CRS 2021: Luke Combs, Maren Morris Discuss Accountability During Candid Session

Powers (top), Morris and Combs

LUKE COMBS may very well have had the quote of the week during his CRS 2021 session with fellow star MAREN MORRIS YESTERDAY (2/17). In a remarkably candid Q&A, during which the two stars spoke about issues of race and gender equality, and owned up to their own past mistakes, COMBS joked, “People can be changed. I’m a living, mouth-breathing example of it.” The panel was later widely praised by CRS attendees on social media, many of whom said it was the most impactful CRS session they’d ever seen. (Registered CRS attendees will have an opportunity to watch or re-watch it on demand.)

COMBS’ comment came after he addressed some old photos that had recently surfaced on social media showing him performing in a music video near a Confederate flag, and also playing a guitar decorated with a sticker depicting the same flag. The photos had begun to stir up early hints of controversy, particularly after they were shared and amplified by MARGO PRICE. To his credit, COMBS tackled the issue head on, and apologized for being associated with the flag. “Hate is not part of my core values,” he said. 

Noting that the photos were from seven or eight years ago, COMBS said, “I’ve grown a lot as a man and … a citizen of the world” in that time. And while he said, “There is no excuse for those images, it’s not OK,” he also said that as a younger man he did not fully understand what that flag represents. (A point seconded by MORRIS, who said she was in her mid-teens before she grasped the flag’s full history.) “As a younger man, that was an image I associated to mean something else,” COMBS said. “Now I realize how painful it is.” He added, “I would never want to be associated with something that brings so much hurt to someone else.” Knowing that he did, “Is upsetting to me as a man.”

“I want people to feel accepted, to feel welcomed by our Country music community,” added COMBS. “I’m not here to say please forgive me, I’m here to say I want to learn. I’m aware I’m a highly visible member of the Country music community, and I want to use that for good.” While not specifically mentioning MORGAN WALLEN, who recently lost the support of the industry after he was caught on tape using a racial slur, COMBS said, “If you want to change, you should be given an opportunity to do so. If MAREN and I can do it, anyone can do it.”

For her part, MORRIS spoke about being outspoken on issues of racial and gender parity, revealing that her husband and fellow Country artist RYAN HURD has told her, “I’ve never seen someone so willing to get the shit kicked out of themselves.” But she holds the industry to the same standard she holds herself. “I’m taking steps ever day to be a better human, a better artist,” she said of calling out inequity as she sees it. “It’s going to be uncomfortable, and that’s how we know it’s working.” Combs later said of MORRIS’ activism, “I admire her, because that’s a hard thing.”

Asked by moderator ANN POWERS of NPR how artists can celebrate Country music’s legacy while still trying to move the genre into a more inclusive lane, MORRIS said, “If we want to pride ourselves on being three chords and the truth, we need to be truthful about who started Country music — it wasn’t just white people — and going forward make room” for non-white artists, musicians and songwriters.

Returning briefly to the Confederate flag topic, MORRIS said she is no longer comfortable playing festivals where fans display that flag in the parking lot. And COMBS suggested there are many other ways to show pride in being a Southerner other than displaying that flag.

COMBS encouraged label and publishing company executives to give all talent the same fair shot, regardless of race. MORRIS noted that an influx of Black writers and artists is “only going to make our genre … better. That’s the point of inclusion.” Added COMBS, “We have no idea what we could be missing out on” without opening doors to more diverse creators.

Addressing the blowback from fans that often accompanies being outspoken, MORRIS said, “We don’t go after our fan base for sport,” but “you need to let them know where you stand.” She also said members of the Country music industry need to hold each other accountable as well. “I don’t care if it’s awkward sitting down the row from someone [you’ve publicly questioned] at the next awards show,” she added. “Call it out so we can rid the diseased part and … all feel like we are a part of this family … You have to call out the parts that are complicit and wrong so we can move forward. We’re on the road to a hopeful place, but we have to be willing to have these conversations with our friends.”

Added COMBS, “I do believe Country music is a family, but I want it to be a family that everyone can be a part of. I want everyone who comes into our community to be accepted and not pushed out, because Country music is so amazing."

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