Luke Combs Was Working On A Bluegrass Album During Quarantine

Last year, while quarantined at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, Luke Combs started exploring the possibility of recording a bluegrass album. While the project has since been put on hold, Combs still decided to share a glimpse with fans with the release of his new song, "The Great Divide" featuring Billy Strings.

The song, written by Combs and Strings alongside Wyatt Durrette in June 2020, finds the pair addressing the social and political divisions in the United States. Released on Monday (February 1), the recording also features Charlie Worsham playing several instruments.

"It felt like a good time to put this out," Combs said of "The Great Divide" in a video shared on social media. "I have been staying busy and writing this past year and really miss being out on the road. There was something that I have always wanted to do, which is write and put out a bluegrass album."

"I wrote a bunch of bluegrass songs in June of this past year and I had plans to write a bunch more," he shared. "COVID continued to get worse around the holidays, I wasn't able to have a lot of those in-person writes that I wanted to do and with the people I wanted to do them with because of that sate of the world."

Combs went on to clarify that "The Great Divide," which was supposed to be a part of the bluegrass project, is not a lead single or a lead-in to the project yet, "because it's not done."

"But it felt like the right time to put this song out," Combs continued. "When we wrote it, there were a lot of crazy things going on in the world. There’s still a lot of crazy things going on in the world. And I just felt like I had some stuff to say. It’s not meant to be political. It’s not meant to try and tell you what to think or tell you how to believe. That’s not my job. It’s just a guy kinda saying the way he was feeling when he wrote it."

In a statement, Strings added, "This song is our interpretation of the conflicts and tension we had been witnessing/experiencing around the time we wrote it. We wanted to shine a little light on the situation and offer a bit of hope during what has been a tough time for many."

Take a listen "The Great Divide" below.

Photo: Getty Images