Luke Combs detailing the blessing and the curse of being famous. It would be a blanket statement to say that there’s two types of people in this world: those that wish they were famous, and those who are and wish that they don’t. That’s obviously not entirely true, but there’s some truth to it. You hear celebrities talking all the time about how they miss the little things… like going out for a coffee, or being able to stroll through a grocery store. Luke Combs is one of the rare celebrities that is very much recognizable, yet continues to operate as if he’s anonymous. The country music superstar is currently on a press tour for his upcoming album The Way I Am, which is set to release March 20. The forthcoming project is expected to be a return to the old Luke Combs, musically, and will deliver 22 songs to a fanbase that’s been waiting for new music (outside of Fathers and Sons) for quite some time. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Combs went into detail about the new project, why he chose to make it the length that it is, and how he hopes that fans and country music listeners in general love what he delivers. It’s undoubtedly a huge release for Combs in his already impressive career, and if it connects like Combs expects it to, it could be easy to get wrapped up in the success of it. But as Combs told Lowe, he doesn’t really tie his value to his music making that much anymore: “I really do try to stay grounded in family and friends. I try to not let the level of success be my identity and how I view myself as a person. I’m a person that’s trying to do the best I can as a dad, as a boss, as an artist, as a singer, as a performer. I try to be the best version of myself and try to give as much of myself as I can to everyone else, and not think of myself as better than everyone else or different than anyone else.” That lines up with everything we’ve heard about (and from) Luke Combs ever since he burst onto the scene in the mid 2010s. The “Beautiful Crazy” singer went on to say that he’s aware of his celebrity status, and explained that he doesn’t let it get to his head. Instead, he tries to keep things as normal as possible for himself and his family. And that’s a very intentional move by the country music star: “When I’m home, let’s just go to the grocery store with my kids and just get groceries. That’s what I do. People are like, ‘I can’t believe you do that.’ I’m like, ‘Why not? That’s what I’ve always done.’ If I want to go get something to eat, I’ll just go get something to eat. I try to just not operate in the vacuum of celebrity, because I’m kind of uncomfortable with the attention of it all.” One of the ways that he’s found to be very effective in the fight against feeling like a celebrity? That’d be the outdoors. Combs says that he didn’t grow up as an outdoorsman by any means, but that didn’t stop him from gripping onto the hobby and not letting go once he found it (around the same time he started to hit it big): “The outdoors is a huge part of how I’ve gotten to stay so grounded. For someone that didn’t grow up hunting or anything like that, it was something that I found 12 years ago… It was the complete opposite of my life at the time. When I started doing it, it was go-go-go, PR, radio, this-this all the time. I was gone all the time. Your life is changing at light speed. All the sudden, people recognize you everywhere you go, and you ask, ‘How do you figure that out? How do I deal with this?’ That was the place I would go that was the polar opposite of everything else in my life. It was complete quiet. Complete solitude and peace with one goal in mind.” Now, he says that there’s nothing more enjoyable for him than to take his kiddos out into the woods on his property. They’ll tell Combs that they want to throw rocks into the creek, and Luke encourages them to do so. It’s a simple act, but one that helps stay grounded, and something that he looks forward to as a father. And above all, it gets him away from his fame… even if it’s just for an hour or so. You can hear Luke Combs talk more about doing his best to live outside his own celebrity in the interview below: The post “Uncomfortable With The Attention”: Luke Combs Says He Does His Best To Operate Outside The World Of Celebrity first appeared on Whiskey Riff.