 52:15 I, I think he's the best spokesman for, for hunting.

Luke Combs 52:17 Yeah. I agree.

Joe Rogan 52:18 Because he's, he's the kinda guy that's so well-read and so articulate that he can have a conversation with someone who has a completely opposite opinion of what hunting is.

Luke Combs 52:27 Right.

Joe Rogan 52:28 And at the end of it they come away with a, a just, a much more comprehensive perspective.

Luke Combs 52:34 Right.

Joe Rogan 52:34 Of what it's about and what conservation is about and why, why he loves this pursuit and why it resonates.

Luke Combs 52:41 Yeah. Yeah, man. He's wicked. Uh, um, I, I love him, dude. He's just ... He's an unbelievable guy.

Joe Rogan 52:48 Yeah. I've been hunting with him a bunch of times now, including off-camera. We went hunting-

Luke Combs 52:51 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 52:51 ... recently in South Texas, and ... He's a great guy.

Luke Combs 52:55 Gah. He is, man. He's cool.

Joe Rogan 52:57 Yeah. Have you ever rattled in bucks before?

Luke Combs 52:59 I haven't. I haven't.

Joe Rogan 53:00 Oh, my God. We rattled in, uh, whitetails-

Luke Combs 53:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 53:02 ... down in South Texas. It's the most fun shit ever 'cause you, you basically set up. You have to have an arrow nocked in your fucking-

Luke Combs 53:09 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:10 ... your release on the cl- ... 'Cause they come running in.

Luke Combs 53:12 Right. They sprint.

Joe Rogan 53:13 'Cause it was in the middle of the rut, so you just clacka-clack. You take the, the, the-

Luke Combs 53:17 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:17 ... the fake antlers and you rack them, and then these deer just come f- sprinting in full clip looking to fight and fuck.

Luke Combs 53:25 Dude.

Joe Rogan 53:26 (laughs)

Luke Combs 53:26 I- I've tried it a million times, right? It just has never worked. You know, like Tennessee is not exactly a hotbed for rattling in bucks, you know. Um, I mean, I can't say it doesn't work for some of my buddies, but it's never worked for me.

Joe Rogan 53:39 It works amazing in South Texas. He said it works there better than anywhere he's ever been, and he doesn't ... No one knows why, you know? But it's, uh ... I, I think you just gotta catch it at the right time. You gotta catch it right at the time when they're fucking and fighting.

Luke Combs 53:52 Right.

Joe Rogan 53:53 And-

Luke Combs 53:53 Yeah, it's like a week or two week-

Joe Rogan 53:54 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 53:55 ... like max where it-

Joe Rogan 53:56 Yeah.

Luke Combs 53:56 ... really, really works.

Joe Rogan 53:58 Yeah.

Luke Combs 53:58 And otherwise, they're like, "Why is that going on?"

Joe Rogan 54:00 Exactly.

Luke Combs 54:00 "It's not supposed to be going on."

Joe Rogan 54:01 Exactly.

Luke Combs 54:01 "You know, I'm not going out there. That's weird."

Joe Rogan 54:03 (laughs)

Luke Combs 54:03 You know? Deer are interesting, man. They're-

Joe Rogan 54:05 Yeah.

Luke Combs 54:06 ... interesting animals, man. The more you watch them, they just ... Nothing makes sense to me-

Joe Rogan 54:10 Yeah.

Luke Combs 54:10 ... with it. The more I watch them, you know? The things that are supposed to happen often don't, I find, you know? Like you're thinking this is gonna be, you know ... I'm hunting the wind. I'm ... I got the stand. I got the access. I got the wind. I got the spot. I got the stand. I got the food plot.

Joe Rogan 54:26 Yeah.

Luke Combs 54:26 You know, like in Tennessee, you can't hunt over bait, so it's like you plant the food plot. You know, it's knee-high by July in the corn, and it's like, "You got it." It's everything's right. And then it's like, it's rut, you know? It's like ... And it's just nothing. You know, sometimes you got there and you're like, "What is h- how is this possible," you know?

