A career-defining, and genre-defining, moment. Luke Combs is gearing up to put out his new album The Way I Am  at the end of next month, and believe it or not, he will mark the ninth anniversary of his debut studio album, This One’s for You, in June of this year. He’s had an incredible run thus far, scoring 19 consecutive number-one hits on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, starting with his debut single “Hurricane” and continuing through “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” in addition to winning 11 CMA Awards (including the CMA Entertainer of the Year award twice), 4 ACM Awards, and 6 Billboard Music awards, all while selling out venues and now stadiums all over the world. But he believes the reason he was able to break into the country genre the way he has is in large thanks to Chris Stapleton, who of course started is journey to mega stardom with his incredible 2015 CMA Awards performance with Justin Timberlake of “Tennessee Whiskey.” That performance sent is Traveler album to the top spot on the country charts, and the rest, as they say, is history. Luke explained to Popcast’s Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times that he owes “almost all of that success” to Stapleton: “I’m either singing it, or I’m not… and I mean really, I owe almost all of that success, or my ability to break through, to Chris Stapleton. He breaks through maybe a year before I get my shot, and I remember, I’m just living in Nashville trying to be a songwriter or whatever, trying to make it, whatever that means. We see the moment, and it was the moment. Again, it wasn’t one of these moments you needed to be sold on. You just knew. You saw it and you were like, ‘Wow, this dude’s life has just changed.’ Because everybody in town knew who Stapleton was. I loved Steel Drivers stuff… his publishing company had pitch CDs of his songs, and he was singing them all, I’m getting copies of that from people, I’m like, ‘This guy is a legend in town.’ He was an industry secret. Outside of town, nobody knows who this guy is.” It’s true, he really was Nashville’s best kept secret for way too long, and Luke had a great story about that night of the CMA Awards, when his college roommate was outside having a smoke and encountered a very excited, very random man: “And he has this big moment, my college roommate, I remember, he was in an apartment in Midtown in Nashville. He’s like, this moment happens, and [he’s] outside in the parking lot having a joint or whatever, and this guy comes busting through the parking lot yelling and screaming. And he’s like, so excited, and [he] had just watched the CMA’s, like, ‘Hey man, what’s going on?’ He’s like high-fiving everyone, he’s like, ‘I’m Chris Stapleton’s agent.’ He’s like, ‘Yes, it’s all happening.’ That was like 20 minutes after the awards ended, he was running around the apartments high-fiving people. I really do think, if that doesn’t happen, we’re not sitting here today. I don’t know that my thing happens the same way.” They all shared a good laugh about that one, and I think any of us would have done the same thing if we were Chris Stapleton’s agent that night… what a great story. Luke continued, saying Stapleton made it possible for someone like him, who maybe didn’t look just like Sam Hunt or the guys from FGL, to make it with their music. But I like the way Luke put it better, saying Stapleton didn’t just break down a barrier for him and other artists like him, he put a “breaking charge on the door and the SWAT team comes in after”: “Because it’s like, here’s a guy that doesn’t look like Sam Hunt, or the FGL guys, he’s not this polished, put together, good looking young dude. Different mode… at the time, that’s the build, that’s the create-a-character country star at that moment. He puts a breaking charge on the door and the SWAT team comes in after. Blows it out, and that gives me an opportunity to be like, maybe this guy doesn’t look the part, but maybe people don’t care as much about that anymore, or right now.” It’s really an interesting way to think about it, and while I’d like to think someone with as much talent as Combs has would have “made it” regardless, I do think there’s a lot of truth in how Stapleton really blew the doors off for a completely different generation of artists that didn’t look, or sound, like what was mainstream in country in 2015, and thank goodness for it. Their authenticity and talent is truly what sets them apart, and both Stapleton and Combs have been a huge part of the rise in country music in the mainstream world of music, and they continue to be trailblazer today who have remained at the top of their game for nearly a decade in Combs’ case, and longer than that when it comes to Stapleton. Now where’s that collaboration… the vocals would be UNREAL. We need it. The full podcast episode is available to watch below. Of course, I’ll leave you with this… The post Luke Combs Says Chris Stapleton Blew The Doors Open For Artists Like Him: “Doesn’t Look The Part… But Maybe People Don’t Care” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.