“Doin’ This” by Luke Combs
Luke Combs uses the song “Doin’ This” to put forth that verily, he is a musician at heart. As a premise he is in fact a very successful musician, so much so that interviewers regularly ask him what type of profession he would have taken up if he were not a big time artist. And Combs’ response, via this song, is that he “would still be doing this”, i.e. making music, since, as alluded to earlier, doing so is his passion.
That is to say that whereas Luke may currently be a top dog in the music game, it isn’t “the fame” or “the fortune” or “the glory” that keeps him artistically grinding. To the contrary, even if he had to hustle to get by – playing small, local venues as opposed to, say the CMAs – that’s exactly what he would be doing.
Basically the narrator is someone who is genuinely more concerned with living an edifying instead of a lofty one. And to him, edification is achieved by playing music. Or put alternatively yet again, to people like Luke Combs, chillin’ isn’t achieved by doing it big. Rather, just be able to make a living, regardless of how small it may be, doing what he loves is rather what the good life is about.
So, let’s conclude by saying that this is an interesting stance for a major artist to take in an age where materialism is heavily pushed through the music industry. Outside of maybe the club music genre, it isn’t really that common to come across a musician simply expressing love for what he does as a profession in and of itself.
Facts about “Doin’ This”
Luke Combs wrote this song alongside his homeys Drew Parker and Robert Williford, apparently while the three of them were at his house during the coronavirus lockdowns.
The music video to this track prominently features one Adam Church, an up-and-coming musician who Combs has a lot of respect for.
Combs also acted as producer of this track, in that regard working with Chip Matthews and Jonathan Singleton.
This song was issued as a standalone single on 10 November 2021. And it was on that same day, during the 2021 CMA Awards, that Combs debuted it. It was also at that ceremony that he won “the biggest prize” of the event, i.e. being named Entertainer of the Year.
FYI
Combs has released two studio albums to date, “This One’s for You” (2017) and “What You See Is What You Get” (2019). Both of these albums were critical and commercial successes, especially in Canada, Australia and his homeland of the US.
