Home Free are a group who have existed at the peripherals of my musical radar for a little while, but it wasn’t until their latest album ‘Country Evolution’ landed in my inbox that I actually took time to familiarize myself with their output. They won NBC’s The Sing-Off in 2013, netting them $100,000 and a contract with Sony – a contract that has led to two studio albums and a Christmas offering, and although their “debut” ‘Crazy Life’ has sold a respectable 71,800 copies since its January 2014 release, their latest is actually the highest charting thus far. ‘Country Evolution’ reached #4 following its drop date of September 18th, selling nearly 10,000 copies since.
It might not sound like impressive numbers, but this is with no radio hit (or, seemingly, any song pushed to radio), and from an a capella vocal group. Such an outfit is fairly rare for country, and although of course their records include instrumentation, the focus is very much on the art of five-part male harmonies and associated percussive techniques. To all intents and purposes it shouldn’t really work, but – to my own astonishment – it works perfectly. Sure, they have pop leanings like you might expect, but they are identifiably country and they bring a brand new dynamic to the form that is infectious and energetic. What I want to know, is with the rhythmic and “evolutionary” focus of recent mainstream country releases, why is no-one paying more attention to these guys?
Perhaps part of the problem is that a lot of their repertoire is covers. That’s not to say that their material is boring; far from it. In actual fact, their renditions of classic songs like ‘9 To 5’, ‘Elvira’, ‘Friends In Low Places’, ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’ and ‘Seven Bridges Road’ are fresh, original and inspired. ‘9 To 5’, for example, extracts the retro R&B feel that was always present in Dolly’s version but usually hidden, while ‘Friends In Low Places’ gets a syncopated groove that shows it in a different light. One of the album’s best entries is ‘Fishin’ In The Dark Down In The Boondocks’, a perfect combination of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s ‘Fishin’ In The Dark’ and Little Big Town’s early career hit ‘Boondocks’. The two songs blend together really well, and that’s in no small part due to the talent of the group and any arrangers that may have worked with them on it. Their Alabama Sampler, too, showcases the best of the legendary 80s group in a stripped-back medley.
In addition to ‘Boondocks’, there are other more covers present on the record. Sam Hunt’s House Party’ is there, although it sounds rather similar to the original, and Andy Grammer’s ‘Honey I’m Good’, which frankly lends itself to a capella (and again, is fairly similar to the one currently at country radio). But five originals make it onto the 14-track offering, and these slide in neatly alongside the covers. The set opens with the fun, laid-back ‘Summer In The Country’, complete with catchy refrain, and segues effortlessly into ‘Good Ole Country Harmony’, with nods to their chosen profession. ‘Don’t It Feel Good’, meanwhile, has a classic pop singalong feel, and ‘California Country’ returns to a sexy groove to celebrate the Golden State, before ‘Serenity’ closes things in a – well – serene manner. This is where the group’s harmonies come truly to the fore, entirely unaccompanied, pure and strong.
I am not usually one for a capella, but I really enjoyed this record as something different and fun. This group deserve more promotion and attention and I sincerely hope the label invests in them further.
Originally posted here.
