My Heart's On Fire For #HFORB

Take 4 parts of legendary, old school country singers with sweet harmonies, add their greatest hit song and 5 parts of (will-be legendary) new school a cappella country singers with (at least) equally sweet harmonies, a killer arrangement and then mix it all together. Add to the quotation that one of those nine people is one of the best vocal percussionists/beat boxers the world have ever heard, 2 of them are among the worlds best bass singers and they can hit low notes as easy as I breath; and then sit back and wait to see what happens. Would you care to take a guess? I know that even if you do you wouldn't come anywhere near the truth of what happens. But don't sweat it! Have no fear! The truth is now out! The answer is here!

It all started months ago when Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys saw Home Free on a TV show and was blown away. He reached out and the ball started rolling. Home Fries all over the world started speculating, hoping and dreaming for a collaboration between the two groups. We begged and pleaded for them to work together on ORB's hit song Elvira from 1981. In the beginning of the summer the ORB tweeted that they were about to enter the studio together to do exactly what we wanted.

That's when the real speculating started. We knew it would be nothing short of amazing. How could it not be? What we didn't know was HOW amazing it could, and would, be. We had no idea this result was even a possibility. We had no idea of the heights it would take us to. Even in our wildest imaginations and dreams, we had no clue what so ever.

And then there was a video shoot. Home Free loves keeping their fans up to date on what they do, and we love that they do, and they also love teasing us with snippets of what is to come, and we love it when they do. So we knew they were shooting the video, and we were told the song was awesome, but nothing, absolutely nothing, was told on when this, what must be pure awesomeness, was going to be revealed to us. We just had to wait and see. So we did. Patiently. Ok, I lie, very impatiently. We waited.

And after all this hoping, dreaming, speculating, teasing and waiting the day finally arrived. FINALLY!! It is here!

For the Home Free Patrons it arrived on Thursday, and boy oh boy do I love being a Patron (You can become one here) ! I am so proud to be a part of all this. It is so satisfying to know that I helped (as Austin might say). The rest of the world was first introduced to this epicness (I'm so making that a word) by Huffington Post. YES, a huge release in Home Free's career was shown to the world by a huge player on the online news market. Epic! Huge! And so right! Didn't I tell you a few weeks back that Home Free is having an epic summer?

So, what about the song and the singing and all that stuff? Well, it's ok.

Naaaaaaah, just kidding!

It is absolutely freggin' mind blowingly fantastic! It is putting my heart on fire! It is pure joy and love! It is far beyond my wildest dreams of what could be done with this song that I already loved. It is sweet, it is power! It is taking me to higher grounds, it is flying me to the moon, and it is one of the best things I have ever, ever, heard, ever. It makes me smile, laugh and dance. It makes put my hands to the sky in victory! I was sitting at my desk at work yesterday, listening to Home Free while doing some work, and I could see that my colleague next to me was looking at me with a big smile. Apparently I was dancing in my chair. I had already told her about the song so she just looked at me and asked if that was the song. Yes, yes it was. And so the day went on. Every time Elvira came on I noticed her watching me through the corner of my eye. Well, could for me for making her smile. Oh, did I tell you I was wearing ear buds so she couldn't hear what song was actually on.

We knew it was going to be epic, but this, this is so much more than just being epic.

The sweet, sweet harmonies are perfectly blended; the basses are, well, low and perfect together;, and the beat boxing is rocking everybody's world, knocking us kind out of our chairs and on to the dance floor. Seriously, Adam, how is it even possible to do what you do?

The fantastic arrangement is made by Tim Foust by him tweaking an arrangement made by Geoff Castellucci and VoicePlay (another brilliant a cappella group), and it let's the personalities of the two groups shine through. Not just the groups, the different personalities of all the members of the two groups. WoW! This is such a perfect arrangement! It shows a completely new, young and fresh take on this classic song without taking away from the original greatness of it. This is truly the perfect mix of old school and new school.

