Country stars Luke Combs, Eric Church share hometown mountain memories post Helene
At 8 years old, Luke Combs asked the question most children packing boxes and loading them into truck would:
“Why are we moving?”
“Because,” Combs’ parents replied, “nothing bad ever happens in Asheville.”
There weren’t many hurricanes or tornadoes that made it into the mountains, they told him. It was a “safe haven.” Then Hurricane Helene hit.
The country music star recalled that childhood conversation during a Saturday morning news conference promoting Concert for Carolina. He and his parents were moving from Huntersville, where Combs was born.
“My dad always told me he loved the mountains so much because he felt so safe there,” Combs continued. “He felt like he was, you know, in some ways, wrapped in a warm hug by the landscape.”
Helene dumped 40 trillion gallons of water across those mountains and the Southeast United States. It was “the deadliest and most devastating storm to ever hit North Carolina,” said Gov. Roy Cooper.
It claimed 98 souls, and counting, he said, and it caused $53 billion in damages. The number killed is expected to climb, he said.
Cooper, Combs and fellow cowboy-booted star Eric Church described the damage to their home state: It was devastating. It was unimaginable. It was shocking. It still is.
One thing that wasn’t so shocking? The spirit of the people in Western North Carolina.
“The strength of the people there and the character of the people there is unlike anywhere in the world,” Church said. “That’s the place that made me. That’s the place that made the music that made me.”
Church and Combs put together the Concert for Carolina in days. It was a feat that normally would’ve taken nearly a year to plan, they said. But everything lined up.
Bank of America Stadium could host the Saturday evening show for free. Other artists — James Taylor, Billy Strings, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, The Avett Brothers, Scotty McCreery, Chase Rice and Parmalee — were available to perform. Cue the green lights.
David Tepper, Bank of America stadium’s owner, said he heard the storm get likened to Hurricane Katrina and knew “there was no time to waste.”
“It was a holy shit sort of moment,” he said.
Church, a Granite Falls native who has a home in hard-hit Banner Elk, said he was driven by the need to help his neighbors. In Appalachia, neighboring homes and neighboring communities help each other. Right now, he said, “there is no community next door.”
“It’s all been destroyed,” Church said. “Tonight… we are the community next door.”
All concert proceeds will be split between Combs and Church’s The Chief Cares Fund to be distributed to several relief organizations helping those in need.
Combs chose the MANNA FoodBank, he said Saturday, which was washed out by Helene’s floods and mudslides. Combs’ mother would take him there on the weekends, he said. It was one of the many places he hardly recognized after footage of Helene’s wrath hit the news and social media.
The familiar corner between a Walgreens and U-Haul was unrecognizable, too, Combs said. He used to work at that U-Haul — until he got fired, he said.
“You got fired from U-Haul?” Church joked back during the press conference.
The news conference was full of light moments like that. Church shared his quest to get James Taylor on the lineup — one that required badgering Eagles star Joe Walsh and had Church feeling like a “stalker.”
Combs shared his own James Taylor experience. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer unintentionally broke the news to Combs that his bass player and keys player were leaving Combs’ band to join Taylor’s.
“Amid the heartache, there are rays of light,” said Vic Isley with Explore Asheville, urging people to visit Asheville soon.
The concert, she said, is just one of those rays.
Combs joked once more. Another goal for the day was seeing the Appalachian State Mountaineers beat Georgia State Panthers during the Saturday afternoon football game in Boone.
If App State — his alma mater — won, he’d win $100 from his manager.
He’d donate that money to the mountains, too, he said.
This story was originally published October 26, 2024 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Country stars Luke Combs, Eric Church share hometown mountain memories post Helene."
