Home Free – 20 Questions

In 2013, NBC ‘The Sing Off’ was won by American a Capella group Home Free and they secured themselves $100,000 dollars and a recording contract with Sony. Now they have released their third album on Sony Music ‘Country Evolution’ and will embark on a debut UK and Ireland tour in 2016. We gave the members of Home Free one of Pete’s customised 20 Questions and here are their responses:

Tim Foust (Bass)

  • What was it like growing up in Texas?

Texas was a wonderful place to grow up. It can be brutally hot and humid, but I’ll take that over cold any day. Southern hospitality is a very real thing, and I appreciate that those sorts of values were instilled in me from a young age.

  • How did your collaboration with Kenny Rogers come about?

Kenny actually approached us after his sons’ music teacher introduced our music to him. We’ll never forget that call from out manager because at the time we were rehearsing our “Butts Medley” in a church.

  • Why did you decide to cover Dolly Parton’s ‘9 To 5’ on the new album?

I had always thought that would be a fun one to bring back, and it was one of many many songs we had originally discussed as possibilities for our new album. However, it ended up being a last-­‐minute addition, and now it’s probably my favorite track on the album. Our producer, Darren Rust, crafted a brilliant arrangement, and Rob sings the heck out of it.

  • What is your favourite track on your new album ‘Country Evolution and why?

See previous answer. A killer funky reinvention.

 

Austin Brown (High Tenor)

  • Name a recorded vocal that fades too early, for you (artist/title)

The public’s attention span seems to be getting smaller and smaller. With that said, some of the best songs tend to be getting shorter. Especially when you consider the wild-­‐west that is the world of streaming, a shorter song (that’s a great one) would mean more plays. And that equals higher ratings. So if you write a song that you think is amazing, but its only just over 2 minutes long… go with it!

  • Where are you planning to tour next?

At the end of January we have our first tour in the UK! Its only 4 shows, but we are beyond elated to finally be dipping our toes in a new market “across the pond,” as they say. After that, its back to the states and more shows, coast to coast. I love touring so much. I hope we get to do this for years to come.

  • What did you learn from your time working as a featured singer on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship? Do you have any funny or interesting stories from that experience?

Working on a cruise ship taught me more about people and culture (shock) than anything else I’ve done.

Americans were by far the minority (in terms of crew) on every cruise ship I’ve been lucky enough to work. It really altered my small town perspective of the world in which we live and how people from all walks of life can love, grow, and learn from each other. Its one of the few places on Earth where a real melting-­‐pot still exists. There were over 70 countries represented through nearly 2,000 crew members, and even though cruise ships are huge in a lot of ways, for the crew, we were all pretty cramped. Now I literally have friends all over the world on 6 different continents! It was a once in a lifetime experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

The most relevant story that initially comes to mind from my time with Royal Caribbean is that I met the guys in Home Free during my final contract. They came onboard as guest entertainers, saw my show, and I saw theirs. At some point we came across each other out and about on the ship. Immediately we clicked. I’m an Acapella dork at heart, so we had plenty to talk about and while I’m fairly certain my endless torrent of questions and simultaneous admiration was perhaps a bit overbearing, the networking and relationships forged over those few days eventually opened the door to my subbing in with the group. And well, we know how that worked out ;-­‐)

  • What is your favourite track on your new album ‘Country Evolution and why?

This is a very tough question. I’m not really one for “favorites” in any subject, especially when trying to pick

just one song from what we’ve created together on our most recent album. I’m proud of my original, California Country, but I could never compare it to say… “Fishin’ in the Dark/Boondocks. The latter is certainly the most in depth and collaborative arrangement that we’ve ever done together. It went through so many different revisions and incarnations before we finally felt it was to the point that we’d taken it as far as it could go. And then, I absolutely love the groove in 9 to 5. It just drives and I can really vibe when I hear it. I could go on and on, but you get the point.

 

Rob Lundquist (Tenor)

  • Which of your own recordings show you at your most a/ lively b/ reflective c/ celebratory?

A) My most lively recording would probably be while I was rapping “Baby Got Back” in our “Butts Medley.” In the studio, originally we thought Austin would do it, but he pushed for me to do it and be crazy…so I obliged. And it was super fun.

B) We’ve never actually recorded it, but we’ve performed “Colder Weather” a ton since we debuted it on The Sing Off. That song resonated with me from the beginning, because we are touring artists, constantly away from loved ones. Thankfully my story is much happier than what the song depicts, but I can still relate being away from my wife more than I would like.

C) I’ll say that “Honey I’m Good” is the most celebratory song I’ve recorded. While we were recording our most recent album, my sister heard the Andy Grammer tune on the radio and told me we had to do it. I listened to it and immediately agreed. I showed it to the guys, they loved it and we recorded it later that week. It’s such a fun song and it was very relatable for me. It was cool to present a song to the guys and have it become a priority and I also got to sing lead on it, which is always exciting.