As for the video; it's just 9 guys sitting around, having fun singing this fantastic song. Nothing special one would think, but I love it, and you can tell by watching the video that all the boys love it. Both generations. It shows in their faces and their body languages. They are amazed by each other; Home Free probably by the honour of getting to do this at all, and ORB by the amazing talents of HF. The joy, the fun, the mutual respect. It is all showing in this great video put together by FifGen Films. Great job, as always, by them! My favourite part is when ORB is signing Austin's ORB t-shirt and Austin is looking like he just can't believe this is happening. Isn't that kind of what we are all feeling right about now? And here's more;

According to Duane Allen the ball is still rolling behind the scene's to get the 2 groups together for some TV and other fun stuff, but they are all very busy until after Christmas so we'll just have to wait and see. I have a feeling that from now on Home Free will be experiencing an avalanche of great things leading to even greater things. Mr Allen even mentioned the possibility of them all going on a WORLD TOUR - TOGETHER! Where can I get the tickets for that?

Can it get any better than this? Well, guess what, it can!!

After you watched this joyful and epic video (a hundred times or so) head over to Home Free's store and pre-order the Deluxe version of their new album Country Evolution (to be released on September 18) and you will get an autographed copy. You can also head over to iTunes to put the pre-order in for the digital Deluxe album which will allow you to download 3 tracks immediately, including Elvira. How amazing is that!! Third option is to pre-order it from Amazon, just click the link on the top right of this page, this will give the "original" version of the album with 11 songs, the Deluxe version has 14 (the additional 3 tracks are not the same 3 you get when you buy the digital version on iTunes). This album is going to be epic. This album is going to change the way the world looks at a cappella and country music. But that deserves a separate post.

And do me and the guys a favour will ya'; share this post, share every article you see, share the video; on Facebook and on Twitter, on whatever social media you are on; with people you know and people you don't know. And if you share it on Twitter please use #HFORB and #ELVIRA as we want to get it trending. If you want to share it on Facebook, please use the Facebook video found on Home Free's page. It's all for viral reasons. Let's get Elvira

ELVIRAL!!

And now, finally, here it is;

Love/
Carina

Home Free's Summer = Epic Overload

The other day I promised you an update on what's going on the Home Free world, so here it is.

First of all they have finished recording their upcoming album, which we still don't know the name for. They've said it will be released sometime in the fall, maybe September, maybe October. Around half of the songs on the album will be new, original songs and half will be covers. Among the originals we know there will be at least 2 Tim Foust originals and the first Austin Brown original. I CAN NOT WAIT!! They've also said we will see kind of a different side of them. I am very eager to find out all about it!

They also recorded the classic song Elvira together with the famous Oak Ridge Boys, which ORB say is amazing. The video is already shot. We don't know if this song will be on the album or if it's one of their videos outside of the albums. Either way, I am sure it will be absolutely epic! How can it not be?!

Speaking of epic, Home Free is currently filming a video for a Christmas song collaboration. And let me tell you, not just any collaboration. This song is part of no other than the legendary Kenny Rogers' upcoming Christmas Album, and of course I am sure it will be out of this world. I mean; it's Kenny Rogers, and Home Free, and a Christmas song. Can it get more epic than that? For real, doe!

Well, maybe it can; on the 17th of July Home Free had what was, according to Austin, a top 3 moment in their musical career. They had their debut at the Grand Ole Opry. And it was totally epic! From the moment they walked out on stage with the audience cheering wildly, to the low notes, the high notes, the beatboxing, and the sweet, sweet harmonies, Home Free rocked the socks off of everybody at the Opry. They got standing O's and I am sure they lifted the roof off the building! They were immediately invited back, on their debut night, which from what I understand is not all that common. It is said that the Opry tour guide was way in the back of the building and he was wondering what the Heck happened when he felt Tim's low notes. How cool is that!! Epic as can be for sure! I was listening to it live, of course, even though it was 3,30 am here. Fries all over the world, no matter what time it was, were listening with huge smiles on their faces and tears of pride and joy. I am extremely happy I got to be a small part of this moment that for sure is already historic in the history of the Grand Ole Opry. Epic history!

So, what else is going on? Oh, the Guys have joined Periscope (a live streaming app) and every once in a while they will appear live on there, sharing their daily lives with us Fries. Yesterday we got to hang with them twice, first before their rehearsal for the new tour, and then in the evening when they were sitting around a ring of fire (yes, literally) at their music retreat location. It is really cool to see the more relaxed sides of them, hear them joke and goof around and get a glimpse of their more personal sides.

