Luke Combs and Eric Church Discuss ‘Concert for Carolina’ Hurricane Helene Benefit Show: “It's Gonna Be a Really Special Night”

Luke Combs and Eric Church have been doing their media rounds as the anticipation continues to build ahead of their Concert for Carolina, which takes place on October 26th.

The show will also feature Billy Strings and James Taylor, with the performances all lined up as part of a benefit festival at North Carolina's Bank of America Stadium.

It'll raise funds for the Hurricane Helene relief effort, with the storm having caused widespread devastation throughout North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia. The death toll has now gone beyond 230, with over half of these deaths coming from North Carolina, the home-state of both Luke Combs and Eric Church.

Speaking to GMA, Eric Church explained why he felt compelled to help out the people of North Carolina in any way he could, “It's very simply, you know, who I am: North Carolina-made. I mean, I wouldn't be who I am today if not for the people there and the community there. To see this happen to them, to that community, to those people, is especially devastating. So Luke and I are doing everything we can to try to help that out. For me, it's in the very DNA of what made me, me”.

Luke Combs, who came up with the idea for the event, echoed Eric Church's sentiments, “I was obviously at home watching the News the day after everything started coming out about the storm there, and [Eric Church] was the first guy I called. I know how much our state means to him and to myself, and I knew that he would be willing to do whatever it took to help out. I had this crazy idea to do a show at Bank of America [Stadium]...I think it's gonna be a really special night”.

Tickets to the forthcoming Concert for Carolina are on-sale from Thursday, October 10th at 9am CT. The show will be hosted by Barstool Sports’ Caleb Pressley and ESPN's Marty Smith, and is being presented by Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. The proceeds will be donated to a variety of organisations helping the Hurricane Helene relief effort, including Samaritan’s Purse, Manna Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC. Excitingly, Luke Combs confirmed there are extra performers yet to be unveiled.

Combs teased, “We got some good news coming later this week...[I'm gonna] play that close to the chest and not give all our secrets away. But I promise it's gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of concert, and I'm really excited and proud to be a part of it”.

The benefit concert follows Eric Church's decision to release his first solo song in over three years, ‘Darkest Hour (Helene Edit)’, with Church signing over the publishing royalties to North Carolina, so as to offer long-term support for the rebuilding process.

For those unable to attend the "Concert for Carolina," donations can be made here: