Luke Combs recalls his awkward first encounter with Blake Shelton, joking that he felt like “the weird guy in the room that’s sick.”

For Luke Combs, the encounter turned out to be far from memorable.

Luke Combs’ first encounter with Blake Shelton was far from a dream moment. Feeling unwell and awkward, he worried he had blown his chance to make a strong impression. Yet, that uncomfortable evening unexpectedly became the night he predicted his first major breakthrough as a country artist.

More than ten years ago, Combs, then an up-and-coming singer, attended a small gathering at a Mississippi farm owned by Colin Reed, the Executive Chairman of Ryman Hospitality. Combs recalled feeling out of place as the “new guy” that nobody really knew.

“I felt like I didn’t belong,” he told PEOPLE during an event promoting his Category 10 bar’s new Las Vegas location.

Adding to the stress, Combs became very ill, spending much of the event confined to his room with chicken soup while other guests—including Shelton—enjoyed the farm.

“I’m at this gorgeous Mississippi farm with deer everywhere, and I think, ‘This is heaven for a redneck.’ Meanwhile, I’m on the toilet, chugging Imodium,” he remembered.

The situation left him convinced he had sabotaged his own career by making a poor impression on key industry figures.

“I finally get invited to this amazing event, and I’m the sick, awkward guy in the corner,” he said, reflecting on the moment.

By some stroke of luck, Combs felt well enough to join a casual campfire session on the final night, where artists shared songs that had shaped their paths. Though he was still a newcomer without hits, he had already decided which song he wanted to present.

“I don’t even have a record deal yet, and I’ve never had a No. 1, but if I do get a deal, this is the song I’m going to play,” he told Shelton.

He performed “Hurricane,” which would later become his debut single and hit number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in May 2017.

Reed still vividly recalls that moment when Combs foresaw his own success.

“I get chills thinking about it. Everyone in the room went silent, and I thought, wow, this is something special. That was the first time I met him,” Reed said.

Fast forward to 2024, and Combs and Reed reunited to open the first Category 10 bar in downtown Nashville—a concept inspired by the very hit he had played by the campfire.

Though hurricanes are capped at Category 5, Combs took the idea to the next level. The bar’s name, Category 10, reflects a level beyond the ordinary, symbolizing both the massive success of “Hurricane” and the trajectory of his career.