I mentioned the new tour already, I believe it will kick off in September sometime. In the States of course. We still don't know anything about their European visit that is said to be worked on for next year. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it will all fall into place for them, and us European Fries!

The Guys are also busy filming more videos, most of them (maybe all of them) with the music video making geniuses that is FifGen Films, and attending fairs and doing other shows up until the time of the new tour starting. I am excited to see what they will come up with this time around. I am proud to be a Patron to help pay for the videos that is spreading the word about them around the world.

Wow, I get tired just writing about all they have been doing in just the last two months. They sure keep busy, and we as fans absolutely love it.

Ok, I think that is it, except for their latest video. This video is epic too. It's a medley/mash-up of 16 (although they have named only 15 there is actually 16 songs) of the past few years most popular pop songs. The arrangement is made by Austin and he has been working on for a couple of years, putting together a list of around 100 songs before he narrowed it down and put it all together. And let me tell you; it is sweet! And the video, it is hilarious! There are no words to properly describe it, but one of my favourite things about it is that it shows off the Guys different personalities.

If you are interested in listening to/watching the original songs in this mash-up you can head over to my friend Rachel Cheng's Buzzfeed Blog where she has them all listed.

But first, have a listen and a look at Home Free's video. And let me know if you can find the Stealth Chicken (I will tell you the history of it in an upcoming post).

Here's COUNTRY FRIED POP MEDLEY! (Don't forget to listen with headphones with a good bass, it will make all the difference in the world when listening to Home Free).

Love//
Carina

Home Free + The Oak Ridge Boys = True!

Very early this morning (my time), or very late last night depending on how you live your life, The Oak Ridge Boys announced on Twitter that on the 22nd of June they will go into the studio with Home Free to record ORB's hit song Elvira together. This is news a lot of us Fries have been waiting and hoping for. We know that the two groups have a mutual respect for each other and are friends, both groups have a bearded member and a member that likes to wear hats; in The Oak Ridge Boys it just happens to be same member and in Home Free they are two different members; both groups have amazing harmonies and both groups also have awesome bass singers. The biggest difference between the two groups is that The Oak Ridge Boys has instrumental music to their songs, and Home Free does not. Another thing the two groups will have in common soon is the Grand Ole Opry, where The Oak Ridge Boys has performed for decades already, and Home Free will have their premiere performance next month. I am sure that first one will be followed by many in the years to come, just like The Oak Ridge Boys. In a way I guess Home Free is the new The Oak Ridge Boys.

The Oak Ridge Boys have a long history with name changes, genre changes and member changes, but the current line-up have been around since the early 70's, and by then they were already a country band. They bring a lot of experience to the table, and this is a great opportunity for Home Free to get their name out their some more.

Edit; Check out the result right here! 

The collaboration with The Oak Ridge Boys is not the first collaboration that Home Free has been involved in; their video of Ring of Fire, by Johnny Cash, features Avi Kaplan, the bass singer of Pentatonix. They also did a Christmas song together with the violinist Taylor Davis - yes, there was an instrument on a Home Free song. Another collaboration they did was with Peter Hollens on Dan + Shay's hit song 19 You + Me. Peter and Home Free did two different versions and videos of the same song, they then released them at the exact same time and they are both great. 

You can check out the videos by following these links; 

Ring of Fire with Avi Kaplan

Silent Night with Taylor Davis

19 You + Me - Peter Hollens version

19 You + Me - Home Free version

You can read all about The Oak Ridge Boys here, they have way too much of history to cover in this little piece.

If you have never heard Elvira before, you can check it out below. And if you have heard it before I'm sure you'd like to hear it again. Anyway, this is the song they will be recording next week, and I am extremely excited to hear the result, and I am hoping for a video at some point too.

Edit; One of my readers reminded me of the amazing collaboration on Baby It's Cold Outside with the Canadian Singer Kira Isabella. This is one song I've always really liked, but I've also always felt there was something missing. Up until I heard this rendition. Maybe you like it too. Thanks, VJ, for the reminder.

Love//
Carina