Joe Rogan 54:45 Well, I have friends that are absolutely obsessed with whitetail, especially my friend John Dudley. He has an enormous plot of land that he has dedicated just to bow hunting.

Luke Combs 54:55 Right.

Joe Rogan 54:56 And that guy cultivates it all year round.

Luke Combs 54:58 Yep.

Joe Rogan 54:58 He works in the food plots.

Luke Combs 55:00 Full-time.

Joe Rogan 55:00 He has stands set up specifically in areas so that he knows-

Luke Combs 55:04 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:04 ... which way the wind is blowing. He's gonna go to that stand.

Luke Combs 55:07 Mm-hmm. Yep.

Joe Rogan 55:08 He, he goes to the stand on an electric bike-

Luke Combs 55:10 Yup.

Joe Rogan 55:10 ... so he doesn't leave behind any trace of smell.

Luke Combs 55:13 Yup.

Joe Rogan 55:13 So his feet never touch the ground.

Luke Combs 55:15 I do the same thing. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:16 Yeah. (laughs)

Luke Combs 55:18 It sounds like it works for him. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:19 It works for him. Well, he's a master. I mean-

Luke Combs 55:21 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:21 ... John, John's like one of the best archers and best archery coaches-

Luke Combs 55:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:26 ... in, in, in the space, and he's, he's, he's an amazing guy. But man, that guy is obsessed. And whitetail's the most hunted big game animal-

Luke Combs 55:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:34 ... in North America.

Luke Combs 55:36 I had a heartbreaker this year, man, a whitetail trip. I went to Oklahoma for a week and it was like ...It was jam up, man. It was like, there's gonna be deer, like, you know, it just felt everything's right, right?

Narrator 55:49 (laughs)

Luke Combs 55:49 We got this guy taking us out. He was awesome, man. He knew his stuff, like, killer guy, you know, and it's like, we're, like, we're going in. Me and my buddies, we're going in. So I went with Dan and Reed, same guys that I, I did meteor with. We went and we're like, "Dude, we're gonna do, we're tagging out first night, dude." Like, w- they're sending us all these deer pics, like, you know, and we're like, "Man, this is gonna be great." So first night, don't really see anything, right? It's like, "Oh, k- w- great. So morning, dude, we'll be tagged out," you know? Morning, and it's freezin'. It's just-

Narrator 56:19 (clears throat)

Luke Combs 56:19 So it's archery only, you know. Oklahoma's only got, like, two-week rifle season, I think. So, we're doing archery. M- m- morning comes, nothing. We're like, "Man," like, not really seeing, like, a ton of deer and stuff and we're just like, "We're get, tonight's the night," you know? We got five days to be out there. And we were thinking we're gonna be going home early, dude. Like, we're gonna be here, w- the first night we're gonna tag out and be like, trying to spend two days just hanging out, you know, or something. And so about the third day, we're like, "Well, let's all switch." We'd all been in the same spots, you know, different stands, 'cause they had a f- a few different leases kind of around this area of Oklahoma. So we were all going to different spots and like, "Well, let's all switch up," right? So I get in this tree in the afternoon. I'm sitting there and my buddy Dan, he's like, he's probably 500 yards away from me in another tree. And the, the, the gr- and it's kind of, like, s- really soft, rolling hills. Like, it looks flat almost if you're in the car, and then you realize there's a little bit of elevation change going on. So there's, like, this draw in between me and Dan. (sighs) I'm there and it's freezing, dude. Wind's blowing 25 miles an hour. I mean, just hammering. But the wind's perfect for where I'm hunting at, right? 'Cause it's kind of like this, this grove of, like, cedars, you know, and that's where all the deer are 'cause everything else is just ag fields around. I'm sitting there. I got these three does. I watch 'em come, like, off this hill. They come through the cedars, hop this fence. Dude, they're 25 yards in me, like, right on me, dude, you know? So I'm already, like, kinda standing up 'cause I'm, I- I'm, I'm not, you know, we're not even hunting a doe at this point, you know? And all of a sudden, man, (clears throat) behind this kind of berm over to my left, there's, like, a little pond. Behind this berm walks out, dude, I'm talking, you're gonna think I'm lying, 230-inch deer, man.

