Accolades pour in for Luke Combs

If You Go

Who: Luke Combs, with Ashley McBryde

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Covelli Centre

Tickets: $22 and $28 at ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at the Covelli box office.

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley will get a better look at rising country star Luke Combs when the North Carolina native comes to Covelli Centre as a headliner on Friday.

Combs played Covelli one year ago, when he was a little-known opening act for Brantley Gilbert. That concert was before the June release of Combs’ acclaimed album “This One’s for You,” and things have changed since then.

Combs is just 27, but proved he is deep with talent. “This One’s for You” yielded back to back No. 1 singles in “Hurricane” and “When It Rains It Pours,” the latter of which was accompanied by a classic bro-country video about how good life can get after a breakup.

While “When It Rains” might capture the artist at his crowd pleasing best, check out the video for “One Number Away” for another side of Combs. The song, which was released to radio last week, is a brooding ballad that gets a dark twist.

The burly singer has also earned a name for himself with a heavy tour schedule and a stage presence that holds nothing back. He reached a career milestone earlier this month when he played two sold-out concerts at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium – the Mother Church of Country Music.

Combs was nominated for the CMT Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and New Artist of the Year, and the iHeartRadio Music Awards gave him a nod for Best New Country Artist and Country Song of the Year for “Hurricane.”