Taken from JRE #1956 w/Luke Combs:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4r9FA3jkGHbe7RvWZ3zCw3?si=183db82634c34b38

In my brain I'm thinking, okay, well 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 don't want to be a music teacher because I'm really bad, like I can't read music I like I'm like I can't do math like I have some sort of like I just can't you can't read music not at all and like I like it's like probably some sort of form of like dyslexia probably to truest extent like barely past math.

I was in 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.

I tried out for all state chorus 3 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 Right, so it's a combination of what your voice sounded like and your ability to keep up with the Allstate choir teacher, whoever that was picked out to be.

And I never made it because I couldn't read the music.

I mean I try I mean I busted to try to do it It's just something about it doesn't doesn't make sense to me it 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 you know and so I was in an acapella group my freshman year of college for a year.

I enjoyed that, but again, it was just like an after school kind of activity thing with other people in college, you know.

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 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 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, you know?

And then after my junior year, I moved home to Asheville and I'd always moved home every summer up to that point.

And then my mom goes, because I was sulking, because all my buddies that year, they all stayed in their college town for the summer.

They're in, you know, Callaway, and 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 in 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 I don't know mom 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 till they were 21 years old.

And so my parents had bought me a guitar in seventh grade that I never played.

I did 2 guitar lessons and hated it because my parents wanted me to do it.

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 Ibanez, like $50 acoustic guitar, you know, just 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.

I just sat on the porch when I wasn't at work, playing, playing, playing.

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 cuz I was like well I could you know this would be cool I like this and then I wrote my first 2 or 3 songs and I booked a gig down the street just like at this bar my rugby team always hung out at because I figured that guy would you know he was like the cokehead like wild card like he would give me a show or whatever you know that was awesome you know I was like this guy give me a show if I want to do a show so I borrowed my neighbor's guitar cuz 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 that was more than I made it both my jobs that week and I was hooked man.

Like I love doing this first off Yeah, I'm like, I love doing this anyways, and I'm having a great time.

Everybody's psyched to see me here and stuff.

It wasn't it wasn't 1 ounce of hard work in my mind after that point.

So it's like a door opened up, you walked through it, and your life changed forever.

Yeah, it was like a true, like, aha moment, right?

Like you hear about those from people, oh I think I'm gonna flip the top, yeah, and you hear about those things but it truly was that.

It was truly an aha moment man and it was life is a life-changing man.

I don't know what I'd be doing if I hadn't done that.


Speaker 0: The Joe Rogan experience. In my brain I'm thinking, okay, well 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 don't want to be a music teacher because I'm really bad, like I can't read music I like I'm like I can't do math like I have some sort of like I just can't you can't read music not at all and like I like it's like probably some sort of form of like dyslexia probably to truest extent like barely past math. Have you tried to read music?

Yeah oh yeah. What happens? I was in 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. Only like 8 students in the class.

And all it is was advanced. Like here's the notes, here's this. I tried out for all state chorus 3 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 Right, so it's a combination of what your voice sounded like and your ability to keep up with the Allstate 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 don't know why you get coaching on it. Did you get like yeah? I mean I try I mean I busted to try to do it It's just something about it doesn't doesn't make sense to me it 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 you know and so I was in an acapella group my freshman year of college for a year. I enjoyed that, but again, it was just like an after school kind of activity thing with other people in college, you know. 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 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 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, you know? And then after my junior year, I moved home to Asheville and I'd always moved home every summer up to that point. And then my mom goes, because 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, Callaway, and 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 in 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 I don't know mom 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 till they were 21 years old. And I was 21, right? And so my parents had bought me a guitar in seventh grade that I never played. I did 2 guitar lessons and hated it because my parents wanted me to do it.

You know what I mean? 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 Ibanez, like $50 acoustic guitar, you know, just 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. Because 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 cuz I was like well I could you know this would be cool I like this and then I wrote my first 2 or 3 songs and I booked a gig down the street just like at this bar my rugby team always hung out at because I figured that guy would you know he was like the cokehead like wild card like he would give me a show or whatever you know that was awesome you know I was like this guy give me a show if I want to do a show so I borrowed my neighbor's guitar cuz 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 that was more than I made it both my jobs that week and I was hooked man. I was like dude, this is awesome. Like I love doing this 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 1 ounce of hard work in my mind after that point. It was just always fun, man. And I always loved it. Wow.

So it's like a door opened up, you walked through it, and your life changed forever. It just made sense, dude. Yeah, it was like a true, like, aha moment, right? Like you hear about those from people, oh I think I'm gonna flip the top, yeah, and you hear about those things but it truly was that. It was truly an aha moment man and it was life is a life-changing man.

I don't know what I'd be doing if I hadn't done that. That's so awesome. I love those kind of stories. I really do.

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Luke Combs on Learning to Play Guitar at 21 and the Moment that Led Him to Music