Narrator 58:11 What?

Luke Combs 58:13 No lie. Uh, everybody watching this is gonna be like, "You're lying. There's no, you didn't see a 230-inch deer." 230-inch deer comes out. He's at 60 yards broadside. I've got my arrow. I'm on the D-loop. I'm, I'm up, but I'm not drawing on him 'cause I, he's broadside at 60. The wind's going 25 miles an hour.

Narrator 58:34 Right, so it's-

Luke Combs 58:35 So it's like that arrow's gonna go... (swooshing)

Narrator 58:37 Right.

Luke Combs 58:37 Right? I'm not good enough to compensate for that kind of wind. I've also got does at 25 yards underneath my feet. And I'm going, "This buck's coming in, dude. He's walking right into this thing. There's no chance he doesn't walk in here. There's does in here feeding underneath my feet and he's looking right at 'em, broadside like this." So I'm hooked up. He kind of looks over. He's looking at the does and then he looks back really quick. And he takes off, like, s- dead sprint. Just, uh, stays at 60 and goes all the way. I watch him go all the way into the cedars.

Narrator 59:11 Did the wind swirl?

Luke Combs 59:13 No, the wind didn't swirl. And I'm going, "What is going on?" I called Dan, D- I'm, like, shaking at this point. I've got my bow back on the thing because the b- the does spooked out and they followed him when they saw. They looked back at him and when he took off, they took off. I called Dan. I was like, "Dude, I saw d- j- uh, this once in a 10 lifetime deer just come out and spooked at 60 yards." Like, it can't be me. The, it, the wind's great. Like, nothing saw me, dude. It wasn't me. And then he's like, he's on the phone with me. He goes, "Dude, there's coyotes running through the draw right now."

Narrator 59:44 Oh...

Luke Combs 59:44 I can see 'em. And I'm like, "Oh, gosh." So I sat in that stand for the next three days just every morning, three hours, night, three hours.

Narrator 59:54 (clears throat)

Luke Combs 59:54 (coughing) So last morning, I'm up there. I look up back to where Dan was sitting at. There's kind of a, another ag fence into a cut. It's like a cut cotton field. So it's not even, like, even though it's cut, there's not even food in it, right? There's not beans in it or corn in it. It's a cut cotton field. So really, in theory, nothing that these deer would be eating in this field, really. So Dan's hunting somewhere else. So I call our guy. I see all these deer and I'm, I'm glassing, probably, like I said, 500-ish yards out. I'm glassing and I see all these does, all these does, and I see him, dude, just... I mean, you can see from 500 yards he's a giant without binoculars. You know what I mean? Like, just no doubt that this is the same deer and he's cruising and there's like, if you can imagine, there's this wheat grass on the fence row right there that's grown up probably four foot, five foot maybe. And there's a g- there's a gap in it where there's a fence and probably six feet there's another gap where there's a fence. So it's all grass the whole way around, except for where those two fences are. So I watch every doe pile pass the first fence, pass the second fence. He's behind them. He comes past the first fence, never goes past the second fence.

