Luke Combs surely has another No. 1 on the way with his newest single, “Where the Wild Things Are,” which will officially impact country radio on October 16. The track appears on Combs’ album, Gettin’ Old, but it turns out the song was almost recorded by another country star — Eric Church.
The Song Will Impact Country Radio On October 16
“Where the Wild Things Are” was written by Randy Montana and Dave Turnbull and finds its narrator remembering his brother, who headed west on a motorcycle trip, traveling to “where the wild things are” and later dying in a bike crash.
Speaking with songwriters Dan Isbell, Jonathan Singleton and Ray Fulcher, Combs revealed that Church had the song on hold for a time and almost cut it.
“I couldn’t believe that song couldn’t land somewhere,” Combs said, recalling that the track “was getting passed around.”
The father of two shared that he first heard the song around five years ago, at a time when “nobody was cutting stories, songs at all, really,” outside of Church himself. Along with the song’s contents, Combs added that “Where the Wild Things Are” is not vocally easy.
“I would argue that it’s a really tough song to sing and figure out how you would do you live,” he said. “I mean, we struggle with it even in studio. But I mean, that’s one of those ones that we have. I haven’t even run with the band yet.”
“And I’m like, ‘What does that look like? What does that look like live?’” he continued, sharing that he also struggled with his recent hit “The Kind of Love We Make” for the same reason. “Vocally speaking, because it’s just a challenge,” he said.
Combs Admits “It’s An Awesome, Awesome Song”
Ultimately, Combs was the one that snagged “Where the Wild Things Are,” and he’s grateful he did. “I don’t know why, how that song never got cut, because it’s an awesome, awesome song,” he said.
Isbell agreed that amid the many songs he hears in his job as a songwriter, “Where the Wild Things Are” made an impression on him.
“You have people all the time sending you songs. Or being like, ‘Hey, man, have you heard this, or heard this one?’” he said. “And I remember I was at my house alone. And I don’t know if Dan texted it to me or he showed up and was like, ‘Dude you gotta hear this song.’ And I remember where I was when I heard that song. That’s how good and different you can say that tune is. And how it stands out among the rest of them that you hear over the years. But that one just stuck with you.”
Luke Combs Credits Eric Church For Igniting His Passion For Country Music
Combs has long been a fan of Church and credits his fellow North Carolina native for lighting the fire in him to pursue a career in music. The two have also collaborated together, with Church joining Combs on Combs’ song “Does To Me.”
During an appearance on Steve Austin’s USA Network Television series, Straight Up Steve Austin, Combs explained that he was introduced to Church during a period when he wasn’t actively listening to country music.
“I think the reason myself and my parents stopped listening to country music at that time, it wasn’t at that moment in time as relatable,” he recalled. “A lot of guys got heavy into the beach, it was getting more poppy sounding at that time. And not to say I’m Merle Haggard, because I’m not, I’m not claiming to be that either, but that was the big shift.”
“When I got to Appalachian State, a guy that lived on my floor brought in an Eric Church CD and said, ‘Hey this guy went to college here, you should check him out,’” he continued. “Once I heard Eric, I was like, ‘This is something I can relate to, and if he can do that and he’s from here, and I’m from here, I can do that.’ And that’s kind of where the fire caught spark for lack of a better term.”
