Luke Combs says he won't sing “Hurricane” at the Helene benefit show

Luke Combs and Eric Church look exhausted. Since 6:30 a.m. this morning, North Carolina natives and country music stars have been sitting side by side in the Church management company's Nashville office, playing an array of live TV hits, from CNN to Fox & friendsto promote “Concert for Carolina.” Combs, Church, Billy Strings and James Taylor will perform at the Oct. 26 benefit show at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Helene's flooding, particularly in western North Carolina.

The tragic irony is that while Combs and Church are live on CNN talking about the devastation of a storm, the news channel directly below them is warning of another, even larger hurricane, Milton, which is expected to devastate Florida's Gulf Coast within 48 hours.

Combs' wife, Nicole, is from Florida. Something she said earlier this week during a conversation about Helene's destruction of Asheville, North Carolina — where Combs grew up — held him captivated.

“I was on the phone all day every day trying to get this concert together,” says Combs, “and she said, 'It's different when it happens where you're from, right?'”

“Wow,” Church whispers. “Good line.”

“She went to school in Fort Myers and that’s going to be very tight for Milton,” Combs said. “They were also just hit directly by Helene, so it’s still terrible there from the last storm.”

As Milton moved up, Combs and Church chatted Rolling Stone about their fear that the disaster in western North Carolina will be forgotten, how they put together “Concert for Carolina” and which song Combs simply won't sing on October 26th.

First, both parents are from the Asheville area. Where are they now?
Church: They are in western North Carolina. They're fine, but it's not okay to live there. Where we spend the summers, where I made the last three or four of my albums, has been decimated. Biblically speaking, it's nothing you can imagine. I see the images and my brain doesn't understand what it is.

Combs: You told me about a river there, that it's actually more of a stream?

Church: The Elk River that I sing about in “Carolina” is about two to three feet deep in the main part. They estimate it was about 10 meters deep at this point and perhaps half a mile wide. No one in the world has ever seen or heard of anything like it.

Where are you, Luke?
Combs: My parents moved (to Nashville) a year and a half ago. But the path that led to my parents' house in Asheville is impassable. It runs along this stream and there are three or four of them houses on the street. Entire houses are on the street. It doesn't even make sense.

Church: You don't think about experiencing a hurricane in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Combs: They are not so well prepared for that there. When I was growing up, I remember my parents saying they moved there because there were no natural disasters – no tornadoes, no hurricanes, no blizzards.

This is exactly why NOAA stores all of its climate data in Asheville.
Combs: Because it's always so safe.

Church: The problem up there right now is that it's a collection of close-knit small communities, particularly in the western mountains. The infrastructure is gone. No roads, no electricity, no water, no sewage. These people will not be able to stay there during the reconstruction. We're going to have to relocate a lot of these people. Many of these schools will remain closed for the remainder of the year.

So are you worried that the people of Western North Carolina will be forgotten when Hurricane Milton hits this week?
Church: Yes. The answer is yes. People need to be aware that we are raising money and everyone is focused on that now. But in two months, as people move on to what's next, people in these communities still need a lot of help – beyond two months, beyond six months, beyond a year. We give a concert, raise money and that's great. But that is far from what is needed in the long term. Not even close.

Regarding the benefit concert: who called who first?
Church: He called me the day after. Since our community there, Banner Elk (North Carolina), was being decimated, we were still at it (helping) and Luke called early that morning.

Combs: I said, “Hey man, this is still a concept right now, but just be open to it because I'm going to try to do something.”

Church: When Luke called, we both picked up our phones and called artists.

Combs: I quickly realized that he knew much cooler people than I did…

Who has James Taylor?
Church: I did that. And it wasn't easy. I texted Joe Walsh and said, “This is going to be weird, but I need James Taylor's cell number.” I later got in touch with his everyday persona and said to her, “Someone's going to play 'Carolina in My Mind,' either him or me I – but I would rather it be him.” For this concert, it was crucial to get James.

And, Luke, you have ties to Billy Strings.
Combs: Yes, we're talking. Not every day, but a decent amount for artist friends. He had just left his renewal shows to have his child (Strings had to cancel his annual festival in Colorado when his wife went into labor) and I had just asked him about it. I said, “Hey man, I know it's hard to cancel shows and you feel bad, but you made the right decision. I missed the birth of my second child because I was in Australia and he was born two and a half weeks early, so I went through that.” Then, a few days later, it all happened…

Church: And (Billy) has a lot of connections to that area with bluegrass. Asheville is such a great musical community.

Combs: Marry bluegrass and jam bands and you will have many musicians from this area.

Serious question, Luke: Your breakthrough number one hit was titled “Hurricane.” Will you play it at the fundraiser?
Combs: No. It came up a few days ago and we talked about it. You just can't do it.

Eric, you helped with the relaunch Field & streama magazine that is deeply concerned with conservation and the idea of ​​protecting our hunting grounds, fishing grounds and the planet. Have you thought about how climate change is responsible for what we are experiencing with these storms?
Church: Luke's thing really hit me hard when Nicole said, “It's different when it happens where you're from.” You forget about the people in Florida, Louisiana, or the coastal areas who deal with this all the time. When Luke said that, it hit me. It Is It's different depending on where you come from, and it's becoming more and more common. That's the reality, isn't it? Here we are a week later…

Combs: …and we got another one. Cat 5.

Church: It's the kind of world we live in now. We both have children who are younger, and it's natural for you to think about, “What will the world look like for them?” Because it's more common today than it was when I was younger, and I can say that matter-of-factly.