Narrator 1:01:14 (sighs)

Luke Combs 1:01:14 And I go, I call my guy. I said, "Dude, come get me. This deer's bedded in this little tiny spot. I know exactly where he is." And he goes, "All right." He said, "We're going back tonight 'cause this deer's not gonna move." He said, "We're gonna do spot and stalk up to this spot 'cause I know he's laying right there." Stalk up, get probably 75 yards from that spot and we, we, pretty good feeling he's gonna jump this fence and come right across this field to where we're at and we're just gonna be right there, you know? I'm sitting criss-cross applesauce, like, ready.... he goes, "If we got 15 minutes of light left," he's like, "we're gonna creep up there and see if we can spook him up," kind of thing. We get up there. Dude, my heart is going a million miles an hour. It probably is right now just from being fat-

Joe Rogan 1:02:04 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:02:04 ... but it was really going at that time, dude. You know what I mean? Like, I'm like-

Joe Rogan 1:02:09 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:02:09 ... I'm, I'm w- one blood pressure point away from a stroke at this point.

Joe Rogan 1:02:13 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:02:13 Like, hiking up this thing. We get up there and we're like, "No, he's not there." I'm like, "How can he not be there?" So we're looking, we look down the fence, and this property line right there is like... So it's like this fence. We have access to this fence here. There's an adjacent fence right here that's not, that they don't have access on. So we hop. Look, he's 100 yards in the cut cotton field just standing out in the cotton field.

Joe Rogan 1:02:45 (sighs)

Luke Combs 1:02:45 This is our last night. We're going to the plane after the hunt. And it was over, man. 230-inch deer. Never- I'll never see him again. Never seen anything like it. Wow, this is not a high fence. This is not a pen, pay to play, like, pick your deer thing. Like, I was hope- being excited to shoot a 145 on this trip. You know what I mean? Biggest deer I've ever killed is 155, you know. And so I'm like... I got pictures of him-

Joe Rogan 1:03:13 Oh, let me see.

Luke Combs 1:03:13 ... somewhere (clears throat) . Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:03:14 I wanna see it.

Luke Combs 1:03:15 He's nuts. Let me see if I can find him on here.

Joe Rogan 1:03:17 It's fascinating how the, the appeal of those old, mature bucks-

Luke Combs 1:03:22 (whistles)

Joe Rogan 1:03:22 ... 'cause you know they're so smart. They don't get to be that big.

Luke Combs 1:03:25 Dude.

Joe Rogan 1:03:25 Unless they make all the right moves for five or six years.

Luke Combs 1:03:29 Forever, dude. Forever.

Joe Rogan 1:03:30 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:03:30 They make it forever, dude, and it's just... Let me see if I can find this thing.

Joe Rogan 1:03:33 But that's how they get to be that big, by just doing weird shit.

Luke Combs 1:03:37 Just being smart, dude.

Joe Rogan 1:03:38 Not being predictable.

Luke Combs 1:03:40 Where is this guy at, man? I got him in my text messages if I don't have him here. Yeah, I got him in my text messages. Dead air. You ever watch Always Sunny?

Joe Rogan 1:03:55 I don't worry about dead air. (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:03:57 (laughs) I remember this scene in Always Sunny where they, they're trying to do a podcast and nobody's saying anything-

Joe Rogan 1:04:02 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:04:03 ... and Danny DeVito just goes, "Dead air."

Joe Rogan 1:04:06 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:04:07 (laughs) That always rings in my head when I'm doing a interview for some reason. Okay, so I'm close here.

Joe Rogan 1:04:13 I don't think people are ever gonna appreciate that don't hunt what it means to see an animal that's that unusual. Holy fuck.

Luke Combs 1:04:24 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:26 Holy shit, dude. That's not a joke.

Luke Combs 1:04:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:30 That's a gigantic deer.

Luke Combs 1:04:32 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:04:32 Wow. Wow.

Luke Combs 1:04:36 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:04:36 This is that, this year?

Luke Combs 1:04:37 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:04:38 So he's still alive you think?

Luke Combs 1:04:39 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:04:40 Do they have any c- trail cam photos of him?

Luke Combs 1:04:43 Yeah, this is from... That's from a f- few weeks before we were out there.

Joe Rogan 1:04:47 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:04:47 This is where, this is where I was, right? So this is my kind of spot here.

Joe Rogan 1:04:50 What time of year were you there?

