Making music for country music fans across the board. Luke Combs has a fanbase unlike most in the country music space, recently becoming the highest-selling country artist of all time- beating out the legendary Garth Brooks for the honor. Garth Brooks held the record for the most units sold, with a total of 162.5 million units sold. However, he has now fallen one spot, as Luke Combs is now the highest RIAA-certified country artist in history, with 168 million units sold. The announcement of his moving into the number one position comes right on the heels of his releasing his three-song EP The Prequel, giving fans a taste of what’s in store for his next album, which is slated to drop at some point in 2026. The EP showcases Combs’s ever-evolving sound, from twangy heaters like “My Kinda Saturday Night” to slower, more meaningful tunes like “Days Like These,” feeling grateful for the slow days spent with those you love. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luke Combs (@lukecombs) It’s no secret that to become the highest-selling country artist of all time, you have to appeal to more than one kind of country fan, and Combs has cracked the code for that with each of his projects appealing to a wide variety of music enthusiasts. However, despite tapping into new facets of his sound, the Luke Combs we hear today is still the same Luke Combs who broke onto the scene, at the core of his sound, and has stuck to his guns, not letting trends in Music City affect his sound. During a recent sit-down with Clint Black on Circle Country, Clint asked Combs how he’s been able to stick to his guns and whether he’s ever felt pressure from music executives to make something more pop country. Combs says that he’s personally never felt pressure to do anything from anyone but himself. However, he’s able to recognize that if it weren’t for the success of his debut album, This One’s For You, it could be a very different story. “I don’t think I have. I think it would be different if I would have came in with the first album, especially that I came in with… If it came out and wasn’t as successful as it was, I think people would have been like, ‘Let’s fix it.’ I think if anyone puts pressure on me to do anything, it’s myself, you know? ‘Cause it’s like I want to, I want to continue to evolve as an artist, you know, and I want to say… I’m not saying I’m going to make a David Bowie album, you know, that’s just not in the cards for me. I’m not going to make a pop album. It’s not going to happen, you know. But I don’t want my third or fourth or fifth album to come out and go, ‘Man, I just heard that time and time again.'” Combs says he’s had to figure out how to balance writing love songs and songs that capture the moment of life he’s in, but it’s hard to write only about what’s unfolding in your life. Combs uses some of his early love song hits as an example of trying to be known not only as the guy who can write love songs. “It’s an interesting balancing act of… I’ve got ‘Beautiful Crazy,’ ‘Forever After All,’ you know, and ‘Better Together.’ Those are the three songs that I feel like… I feel like they, for me, encapsulate this whole time in my life, which you know, ‘Beautiful Crazy’ I wrote two weeks after I met my wife. Then ‘Better Together’ I wrote when I knew I was going to ask her to marry me, and then ‘Forever After All’ was after we had moved into our house and we’re engaged. And so it was like each one of those hits, this moment in time. And they’re just so, to me, perfect for what they were meant to be. It’s like, but I also, like, you don’t want to be the love song guy. You don’t want to be the this guy. How do you be the… And I already look like this, but the Golden Corral of country music? You know what I mean? The Ryan’s Steakhouse, you know what I mean? Kind of thing is a little bit of everything, a little something. for everybody.”  HA. Not the Golden Corral reference. While it’s a very comical comparison, Combs is not wrong in his logic. To be successful and avoid becoming stale with your fans, you have to create a catalog that offers a sampling of music that will appeal to fried chicken and mashed potato lovers, as well as those who fancy a salad bar. Ironically, this is not the first time that Combs has mentioned Golden Corral or Ryan’s Steakhouse in an interview. While I think the use of this buffet chain is much better suited to this context, last year, Combs appeared on Theo Von’s podcast, and the two came up with the “kids eat free” tour. The Future Of Country Concerts During the interview, Luke got to talking about how fortunate he is to have his touring schedule, explaining that though he has to travel two or three days a week, he’s usually home three or four days. Combs pointed out that’s more time than some (if not most) people get to spend with their families during the workweek. And when he comes back from playing in front of 70,000 people, his life is pretty simple with his wife and kids. That’s when the topic of buffets came up, and the pair began discussing and brainstorming ideas about the greatest culinary invention ever. Theo pointed out that a world tour built around a promise of an all-you-can-eat buffet being available afterwards might not be a bad idea: “That would be the best tour you could have, if you had a ‘Kids Eat Free Tour.’” After Combs got all of his laughing out about the idea, he came back to Von with some very solid partnership ideas: “Sponsored by Ryan’s buffet, or Golden Corral, either one.” The comedian continued to talk about food, even mentioning an absurd idea about a “Chicken Nugget Camera” in lieu of the traditional “Kiss Camera.” Theo then got to thinking about the future and suggested that post-concert buffets might be a proactive idea, since some people can’t afford food. Combs liked where Theo’s head was at, and put it into words a little bit better than the popular comedian: “Concerts will be events. Food will be how to get people to events. Pay for the show, stay for the food.” It might sound crazy, but imagine going to a rocking concert and then getting to access a fully stocked buffet afterwards that’s included in the price of admission. At this point, Golden Corral and Ryan’s Steakhouse need to sponsor Luke Combs. He’s giving them the best free press. Check out that interview while you’re here, too: The post Luke Combs Says He’s Striving To Be The Golden Corral Of Country Music: “A Little Something For Everybody” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.