Luke Combs.Photo: Larry McCormack/ABC/Getty
Luke Combswalked up to Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, Tennessee, around Thanksgiving several years ago. He hadn’t yet collected his 15 No. 1 hits and wasn’t a household name. His fellow country singer Tracy Lawrence invited Combs to participate in his annual turkey fry to help support the Nashville Rescue Mission and feed the hungry in Music City. He remembers standing in the back hallway, taking in the scene and feeling thankful to be there.
“I was getting to hang out with Tracy Lawrence,” Combs tells PEOPLE while perched on a stool backstage at Wildhorse Saloon. “I’ve looked up to him for a long time, and especially at that time, it’s just like, ‘Man, what is going on?’ It was just cool that somebody wanted me to be a part of their cause because they thought I could somehow help.”
Fast forward to Thursday, and Combs stood in that same hallway preparing to announce that he has teamed with Ryman Hospitality’s Opry Entertainment Group to rebrand country music’s famous Wildhorse Saloon as a Luke Combs-inspired multi-level bar, restaurant, venue and entertainment space. Combs and Colin Reed, Executive Chairman of Ryman Hospitality Properties, who joined him at a press event Thursday, did not share the venue’s new name but says the space at 120 Second Avenue North should open in the summer of 2024.
“This is something I never would’ve dreamed of even two or three years ago,” Combs, 33, says.
The 69,000-sq ft space is being reconfigured to include a honkytonk, a sports bar complete with odds posted, a high-end bourbon bar, a beer bar, a “Beautiful Crazy” bachelorette space, a 9,000-square foot rooftop area overlooking Nissan Stadium and the Cumberland River, a venue outfitted for 1,500 people that Combs wants to be the best of that size in Nashville — and a destination that artists of all genres want to play.
His song “Hurricane” is a favorite of Reed’s and set the tone for the core entertainment area of the facility. A massive light fixture that looks like a hurricane and moves around based on the size configuration of the venue has the singer in awe.
“You have the ability to control this massive space with lighting and walls,” he says. “There’s so many different elements that they’ve worked into the place.”
Nicole and Luke Combs.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Combs is an avid bourbon lover, entertainer and sports fan, so he had plenty of input on how he wanted those spaces to operate. However, when it came to the bachelorette area, he went straight to his wife, Nicole, for advice.
He might be most excited about the rooftop bar. Music City hosts CMA Music Festival and large July 4th and New Year’s Eve events, and Combs thinks the rooftop will be a prime viewing area for patrons.
Combs' entertainment venue will join a bevy of other artist-branded Lower Broadway bars that includeLuke Bryan’s 32 Bridge,Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar,Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock ‘n’ Roll Steakhouse,Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row,Florida Georgia Line’s FGL House,Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa andBlake Shelton’s Ole Red, the latter of which is also a partnership with Opry Entertainment Group.
“Hewas the Sexiest Man Alive,” Combs quipped. “That’s not ever happening for me.”
On a more serious note, Reed explained he hoped the space would lead the revitalization effort on Second Avenue following the 2020 Christmas Day bombing that heavily damaged many of the buildings on the street.
“I really hope that what we’re doing here will be the stimulator,” Reed said. “But this is truly one of the most strategically positioned assets in Nashville. This whole riverfront will be developed across here over the next decade, and this will be sitting right in the middle of it.”
Combs, who will headline Nashville’s Nissan Stadium Friday and Saturday nights, didn’t know how to play guitar 15 years ago. When he moved to Nashville in 2014, all he knew was that he wanted a music-related job that would pay his rent and keep food in his refrigerator.
Luke Combs.Jason Kempin/Getty
Now he’s the Country Music Association’sreigning entertainer of the yearon a headlining stadium tour with his heart set on boosting the popular ’90s line dance destination.
“This was the place to be in the ’90s,” he says. “I want to make it the place to be again. Colin and the Opry folks are the only people who could pull that off.”
source: people.com