Luke Combs 1:04:52 We were there December, like s- second week of December.

Joe Rogan 1:04:55 Yeah?

Luke Combs 1:04:56 And-

Joe Rogan 1:04:56 You going back?

Luke Combs 1:04:57 Oh, I'm gonna have to.

Joe Rogan 1:04:58 You have to.

Luke Combs 1:04:59 They said, "Here's the thing with this deer," right? And here's another angle of him.

Joe Rogan 1:05:03 (exhales)

Luke Combs 1:05:03 They go, "Here's the thing with this deer." They go, "E- even if he loses 20 inches," he's a 210-inch deer.

Joe Rogan 1:05:09 Right.

Luke Combs 1:05:09 But there's a potential that he could be a 250-inch deer next year.

Joe Rogan 1:05:14 (exhales) Right, if he's-

Luke Combs 1:05:14 Right?

Joe Rogan 1:05:14 ... only five?

Luke Combs 1:05:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:05:16 God.

Luke Combs 1:05:17 This deer, this deer breaks the county record by 60 inches, and it's a top 10 archery deer in the history of Oklahoma if it goes down.

Joe Rogan 1:05:28 Wow. What's the number one?

Luke Combs 1:05:30 Number one, I could look it up. It's in the two, like, 40s range, like 245.

Joe Rogan 1:05:36 Oh.

Luke Combs 1:05:36 Range of all-time archery deer in the state of Oklahoma.

Joe Rogan 1:05:39 I didn't know Oklahoma had deer that big.

Luke Combs 1:05:41 I don't think anybody does, so let's edit this part out. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:05:46 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:05:46 Don't go to Oklahoma. It stinks. The hunting in northern Oklahoma stinks.

Joe Rogan 1:05:49 Yeah. Dudley has a spot in Oklahoma.

Luke Combs 1:05:52 It's... Dude, I didn't know about it-

Joe Rogan 1:05:53 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:05:53 ... until this year. I mean-

Joe Rogan 1:05:54 Yeah, he's got a lease in Oklahoma, and he's got some big fucking deer on that lease, too.

Luke Combs 1:05:58 We just had a friend that, that put us onto this guy, and he was like, "Man, this guy's great. And he's, you know, knows his stuff, and he's eager. And you know, he's excited to have y'all down." And I was like, "Cool, man." Like, you gotta think, man. We're... I'm hunting Tennessee, dude. A big deer in Tennessee is 140-inch deer.

Joe Rogan 1:06:14 Right.

Luke Combs 1:06:14 You know? So, like, I killed a 155 in Mississippi and thought I killed a Tyrannosaurus rex, dude. You know?

Joe Rogan 1:06:22 Right. Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:06:22 So, like, when you're going out west, dude, and seeing these deer, it's unbelievable to, to a guy like myself to even see that, you know? And growing a 145 on my own place would be deer of a lifetime-

Joe Rogan 1:06:33 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:06:33 ... for most guys in t- in southeast, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia. Like, that's the biggest deer you'll ever see.

Joe Rogan 1:06:41 Yeah, the, the obsession that people have with the cultivating land developed specifically to encourage white-tailed deer to move there. I mean, there's a whole industry behind it.

Luke Combs 1:06:51 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:06:51 Where people buy enormous plots of land-

Luke Combs 1:06:54 Yep.

Joe Rogan 1:06:54 ... and hire people to do land management-

Luke Combs 1:06:56 Yep.

Joe Rogan 1:06:56 ... just to set it up for deer.

Luke Combs 1:06:58 Yeah. I mean, I just... I can't say I don't do it myself. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:07:01 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:07:01 You know what I mean? It's like, it's just so intoxicating of like not... And it's like, man, the high fence thing, it just doesn't do anything for me.

Joe Rogan 1:07:08 No.

Luke Combs 1:07:08 I've never done it. I don't want to do it.

Joe Rogan 1:07:10 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:07:10 It just doesn't... It's just not the same, dude.

