When news broke earlier this week that American country music star Luke Combs was being lined up as a possible headliner at Slane Castle next summer there seemed to be three very different reactions from the great Irish public.
The first? Probably a very loud yeehaw! from Combs' legions of Irish fans, most of whom didn’t get to see him in action at the 3Arena two years ago.
Secondly: fans of loud guitars and sonic boom drums cried foul that Slane is a sacrosanct tribal event that should only host 'rock’ acts. In fact, some people are still holding out that Oasis will be playing the Boyne-side venue next summer.
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And thirdly (and perhaps most prevalently), there was the kind of bemusement most people over thirty feel when they scan the line-up for music festivals like Longitude: as in - who the feck is Luke Combs?
Of course, we’ve already been here this year when Zach Bryan, another grizzled country maverick who is hardly a household name, sold out three shows in the Phoenix Park and shall we ever be allowed to forget that Garth Brooks played five nights in Croke Park in 2022?
Only last week, the annual Late Late Show Country Music Special was a ratings hit. Country music is once again having quite a moment.
Clearly venues like the 3Arena just ain’t big enough for Combs and his elevation to Slane headliner says a lot about his rapid rise and how Ireland’s long love affair with country music is growing even stronger.
However, and not to put too fine a point on it, who the feck is Luke Combs?
The 35-year-old is in the vanguard of a new breed of country stars who haven’t seemed to trouble the mainstream but always look like they are on the verge of some kind of breakthrough - and that, of course, is part of the attraction.
An only child, Combs was raised in Asheville (Pop: 94,589), North Carolina and after college, where he studied criminal justice with the ambition of becoming a homicide detective, he began to play local venues before moving to Nashville in 2014 to pursue his torch and twang dreams.
He already has five albums under his belt - 2019’s What You See is What You Get, This One’s For You, Growin’ Up, Gettin' Old, and Fathers & Sons.
They all sold millions and Combs has been garlanded with the kind of awards and streaming numbers that send the music industry into a tizzy but the key to his unique Irish success may be his duet with Tracy Chapman on her song Fast Car at the Grammys last year.
First released in 1988, it’s a tale of heartbreak and hope that continues to hit a very raw nerve with Irish music fans and Combs and Chapman’s rendition gave it a whole new lease of life.
Combs, who often wears his trademark Blue Otter Camo Hat, also has crossover clout having collaborated with Post Malone, Bailey Zimmerman, Jon Bellion, and Alex Warren. He’s even appeared at that mecca of hipster chic Lollapalooza.
This family man isn’t quite as rough and ready as Zach Bryan. His domestic life is pretty blissful. He married Nicole Hocking in 2020 and they have two sons with another baby on the way later this year.
However, he has been admirably open about his struggles with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, which he lived with during his adolescence. Combs has since said he has learned to control these feelings.
The Slane news will be manna from heaven for his Irish fans, who are already awaiting his new album. Only last week, Combs offered a taster in the form of his new three-track EP. The Prequel.
"Still working on my new album that’ll be out early next year," he said. "But 3 songs from it are ready now and I couldn’t wait to get y’all some new music. Songs will be Days Like These, 15 Minutes and My Kinda Saturday Night, which next year’s tour will be named after. I’ll have more news on that very soon."
So, will Slane be Luke Combs kinda Saturday night in 2026? Since hosting its very first concert in 1981, a very rock line-up featuring Thin Lizzy and U2, the Meath venue has seen quite an array of acts, from Bowie to Guns N’ Roses and from Queen to Metallica.
It’s already gone pop with headline shows by Robbie Williams, Madonna and Harry Styles and hip hop with Eminem so it looks like next year it’s country’s turn.
This will be the first Slane since 2023 and also the first show since the sad passing of Lord Henry Mount Charles last June.
The Slane concert torch has now passed on to his son Alexander and with Combs set to bring country music to the castle, the new generation clearly knows which way the wind is blowing.
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