Home Free (group)

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Home Free
Home Free in 2018
Background information
Also known as	Home Free Vocal Band
Origin	Mankato, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	A cappella, country
Years active	2000 (2000)–present
Website	homefreemusic.com
Members	Austin Brown Rob Lundquist Adam Rupp Tim Foust Adam Chance
Past members	Chris Rupp Matt Atwood Darren Scruggs Dan Lemke Chris Foss Elliott Robinson Troy Horne Matthew Tuey Joe Fine Joe Kent Adam Bastien

Home Free is an American country a cappella group of five vocalists, Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist, Adam Rupp, Tim Foust, and Adam Chance. Starting as a show group, they toured around 200 shows a year across the United States.^[1] The group competed in and won the fourth season of The Sing-Off on NBC in 2013. They sang an arrangement of Hunter Hayes' "I Want Crazy" as their final competitive song, earning the group $100,000 and a recording contract with Sony.^[2]

Home Free released their first album under a major label, Crazy Life, on February 18, 2014.^[3] Their most recent album, Land of the Free, was released in June 2021.

History[]

The group Home Free was originally formed in 2000 by Chris Rupp in Mankato, Minnesota, when some of its members were still in their teens.^[4] The five founding members were brothers Chris and Adam Rupp, Matt Atwood, Darren Scruggs, and Dan Lemke; taking their name from a boat owned by Atwood's grandfather who helped support the group financially in the early years.^[5] The group began as a hobby for the singers, but they gradually gained in experience and popularity. By 2007 they had enough of a following to pursue music full-time. During this period, the Rupp brothers and Atwood formed the core of the group, with Atwood singing lead tenor. Other members of the group came and went. Current member Rob Lundquist, another Minnesotan, joined in 2008.^[6]

For much of the group's history they worked with many talented bass singers, but did not have a full-time committed bass voice. In 2007 Chris Foss sang with them. Elliott Robinson was added as bass in September 2008, and was replaced in June 2009 by Troy Horne. Later that year, Horne left to rejoin The House Jacks. To replace Horne they turned to Tim Foust, who first sang with them as a guest on their 2010 tour. A Texas native, Foust was then pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter of country music and had recently released a solo album, but was not ready to sign on full-time. Matthew Tuey sang with the group in the interim of 2011, until Foust joined them full-time in January 2012.^[6]

Home Free in 2015

Austin Brown

Rob Lundquist

Chris Rupp

Tim Foust

Adam Rupp

In 2012, Austin Brown was working on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship as a featured singer in their production shows. When Home Free joined the cruise as a guest performing group, they met and became close. Brown, who was born in Tifton, Georgia, let Home Free know that he would be interested in joining the group if they ever had an opening. At the end of 2012 lead singer Matt Atwood and his wife, who had married the previous year, were expecting their first child. Finding the group's touring schedule incompatible with family life, and having an opportunity to take over his family's real estate business in Mankato, Atwood made the decision to retire from the group. Home Free then invited Brown to join as lead tenor. He sang his first show with the group in October 2012, and became full-time in January 2013.^[7] In 2015 they made a guest appearance on Kenny Rogers' holiday album Once Again It's Christmas on the track "Children Go Where I Send Thee"; a music video was released in November 2015.^[8]

On March 18, 2016 it was announced that, after sixteen years performing with the group, co-founder Chris Rupp would be leaving to pursue a solo career. He would be replaced after May 8 by Adam Chance, formerly of Street Corner Symphony.^[9]

Reception[]

An update of Home Free's 2014 album Full of Cheer was released as Full Of (Even More) Cheer in November 2016 and debuted at number two on Top Country Albums with 13,000 sold, the band's best performance on the chart at the time.^[10]

Musical background and style[]

All five of Home Free's singers have formal musical training. Lundquist and the Rupp brothers all have bachelor's degrees in music. Adam Rupp's primary instrument is trumpet, but he also plays drums, keyboard, and bass guitar. Since joining, Foust and Brown have also become very active in writing and arranging.

In terms of musical roles, Home Free personnel includes two lead tenors, a baritone, a bass, and a beatboxer. The lead tenor, who often fronts the group, is Austin Brown who sings in the register of a high tenor. Traditional tenor harmony is sung by Rob Lundquist, baritone harmony is sung by Adam Chance, and Tim Foust sings bass with the range of a basso profundo. Occasionally, the latter two switch roles in their singing voice. In addition to the four voices, percussion sounds are provided by beatboxer Adam Rupp. All of the singers occasionally sing solos supported by the harmonies of the other singers.

Home Free's styling as a country group is relatively recent. Before Foust joined the group, Home Free was an all-purpose a cappella group, singing in a wide variety of styles, of which country was only a minor one. With the additions of Foust and Brown, the group moved more in the direction of country and found that audiences responded well to it. Home Free had auditioned three times for The Sing-Off (without Foust and Brown) and not been accepted. When auditioning for the fourth season, they made a conscious decision to style themselves as a country group. In an interview Brown said this identity is what grabbed the attention of The Sing-Off’s casting director, who said, “You guys really fit something we don’t have.”^[7]

Discography[]

Albums[]

Singles[]

Concert tours[]

Before their success on the Sing-Off, Home Free was already touring at fairs and festivals across the US, as well as stints on cruise ships. Since then they have been part of the Sing-Off Tour, as well as headlining their own (2014), (2014–15), Spring Tour (2015), Don't It Feel Good Tour (2015–16), (2016), (2017–18), and A Country Christmas Tour (2017). In January 2016 they embarked on their first tour outside North America with stops in Birmingham, UK; St. Andrews, Scotland; and London, UK (a planned stop in Dublin, Ireland was cancelled due to weather).^[20] In September 2016 they had their first concert in Central Europe on the "2nd European Country Festival" in Pertisau, Austria. In September 2019 they began their Dive Bar Saints World Tour, which was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2019 they began their Dive Bar Saints Christmas Tour in the US.

On October 8, 2020, Home Free announced an Indiegogo campaign^[21] to fund a virtual holiday concert called "Warmest Winter" to coincide with the release of a new CD of the same name. The campaign met its initial funding goal in nine hours and stretch goals were added for further funding.^[22] The pre-filmed concert was streamed from December 2 to December 5, 2020 and featured guest appearances by Alabama and The Oak Ridge Boys, among others.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Official Home Free YouTube Channel