Joe Rogan 1:07:13 It's a different thing, yeah.

Luke Combs 1:07:14 It's just not even comparable.

Joe Rogan 1:07:17 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:07:17 It's like not knowing what's gonna walk out is the, almost the exciting part to me.

Joe Rogan 1:07:21 For sure. Yeah, it's the wildness. The fact that you're-

Luke Combs 1:07:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:07:25 ... you're engaging with a wild animal.

Luke Combs 1:07:27 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:07:27 Yeah, the, the people that... They feed them with feeders, and they have a high fence.

Luke Combs 1:07:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:07:32 And it's only 500 acres.

Luke Combs 1:07:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:07:34 You know where they all are. They can't get out. And like-

Luke Combs 1:07:37 Right, it's like, do you want to shoot Ricky or-

Joe Rogan 1:07:39 Right.

Luke Combs 1:07:39 ... Johnny or-

Joe Rogan 1:07:40 Or Bobby.

Luke Combs 1:07:41 ... or Greg? Or which one?

Joe Rogan 1:07:42 And they name 'em.

Luke Combs 1:07:42 And they just go... (whistles)

Joe Rogan 1:07:44 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:07:44 And they're like, "That's Greg's whistle. He'll come out on that one," you know?

Joe Rogan 1:07:47 Well, they literally hear the feeders going off when they come in.

Luke Combs 1:07:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:07:50 Which is just like-

Luke Combs 1:07:51 Yep.

Joe Rogan 1:07:51 It's... There's a lot of that in Texas.

Luke Combs 1:07:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:07:54 Unfortunately.

Luke Combs 1:07:54 Tennessee, there's no... You can have... You can feed 'em like not... It's two weeks before season.

Joe Rogan 1:07:59 ... you have to have it all feed, uh, like you can't have a grain of corn on the ground.

Luke Combs 1:08:03 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:08:03 That's not in a food plot.

Luke Combs 1:08:05 Hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:08:05 You know? You can hunt a f- food plot if you plant it and cultivate it and stuff. And you can feed, you know, you can do protein corn stuff, like, obviously you can't do it during turkey season either, so you have to have it up for that as well.

Luke Combs 1:08:17 But through the winter-

Joe Rogan 1:08:18 But through the-

Luke Combs 1:08:19 ... you can supplement.

Joe Rogan 1:08:19 ... you can supple-... Well, not even winter, 'cause-

Luke Combs 1:08:21 Right, December.

Joe Rogan 1:08:21 ... that's season.

Luke Combs 1:08:22 Right, right.

Joe Rogan 1:08:22 Yeah. Our season ends, like, f- first week of January-

Luke Combs 1:08:27 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:08:27 ... in Tennessee. So after that, you could have, you could have stuff out. So you really, you're feeding through the spring and summer.

Luke Combs 1:08:34 Have you ever done any, uh, out west hunting, like elk hunting?

Joe Rogan 1:08:38 No. I want to real bad, though. Like, real bad.

Luke Combs 1:08:40 If you think, you get obsessed with whitetail.

Joe Rogan 1:08:43 Yeah. I keep hearing about it.

Luke Combs 1:08:44 Wa- wait till you see a 400-inch bull raking its way through the trees-

Joe Rogan 1:08:48 Yeah. I- Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:08:49 ... looking like a fucking dinosaur.

Joe Rogan 1:08:51 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:08:51 And then you hear him scream. (screams)

Joe Rogan 1:08:53 (sighs) (bugle call) Hit the, hit the bugle.

Luke Combs 1:08:56 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:08:57 Dude. You-

Luke Combs 1:08:58 I can't even imagine.

Joe Rogan 1:08:59 Your blood boils.

