The road to realizing dreams, seldom, if ever, travels along a straight and easy path. Kevin Northrup knows that well. This very talented North Carolina-based LD was coming to the end of a tour with Darius Rucker in 2015, when he was offered a position as a lighting department manager with Special Event Services. Though he loved touring, he decided he wanted a more stable job at home.

A year later, Darius Rucker took a short break from touring, and the singer’s designer/director Will Lowdermilk came to the SES shop to pick up some extra income prepping cases and coiling cables.

Lowdermilk and Northrup had become close friends from their time working together on Darius Rucker’s tours. Seeing his friend doing entry level tasks at the shop instead of being out there “creating beautiful things,” motivated Northrup to start Silver Bullets Design with Lowdermilk, so they could build up a steady flow of client business.

The partners started with work for Darius Rucker (Lowdermilk is still busy doing so today), and began casting about for other clients. There were occasional shows with Hootie and the Blowfish, but the designers knew they needed more. That’s when Michael Brammer, director of touring for SES stepped in. A man with a knack for spotting up-and-coming acts, he gave Northrup two names, one of which was Luke Combs.

What happened after that can aptly be described as a dream come true. Like all such realized “dreams,” this one was based on some very real down-to-earth things, like hard work, perseverance, and believing in yourself as well as those close to you. We’re thankful that Kevin Northrup took time from his busy schedule to share this story with us.

Can you tell us how it was that you selected Luke Combs out of the two names that Michael Brammer gave you?
“I had a good feeling that Michael would know of a band that needed a touring designer/director. He previously had sent me out on a small sprinter van tour as an LD/Van driver. I would have genuinely been okay with that. This time, he gave me the name Luke Combs and another band. I listened to both artists — and while listening to Luke’s first album, I knew he was something special. In a week or two, Luke’s manager let us know that Luke would want help in a few months for his first headline arena show in Asheville NC. Later that week, Luke’s first single to country radio “Hurricane” reach Number One. From that moment on, my life has changed in ways I never would have imagined.”

So, what has surprised you most about Luke Combs since you started working for him?
“How good of a guy he is. My favorite anecdote about him is attending one of his Number One parties for one of his songs. My wife and I were there to offer our congratulations and wish him continued success. At that point there were six consecutive Number One hits, I believe – well, truly a success by any metric. Luke had hit the bottom of his drink, and said ‘I’m going to go to the bar. Can I get you guys anything?’ We politely declined, but he absolutely would have gone to the bar, ordered us some drinks and brought them back. I hope his sense of humility and kindness comes across in that story. He’s like an old friend to everybody he meets.”

Luke’s music is very honest and heartfelt. How does that influence the way you design his shows?
“Luke is very fan focused. So, I have three very well defined goals. First – Make sure the fans can see him and his band. Second – Make sure Luke can see his fans. Third – Never overshadow him.

“The first goal is easy. I use a very theatrical approach, with front, side and back light for everyone on the stage. Luke has also made it clear that he can’t do this alone, he loves his band and makes sure they get their moments too. The band are constantly interacting with each other, the audience, and Luke, so it would be a disservice to not properly light them.

“As far as the second goal, audience lighting , I love big color looks. For the important moments, I light up the audience too. I have to give a shoutout to a piece of gear here. Walking around LDI this year, I knew I had to have the new Strike Array 4C. For this application, they are the be all and end all of all audience lights. They are my new favorite fixture, and I encourage all concert designers to get a demo to see why for themselves.

“In terms of my third goal, it’s easy to make a lighting rig do a lot of flashy things, but people aren’t there for my light show. They are there to see Luke, and I am there to support Luke. Yes, there are times we are in full on party mode, but there are also times when I only have 5 of the 500 or so lights on — and sometimes even that feels like too much for the moment.”

How involved does Luke get in lighting?
“He knows what he likes, and isn’t afraid to express his opinion, but he trusts me to do what I do. In the seven years I’ve been working with him. There’s maybe only been like two times he’s requested something be changed.”

Can you give us a general idea of how production design ideas come to life with Luke?
“Jerry Slone, Luke’s Production manager, is the mastermind behind the entire process. He typically comes up with an abstract idea. He’ll scribble something on a piece of paper, and say something like. ‘How about we have trusses that do this and that, and a video wall here?’ You know, the iconic bar napkin sketch. Will and I run with this, come up with a few ideas from there, and then we bounce them back and forth with Jerry for a few revisions. We them then create renderings and we show them to Luke to pick a concept and give any notes. For 2023/24 stadiums, Oli Metcalf was brought in to do the production design, which led to a heavily collaborative process between design and programming.”

Do you have a favorite Luke Combs song?
“I really like his song ‘Doin’ This.’ The song is about a hypothetical interview about his career where the interviewer asks, ‘what would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?’ It’s a very relatable song when you’ve found your passion, because; much like Luke, I can’t imagine doing anything else. The biggest reason that Ilike it the best are the lines: ‘I’d be feelin’ on fire on a hardwood stage, Bright lights like lightning runnin’ through my veins.’
It probably has nothing to do with me, but being the only LD he’s ever had, I like to think that I inspired those lyrics in some way. Maybe someday I’ll ask him directly.”

Luke’s popularity has soared in recent years. How does this impact your work?
“It inspires me to work hard to keep up. When I started, I was not a stadium level lighting designer/director. I was hardly a sprinter van level LD. It was luck and vows of confidence from Will and Michael to get me in the door, but a lot of hard work and continued support from them as well as Jerry and a hundred others to stay here.”

What’s the best thing about working for Luke? 
“The camaraderie and lack of ego of the entire tour. We all work together and we all interact with each other, from Luke to the newest members of the tour. Nobody is off limits to sit down and share a meal with in catering, or ask questions about why a certain guitar was picked for a song. There’s an understood respect between everybody and it’s quite special to be a part of.”

If you had to sum up the experience of working with Luke on tour in three words, what would they be? 
“I’ll give you four: ‘This One’s for You.’ With Luke, it’s always about and for the fans.”