  • Home Free won the fourth season of NBC’s ‘The Sing Off’ and that helped secure not only your record deal but also a large fanbase. What advice do you have for anyone who is thinking of auditioning for any of these types of shows?

The best advice I could give to anyone auditioning for a reality talent competition is to come in with a focused style and a strong personality. We had tried out for TSO the previous 3 seasons and were just one of hundreds of groups wearing the same matching suits and singing the same Top 40 songs that every other group was singing. Then Austin and Tim got in the group, they both grew up in the south, and we decided to focus on country music, which turned out to be a blessing since nobody else was doing it. It was refreshing for the producers to see a group doing something different and that is one of the main reasons we got on the show. And having a big personality is much more interesting to producers than someone who is quiet and nervous, unless you are truly terrified and maybe they could spin it that you are crazy scared…but anything in between just comes off as boring.

  • Any recording that makes you laugh, intentionally or otherwise! (artist/track/source album)

I saw the movie High Fidelity when it came out back when I was in my late teens and fell in love with Jack Black, not only because he’s hilarious but he also had a killer voice. He sang ‘Let’s Get It On’ at the end of the movie and sounded great. I did some research on him later and found out that he had his own band called Tenacious D and immediately bought the album “Tenacious D.” It was the funniest thing I had ever heard and was kind of obsessed for a little while. Granted it was crude, low brow humor, which was perfect for my 18-­‐year-­‐old self.

  • What is your favourite track on your new album ‘Country Evolution and why?

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but certainly one of my favorites is Tim’s original “Don’t It Feel Good.” He did a demo of the song with our producer, Darren Rust, and I was into it right from the beginning. I found it to be refreshing, having a simple melody, not needing a ton of backgrounds, just good harmony and a fun message. It reminded me of Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time,” which is a song that most a cappella groups do at some point because it lends itself so well to a cappella. It’s super catchy and is for sure my favorite original on our album.

 

Adam Rupp (Vocal Percussion/Beat Boxer)

  • When did you first learn to beat box? What as the first song you beat boxed?

Started learning and training my freshman year of college. I was a real entry-­‐level beat boxer. Pretty Woman was the first song I learned for performance. It’s one of those most embarrassing things that you will never see.

  • Which artist did you go to see perform with low expectations but ended up impressed? Where and when was this?

I can’t think of an artist that I went to see with low expectations whose surprised me later. The opposite has happened though. I will say that it’s almost always a better experience to watch an artist that exceeds your expectations.

  • Name a recording (an album maybe) that really ‘grew’ on you and has ended up as essential listening? What is it about this recording that you value?

Allen Stone’s “The bed I made” has a special place for me. I’ll sing along with this one passionately.

  • What is your favourite track on your new album ‘Country Evolution and why?

The “Fishing in the dark” and “Boondocks” mashup. The song has a badass side to it that I’ve been hungry for us to explore more. I’m also able to really express myself with my arranging contributions and throat bass.

 

Chris Rupp (Baritone)

  • Did you enjoy school? Whether you did or not, which songs remind you of schooldays (artist/title/source album)?

Outside all of the usual teenage angst, school was fun. I miss those days of being able to be involved in so many different things at the same time, like speech, debate, drama, choirs, jazz band….yeah, I was a fine arts nerd! There are two songs that resonate me with my school days right away, are Soundgardens Truly madly deeply, and The Spice Girls Wannabe…both were songs I remember listening to with my girlfriend at the time and they’ve stuck with me!

  • What is the Home Free tour diet?

Well, we all eat very different diets! It changes every day too, but I try to do a light breakfast in the morning (or late lunch), something protein based. Then a pre-­‐workout drink, hit the gym hard, big protein shake after with a lot of fruit added in. Do sound check, VIP, and then a meal before the show. Try to avoid snacks after the show, but that can be tough! It’s really easy to eat badly on the road, so you have to be as diligent as you can to watch it!

  • The radio is playing…what song would you cross the room to turn UP and what song would you cross the room to turn OFF?

This is probably weird, but right now I’d turn down Hello by Adele -­‐ not that I dislike the song, but I’ve just heard it too much now! I still turn up Uptown Funk though…love me some Bruno Mars!

  • What is your favourite track on your new album ‘Country Evolution and why?

Probably Fishin in the Dark/Boondocks, as that was my original idea to mash them up and I loved how it turned out! They are two songs that you wouldn’t immediately think of as working together, but we made it happen and each song is better for it!

Pete Sargeant

You can watch the official music video for Home Free’s version of Dolly Parton’s ‘9 To 5’ below:


Home Free’s new album ‘Country Evolution’ is out now via Sony Music. In addition, Home Free will be embarking on their first UK and Ireland Tour in January 2016. For more information visit: http://homefreemusic.com/

(Thanks to Home Free for taking part in our ’20 Questions With…’ Series and both Lewis Fromberg and Stuart Bennett at Deacon Communications)