Luke Combs 1:09:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:00 It's the w-, it's the wildest feeling. And, you know, I was, we were talking before that Derek Wolfe, who, you know, was in the fucking Super Bowl, and-

Luke Combs 1:09:08 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:09:08 ... and they, they asked him, "What is better, sacking Tom Brady or-"

Luke Combs 1:09:14 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:14 "... shooting an elk?" And he's like, "Sacking Tom Brady's pretty fucking cool, but it's not even close."

Luke Combs 1:09:17 Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:18 "It's not even close."

Luke Combs 1:09:19 Uh-huh.

Joe Rogan 1:09:20 There's something about those animals, man.

Luke Combs 1:09:22 Well, it's, uh, turkey hunting, they call it poor man's elk hunting.

Joe Rogan 1:09:25 Hm, right.

Luke Combs 1:09:26 'Cause there's the call and response thing, and-

Joe Rogan 1:09:28 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:09:28 ... you know.

Joe Rogan 1:09:29 I've shot a turkey. It's not-

Luke Combs 1:09:30 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:09:31 It's not the same thing. Turkeys are cool.

Luke Combs 1:09:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:33 They're delicious. It's great.

Luke Combs 1:09:34 All right. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:34 It's fun.

Luke Combs 1:09:35 They are delicious.

Joe Rogan 1:09:36 It's not the same thing.

Luke Combs 1:09:37 For sure. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:37 Not by-

Luke Combs 1:09:37 It's not.

Joe Rogan 1:09:38 ... any stretch of your imagination.

Luke Combs 1:09:39 But that's why they call it the poor man's elk hunting.

Joe Rogan 1:09:41 Yeah. (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:09:42 (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:42 Well, that's just 'cause you call them in.

Luke Combs 1:09:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:43 That's all. That, that's where the, the-

Luke Combs 1:09:45 It's that interactive nature of it, I think, is what people get addicted to.

Joe Rogan 1:09:48 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:09:48 And that can be similar to the elk hunting experience, too.

Joe Rogan 1:09:50 Well, I think it's just elk is just a majestic animal, too.

Luke Combs 1:09:53 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:09:53 When you see them, just the fucking antlers are insane.

Luke Combs 1:09:57 (clicks tongue) Yeah. They're just massive.

Joe Rogan 1:09:59 And it's just so delicious, too. The meat is so good.

Luke Combs 1:10:02 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:10:04 (inhales deeply) Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:10:04 I've had some, I've had some buddies, you know, cook for me that have got one, and it's... Yeah, I'd love to get one of my own, for sure.

Joe Rogan 1:10:09 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:10:10 It'd be real nice.

Joe Rogan 1:10:10 The problem with elk hunting is it's in the mountains.

Luke Combs 1:10:13 Yup.

Joe Rogan 1:10:13 And it's a lot of hoofing.

Luke Combs 1:10:15 Uh-huh. Yup.

Joe Rogan 1:10:17 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:10:17 And I don't let 300-lb guys elk hunting.

Joe Rogan 1:10:19 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:10:19 You know what I mean? I can't imagine.

Joe Rogan 1:10:21 Not successfully.

Luke Combs 1:10:21 Un- un- unless they're 6' 8" or something, dude. You know what I mean? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 1:10:23 (laughs) Right, like Derek.

Luke Combs 1:10:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:10:25 Yeah. It's, uh, it's not easy. Uh.

Luke Combs 1:10:28 No.

Joe Rogan 1:10:28 It's the hardest-

Luke Combs 1:10:29 Yup.

Joe Rogan 1:10:29 ... in terms of, like, y- just the physical workload.

Luke Combs 1:10:32 It's also part of it, though, right?

Joe Rogan 1:10:33 Mm-hmm.

Luke Combs 1:10:33 It's part of, like, how much work you put into it-

Joe Rogan 1:10:35 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:10:36 ... to get this thing out of it.

Joe Rogan 1:10:37 Well, that, when I became friends with Cam Hanes, that's why I was so baffled. I was like, "Why is this guy running all the time?"

Luke Combs 1:10:42 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:10:42 He t- tells me he runs all the time for hunting. I'm like, "What?"

