Luke Combs Covers Chris Stapleton’s Deep Cut ‘What Are You Listening To?’
Chris Stapleton didn’t arrive with “Tennessee Whiskey,” or anything on his debut album Traveller for that matter. In 2013, he released the overlooked single “What Are You Listening To?” — a more radio-ready ballad than the rough and raw outlaw-country fare for which he’s become known.
Luke Combs clearly is hip to his Stapleton history: the country superstar covered “What Are You Listening To?” in a new Instagram video, part of the trending #DeepCutsChallenge, in which artists ask their peers to cover a forgotten or unreleased song. In this case, it was Morgan Wallen who challenged Combs.
“This may not technically be a deep cut but it’s a song that didn’t get as much credit as I think it deserved. Chris, I’m sorry I messed up the bridge, don’t hate me,” Combs wrote on Instagram, before addressing the camera.
“I used to play this song in college a bunch. It’s always been one of my favorite of his,” he said, seated on the same bar stool from which he performed a livestream concert last week. Combs embraces the soulfulness of the Stapleton cut, wrapping his voice around the aching mid-tempo tune’s many questions, “Is it a love song about someone new? What are you listening to?”
In the spirit of the #DeepCuts Challenge, Combs also issues his own request, calling on Vince Gill to record the next video. “I want to challenge Vince Gill just ’cause I want to hear Vince sing something.”