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Songwriter Ray Fulcher had it all figured out, with plans of being a teacher and football coach; that was until his friends offered him their spare ticket to a country music concert.
Fast forward a few years from that transformative night, and Ray found himself celebrating his birthday in Nashville with his one friend in the city and about to walk into his own movie moment.
In a meet-cute worthy of Hollywood, it turned out that the pal who joined Ray for a birthday beer had double-booked and was also expecting a visitor. That visitor? None other than Luke Combs, yes, that Luke Combs.
Although, back then in 2014, Luke wasn’t a country megastar yet, simply an aspiring singer from North Carolina, also eyeing up a move to Music City, just like Ray had recently taken the leap to do.
Chatting at an intimate gig at Whelan’s in Dublin after Luke’s two 80,000-strong Slane Castle shows, Ray, who has written more than 50 songs for Luke including hits such as When It Rains It Pours and Going, Going, Gone, and Tell ‘em About Tonight, reflected on how they first crossed paths.
After that accidental meet at a mutual friend’s apartment, the guys started hanging out, bonding over American football and, of course, music.
Ray told EVOKE: ’People talk about stars aligning and fate, and that's one of the moments in my life that it does feel that way because when you start doing the math, and you go, “well, what if I moved a week later?" Because I remember I pushed my move date back so many times…
‘I think about if I didn't move when I did and hadn't been there that night, we would have met at some point, but not in that same way, and we wouldn't have bonded that closely that quickly because of the circumstances. I'm thankful for how the stars aligned on that.’
Moving to Nashville and deciding to try and make it in music was a ‘scary’ decision for Ray, but one he knew he had to make.
He said: ‘It was very scary because there were so many unknowns that I was leaving behind. I was going to be leaving behind everything I'd ever done to jump into something that I really had no idea what it was going to be like.
‘But it was also the most fun I've ever had, the most free I've ever felt, because every day was a new adventure and I was learning something new every day.
‘So it was the most inspired time of my life, but also the most scared I've ever been in my life.’
Ray’s family were behind him completely, with him saying: ‘My mom and dad had always said "if you just go to college and get a degree, please do that for us, but after that, anything you want to do, we'll support you 100 per cent.” And they did.
‘They kept their word, and they probably thought I was crazy and a lot of my friends did too, but they supported me, and the only thing they asked is, "if you're going to do this, do it 110 per cent”.’
Now more than a decade on from his first meeting with Luke, Ray has worked with dozens of talented singers and songwriters including Cody Johnson, Tenille Arts, Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Lydia Vaughan, and Sadie Bass, but he’s still always got time to collab with Luke.
Praising their friendship, Ray said: ’I remember a few years ago we said it out loud to each other that, “hey, no matter what happens in this music thing, friendship comes first,” and we've always said that.
‘So that's kind of the thing we live by. We don't necessarily have to see each other all the time to call each other and be like, “what's going on?”
'I could see him yesterday or not see him for a month, and when we see each other, it's going to be the exact same thing.’ Sounds like the best of friendships to us! Long may Luke and Ray continue making music magic.