Luke Combs 1:10:44 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:10:44 Like, how does that make any sense? And then you go hunting for the first time in the mountains, you're like, "Oh."

Luke Combs 1:10:49 Oh, this is why this guy...

Joe Rogan 1:10:51 Oh. And I, I thought I was in pretty good shape.

Luke Combs 1:10:52 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:10:53 I was like, "Oh my God, this is crazy."

Luke Combs 1:10:55 It's like Steve, dude. That guy can just go.

Joe Rogan 1:10:57 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:10:57 I mean, he just can just-

Joe Rogan 1:10:58 He's a mountain goat.

Luke Combs 1:10:58 ... go. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:00 And he's been doing that his whole life, too, you know?

Luke Combs 1:11:02 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:02 Puts in so many hours a year in the mountains.

Luke Combs 1:11:06 Yeah. That buffalo book he wrote is unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 1:11:08 It's very good.

Luke Combs 1:11:09 Yeah, it's so good.

Joe Rogan 1:11:09 Yeah. He got the rights to that, luckily, and now relea- re-released it with his audio, 'cause when he first sold it, um, they had an actor read it. You know, like some voiceover actor.

Luke Combs 1:11:21 Really?

Joe Rogan 1:11:21 It was terrible. Yeah, so he re-recorded it in his own voice.

Luke Combs 1:11:25 Oh, that's cool. That's cool.

Joe Rogan 1:11:25 ... which is amazing. Yeah, but that's that thing that happens with a lot of, like, first-time authors, is they don't trust you to read it. They want to get someone who's-

Luke Combs 1:11:35 Right.

Joe Rogan 1:11:35 ... uh, some sort of a professional, so-

Luke Combs 1:11:36 Mm-hmm.

Joe Rogan 1:11:36 ... he lost that argument, and then as time went on and he became more prominent and famous, then he was able to acquire the rights-

Luke Combs 1:11:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:11:43 ... through MeatEater and then re-release it, which is-

Luke Combs 1:11:45 Yup.

Joe Rogan 1:11:45 ... excellent.

Luke Combs 1:11:46 Yeah. That's, that's awesome, man. That guy... That, um, that, that... I don't know if it was, like, a book, like, that Close Encounters thing.

Joe Rogan 1:11:54 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:11:55 Have you wri-... Have you listened to that?

Joe Rogan 1:11:56 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:11:57 Dude, that is chilling, man.

Joe Rogan 1:11:59 (laughs)

Luke Combs 1:11:59 That guy that goes through the, like, hypothermia-

Joe Rogan 1:12:01 Mm.

Luke Combs 1:12:02 ... thing, dude? Is one of the most intense things I've ever listened to, man.

Joe Rogan 1:12:06 The, one of the most intense stories he's ever told me was when they were on Afognak Island in Alaska.

Luke Combs 1:12:11 Oh, is this the grizzly bear?

Joe Rogan 1:12:12 The, the grizzly bear attack.

Luke Combs 1:12:14 Oh, man.

Joe Rogan 1:12:15 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:12:15 Yeah, I was like all (snores) at the edge of my seat, dude, when they were telling us that story.

Joe Rogan 1:12:18 Eleven-foot bear running through their camp.

Luke Combs 1:12:22 Dude, I can't even imagine.

Joe Rogan 1:12:22 'Cause it, it had claimed their elk and they didn't know yet.

Luke Combs 1:12:25 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:12:26 They shot it the day before, they came back-

Luke Combs 1:12:28 Yup.

Joe Rogan 1:12:28 ... to pack it out.

Luke Combs 1:12:29 Mm. And they're sitting there eating sandwiches.

Joe Rogan 1:12:31 Yeah.

Luke Combs 1:12:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:12:32 No one has a gun on them.

Luke Combs 1:12:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 1:12:33 And this thing just comes running through the camp. (growls)

Luke Combs 1:12:35 What'd they say, Giannis like