Sam Hunt performed the popular Garth Brooks’ “What She’s Doing Now?” during his Red Rock performance on Thursday, September 3.
The country superstar previously teased the cover with an Instagram post Sunday, August 30, where he put his own signature spin on the song giving the song a refreshing, synthesized new sound, reminiscent of Gorilla Zoe’s “Echo” instrumentally and vocal editing wise.
“So a couple nights ago, I was in Nashville and I was over at the studio, I hit a little writers block so I pulled up some song I grew up listening to and just started playing them on guitar to try to find a little inspiration,” Hunt explained ahead of the performance. “So, pulled out this song a couple nights ago and was messing around with it and I had some music that a buddy had sent me, started singing it over this track and it just really took me back, I was feeling nostalgic and I thought we would work it up tonight, one from back in the early ’90s.”
“Red Rocks is an amazing venue that every artists wants to play,” Hunt tells Billboard, noting that he played a run of shows at the outdoor Amphitheater in 2017. “With this show, it’s not just fans of country music — the headliners are some of the biggest artists right now. I just love that we can be a mood that evening and that’s how I feel like we fit into this lineup.”
“What She’s Doing Now” was co-written by Brooks alongside Pat Alger and is a track that Brooks released in 1991 as the third single from his album, Ropin’ The Wind. The song spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart upon release.
Hunt released his Platinum-certified album, Southside, earlier this year. The singer performed several tracks from the album as well as some fan-favorite songs like “Take Your Time,” “Leave The Night On” and “Break Up In A Small Town” and many others including the debut live performance of a new single he teased entitled “23.”
Visible’s digital music festival Red Rocks Unpaused also included performances from Brett Young, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Phoebe Bridgers, Megan Thee Stallion and Lil Baby.
