Combing through Country Music

An overall-wearing, wheat-stem-chewing banjo player from southern Mississippi two-steps into your mind as you hit the play button on Luke Combs’ opening track, “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” After just the first two measures of the song, however, our Billy-Bob-looking friend slings his banjo over his shoulder and hops behind a drum kit. He smacks those skins harder than anyone ever has, thumping us into the blazin’, twangin’ country-rock sound of Combs’ new album, “What You See Is What You Get.” Luke Combs’ second full-length album crashed into the country scene on November 8, although he had previously released several of its songs as singles. The record deals with many of the themes that Combs has become trademarked for, like rueful breakup stories and beer—lots of beer. Combs is quickly ascending the Coors-stained staircase of country music, and he has used his new connections with the genre’s legendary superstars to land features from the likes of Brooks & Dunn and Eric Church. 

Even though the new album is driven by heavy rock drums and flashy electric guitar riffs, an attuned ear can detect the authenticity in the classic mandolin, banjo, and dobro twang in Combs’ music. Some of his songs highlight country’s deep roots more than the others. “Dear Today,” for example, begins with pure acoustic guitar. Combs’ lyrics are especially rich with the experience of a blue collar country boy. He even has a song on the album called “Blue Collar Boys.” In this track, along with many others on the record, Combs sings about the beautiful simplicity that lies at the heart of his, and many of his fans’, rural American upbringing. His thematic range also includes tender, emotional topics, like fatherhood in “Even Though I’m Leaving,” that pluck the twangy heartstrings of country fans. He stays true to the style of authentic country by avoiding the snap tracks and house drums that have become a staple of modern pop-country, and thus keeps the respect that he has earned from old-school country music homers who want to preserve the genuine country sound. 

Luke Combs is a relatively new country star who has, with his new music, jumped boot first to the forefront of the tradition-rich genre. So if you decide to give “What You See Is What You Get” a listen, fire up your truck, roll them windows down, trade your flatbill for that worn-out ball cap on the dash, and crank it on up.