Issue #93: I Don't Know What You're Up to, Luke Combs. But I like it.

The summer of King Combs.

By Marissa

With a few obvious exceptions, festival lineups, especially country festival lineups, rarely surprise me. They all generally follow the same formula, with Token White Dudes on the top line and a few other folks sprinkled in on what I like to call the “squinters,” i.e. written in such tiny print it’s nearly impossible to read. But these big country festivals are the bread and butter of the successful country career at this point - hell, songs are even crafted in the writing room with the specific goal of entertaining very drunk people in fields sweating in July weather. You know that Dierks Bentley doesn’t write “5-1-5-0” to scratch his artistry itch.

And it’s not just that mainstream country festivals are generally boring and predictable, it’s that the artists themselves rarely make any surprising or interesting moves on the circuit either. They do the same shit with the same people to the point they all look almost entirely the same. See: Country Jam Festival below, or Tailgate Tallboys or Country Thunder Florida or SoloCupdown Seattle (I made one of those up and won’t tell you which), or the summer schedule of a Riley Green or Cody Johnson or Bailey Zimmerman. Pretty much zero creativity, and we’re not even talking about the whole other massive issue of equity, which deserves (and will be) it’s own post.

Your typical summer schedule for a mainstream country star, and mainstream country festival. Same boring headliners, with the person I most want to see (Angie K) likely on the smallest stage possible. This is about what Bailey Zimmerman’s whole summer looks like.

This is why I have been so fascinated this festival season with the choices of Luke Combs, otherwise known on this newsletter as King Combs, a person that Natalie and I both enjoy and have covered multiple times (we’ve both written Billboard cover stories on him, Natalie’s here, and mine here), and well as tried to convert the skeptics on this very newsletter. He’s always done things a little different, covering Tracy Chapman, as you all well know by now, collaborating with Billy Strings and Amanda Shires, all while maintaining a near-perfect record when it comes to country radio success. Last summer, he joined Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival. He’s even agreed to some hard conversations where he challenged his own past decisions. And this year?

Newport Folk. Combs will make his debut at the Fort this summer. It’s not that Newport isn’t known for some of the most surprising and creative bookings around, but this one is unique for a different set of reasons: mainstream country radio artists just don’t generally find themselves on this stage alongside folks like Patti Smith and Mavis Staples (though, props to Maren Morris for pioneering this path with the Highwomen, women are always doing shit first).

Newport Folk isn’t an outlier. Combs’ entire summer schedule, with the exception of some traditional country stops like Stagecoach peppered in, is somewhat fascinating: he is playing New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Boston Calling, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Lollapalooza and Jazz Aspen Snowmass. Folk, rock, Americana, hip hop and jazz fans are all going to get a taste of King Combs.

Combs got his start doing acoustic covers on the internet and playing tiny bars, so I think he will know how to adjust his set for the Newport audience - and though I have no intel whatsoever about whether or not Tracy Chapman will join him, I sure fucking hope so (and lord, if she did her own set and sung “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” right now…the people need it). And though I refuse to take comments on an Instagram post as news, it’s worth noting that some of the Newport regulars are expressing a bit of confusion on social media. I think they will be surprised: you don’t just play Newport to wag your ego around everything. It’s a collaborative space. It’s a community. It’s a time for reflection and protest and musical mobilization. And I’m not saying that Combs is going to come out with something overtly political either, nor do I think he has to. I think his choices are speaking for what kind of career, and what kind of fans, he’s looking to have to carry him into the future. And what kind of story he wants to tell the world about country music. Combs know’s what he’s doing, and I think he’s up for the task.