Luke Combs Delivers Impressive Rendition Of “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” At Newport Folk Festival

Luke Combs does not miss.

Over the weekend, he headlined the Newport Folk Festival at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island in what was his debut performance there. When he was first announced as part of the lineup, some were upset because he’s very much a country artist, but I have to imagine those people were taking it all back once he hit the stage because there is nothing like a Luke Combs live show.

And he debuted a brand new cover during his set, one he’s never played live before called “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” which was originally written and recorded by Darrell Scott in 1997 for his debut album, Aloha from Nashville. The story goes that he was in a cemetery attempting to find his great-grandfather’s grave, he saw the phrase “you’ll never leave Harlan alive” on a tombstone

But if it sounds familiar, or you know the song, it’s probably due to the Patty Loveless version, which was a big hit when she included it on her 2001 album, Mountain Soul. That version featured Scott playing banjo, and the story goes that she had a bit of trouble singing it at first. Her producer and husband, Emory Gordy Jr., put a picture of her father, who was a coal miner, in front of her and told her to sing it to him. That rendition was ultimately nominated or Song of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Awards.

Brad Paisley also recorded for a studio album, Part II, and Kathy Mattea also covered it on her 2008 album, Coal. In 2022, Loveless joined Chris Stapleton, as well as his wife Morgane, for an absolutely stunning rendition of “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” that I still haven’t gotten over.

It’s a storied song, one that’s timeless and haunting, and of course with Combs’ powerful vocals, he sounded great and really did a great job with this cover. He introduced it by saying:

“We’ve never done this song before, this is just a cover that we thought maybe you guys would enjoy, but it’s called ‘You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.’ Check it out.”

He really could sing the phonebook and make it sound like a hit, and I like to think everyone at the folk festival was quite impressed by what he delivered. I don’t know how you couldn’t be after hearing this…

Check it out:

@lukecombshq You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive (@Brad Paisley cover) at @Newport Folk Fest ♬ original sound – Luke Combs HQ

and if you’ve never seen

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