@GaiaOne

2 days ago

And...another one falls down the rabbit hole. You are so doomed. We’ll save you a chair. You’re about to be buried in Home Fries. Brace yourself. Home Free is the only country a capella group out there, but they can - and do - sing every genre. And they have no lead singer. Every one of these men can take the lead, and they pick the lead for each song by who does it the most justice. During quarantine, they kept all us Home Fries sane by dropping new videos every couple of weeks while they were scattered across the country. God bless ‘em. All the men can beat box, but Adam is in a league of his own. He’s a world-class vocal percussionist and there’re good reasons he’s called a “Freak of Nature” and “the man who swallowed a drum kit.” For more of Adam’s incredible beat boxing, check out Sea Shanty medley (the man makes castanets, for Pete’s sake), his no-monica solo on Working For A Living and Ain’t Going Down Til The Sun Comes Up (that video is on Facebook), Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (sleigh bells? seriously?) or his drum solos. For more of Tim’s seismic basso profundo, listen to Brothers In Arms, Misty Mountains (his collaboration with Peter Hollens), Folsom Prison Blues, or Ring Of Fire (the Sing Off version). This man’s range is incredible. You won’t want to miss his 5-octave run in 5 seconds in “Do You Hear What I Hear?” For Chance’s smooth baritone/bass, check out Skull & Bones, Down to the Honky Tonk, Brothers In Arms, Cover Me Up, I Can’t Outrun You, and Folsom Prison Blues. (Awesome.. basso profundo and a baritone/bass in the same group.) FYI, Chance is singing (throat singing) the jaw harp sounds - without the jaw harp - in Man Of Constant Sorrow. For Rob’s soulful tenor, check out End of the Road, Blue Ain’t Your Color, or Bless The Broken Road. (Blue-eyed soul is in good hands with The Beard.) One Home Fry has described him as the vocal equivalent of a Swiss Army knife because of his versatility. Just wait until you hear him whistle! For Austin’s soaring tenor, check out Crazy, Moonshine, When A Man Loves a Woman, or Bring Him Home. (But bolt down your chair ‘cause he’ll sing you right out of it.) For their humor, check out Butts Remix, Working For A Living, Life Is A Highway, Between A Rock And A Heartache, Make You Feel My Love, Brother, and Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget (Tim wrote the worst country song he could think of, and it remains one of their most requested.) A word about “Brother” - if you want to hear the lyrics, you’re going to have to listen with your eyes closed, ‘cause otherwise you’ll never get past the humor of the video to actually hear what they’re singing. For their amazing arrangement skills, check out Do You Hear What I Hear. (Adam’s arrangement. Nothing else like it.) For their tight harmonies, check out Helplessly Hoping, How Great Thou Art, Brothers In Arms, or Auld Lang Syne. For their mashups, check out Thinking Out Loud/Let’s Get It On, Fishing in the Dark/Boondocks, Country Fried Pop, or Woman, Amen/Female. The Home Free men are masters of collaborations. They put the spotlight on their collaborator, supporting them with wonderful vocals and amazing harmonies. Check out God Bless the USA with Lee Greenwood, American Pie and Vincent with Don McLean, Elvira with The Oak Ridge Boys, Children Go Where I Send Thee with the late Kenny Rogers, Don’t Laugh At Me with Mark Wills, Christmas In Dixie with Alabama, Delta Dawn with Brooke Eden, or Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For with Peter Hollens. Get at least five videos under your belt and then listen to Mayday - the official video. After Mayday, you’ll be ready for Tim and Austin doing My Maria or Tim’s mashup of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow/Stay. Then, when you come up for air, check out Rob’s and Austin’s “Two Country Singers Try Singing Opera.” You’ll need smelling salts after that one. Don’t miss their official videos. The Home Free men will often do a straight, gorgeous vocal performance, but they’ll add elements of humor to the video that will leave you chuckling or even laughing out loud. (Folsom Prison Blues, Between A Rock And A Heartache, Make You Feel My Love, Working For A Living, Brother, Life Is A Highway). And God help you when you get hit with the Home Free Curse. They’ll cover a song you absolutely cannot stand and make you like it against your will. I’d been hit by the curse four times before I gave up and quit counting. I’m not the only victim of the Home Free Curse, either. Although their covers are amazing, don’t miss their original compositions. They range from the the poignant (So Long Dixie) to the patriotic (Land Of the Free). These include Dive Bar Saints (one of my favorites), Road Sweet Road, Catch Me If You Can, Lonely Girl’s World, The Stargazer Trilogy (Give Me A Sign, Stargazer Lilies, MR), Champagne Taste On A Beer Budget, Love Me Like That, Skull And Bones, and many, many more. Their synergy is phenomenal. Each is an artist in his own right, but man - when they sing together, magic happens. Wicked talent polished by decades of hard work. (Unchained Melody, Castle On The Hill, Seven Bridges Road, Only In America) To paraphrase another Home Fry, “They don’t just own a cover, they upgrade it.” You are doomed, Home Fry. Bring ketchup.

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