Beer budget works for the ladies

Today I want to share some thoughts about Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget by Home Free. Tim Foust wrote it, funny as hell, awesome song, enough said, I’m out (drops the mouse on the floor and the batteries fall out, oh wait)!

No really, this song is a winner all the way around. Tim Foust did write this song and recorded it as a solo artist. It was a cute song on his solo CD, but if I’m allowed to say (and hope Tim won’t hate me forever, should he ever see this), Home Free made this song even better and cuter! The video is a perfect work of the male mentality. So why do all the women fans love this song and video? That’s easy. Five cute guys singing about wives spending too much money, beer, going to jail and expensive designers, what’s not to love? Did I mention that Austin isn't wearing a shirt? Oh and then there’s Tim, who does grumpy better than Grumpy, himself! Add in some superb whistling (won’t mention the whistle on Tim’s CD, *snicker), a little background dance moves (well, sort of), a cameo of Avi Kaplan and Home Fries and you get a good laugh and a hankering for a beer!

The song itself, makes the guys shake their heads in agreement and the ladies giggle, you know, maybe they agree a little too. Hearing Tim, the rumbling bass, talk about Louis Vuitton and Jimmy Choo, had me laughing so hard my side hurt. As a side note, I did have to look up Jimmy Choo, because I had never heard of him! But we can all reassure Tim and the rest of Home Free that if they went to jail, Home Fries would drive hundreds of miles to visit them, even if the mall isn’t nearby.

Bottom line, this song has hilarious lyrics, a back home country beat and a Duck Dynasty feel, but with only one beard. With almost two million views, it seems to be a fan favorite and a guy favorite! Be sure to take a look, before they haul his ass away!

https://youtu.be/1L8zGfKDCCY

A look back to last summer

Almost a year ago Home Free released a video cover of Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids. First let me say that Kenny Chesney makes this song cool. The video is a laid back look at growing up when life was simpler and how the simple life can be perfect if you just go with the flow and let life happen.

Now let’s get to Home Free’s cover. Their job is to take this enjoyable tale and make it sound amazing with no instruments. I’ll start with the soulful beat Tim and Adam add that give the song new depth. They blend in the harmony and background of Rob and Chris which fills the song with energy. Then there’s Austin’s care free, charismatic lead that brings this baby home. A great song made even better by taking away the instruments and letting Home Free do what they do best, aca-arrange it with their own style.

This video was filmed in a grassy patch at Wright State University, where Home Free is sitting together singing their tale. So, as the song is highly memorable, but down to earth, the guys are hanging out on campus and when they start singing they give this song a whole new feel. I love their sound, the enticing beat, the sweet vocals and flawless harmony. Of course, I can’t conclude without mentioning that in addition to their captivating talent, they are quite fetching.

Their videos have come a long way since this “American Kids” cover. But, this one will always give the fans a close up look at these a cappella favorites singing a song that takes us all back to a time where life was dreams and fun. If you haven’t seen it, check it out and if you have seen, why not watch it again.

Where would your map dots be?

https://youtu.be/5MDMv4-JG4E?list=PLfWdh4XTtIqnVcLdXTjXzvv_ahtWOC2S7

Home Free loves Minnesota State Fair Foods

Hello Fries and visitors! The Minnesota State Fair is coming and we all know the Home Free guys are big fair goers and love to try new fair cuisine. There are some interesting ones this year. Let’s play a little game. Let’s check out some of these new foods and guess which ones we think the Home Free guys might try. Thanks to Leslie for this fan suggestion. Here's a few of the 40 new food items!

Buffalo’d Bones – fried spare ribs tossed with buffalo sauce” Well YEAH I don’t see any of Home Free missing this one

Burger Dog – ground burger, hot dog, bacon, cheese & jalapeno: Not a chance the Home Free guys will miss this puppy

Cowboy Bites- bacon, corn, jalapeno & cream cheese breaded & fried: This a Hell Yes for HF, with a nice cold beer!

Deep Fried Ribs- baby back ribs, breaded & fried w/BBQ sauce: Fried & ribs, yes for all men!

Snicker Bar Salad- chopped snickers & apples in vanilla pudding: Maybe a split for Home Free here. I can see them all eating this but it depends on how much spicy they've had.

Grilled Venetian Pizza- grilled over an open flame in 3 flavors: I take Home Free for pizza guys, so I’d say yes here.

Hot Tail – Roasted pig tail in ginger sauce: Meat in ginger sauce, hmmm. I’m calling for a split here, maybe Rob & Adam.

Indi Frites – Indian seasoned russet & sweet potatoes, battered & fried: Home Free split, I think. I say yes to the FRIES, but the battered part leaves me wondering. Maybe Tim and Austin.

Italian Dessert Nachos – Cinnamon sugar cannoli chips, sweet cream fruit & more: Now this is a dessert. Sounds very sweet, so I’m going with a split, but undecided on who. Maybe Rob and Austin.

Limerick Stix – pimento cheese & cayenne pepper fried in corn meal: I’d say this is a Home Free yes

Mac N Cheese cupcake – mac & cheese in bread crumbs: This would be a great snack for Home Free. Maybe more breadcrumbs than they’d like, but I think they would try it.

Maple Bacon Funnel Cake – bacon funnel cake topped w/bacon & maple glaze: A Home Free yes, cause bacon. This could be a split, but I’m going with yes.

Minnesota Wild Rice Benedict Muffin – eggs benedict in a rice muffin cup: Yes for Home Free

Prime Rib to go – prime rib, peppers, onions & mushrooms in a bread cone: I’d say yes for HF, meat! I sure hope they guys have room for all this meat!

Sriracha Balls – chicken or cream cheese mixture, breaded & fried & topped w/Sriracha sauce: I’d give this a Home Free yes. It’s a lot of spicy, but it goes good with cold beer.

Breakfast burger – sausage, bacon, onions, cheese, egg and tomato: I think this a Home Free favorite.

Spam burger – in 5 flavors: Maybe it’s just me, but I see Chris, Tim and Austin all over these. Say what you will about Spam, it’s good!

Sweet Potato Taco – mashed sweet taters, black beans, onion & coleslaw on tortilla: I’m undecided on this one. I see maybe and no written all over it, but the guys could surprise me.

Totchos – tater tots, cheese, sour cream, bacon bits & green onions: A fun snack to enjoy with cold beer, I say HF yes

Wine Fried Kalettes – battered kale fried in wine: Yeah, I’m gonna have to say a Home Free HELL NO on this. Now watch them all like this one.

BBQ Pickle Ice Cream – vanilla ice cream mixed with BBQ sauce & pickles: Hmmm, Home Free split, am I right? I see one or two trying this one, just for kicks (Tim and Adam).

How brave are you with Fair Cuisine?

What I would ask Home Free if I had the chance to interview them

Not that this blogger has any expectations, but if I ever had the chance to interview the fab five guys of Home Free, these are the questions I would ask.

1.     You’ve been asked many times how winning The Sing Off has changed your life and we all know you have gained a lot of fame and recognition over the last year and half. Y’all are famous, but it seems you can still have a personal life that remains personal. Are you ready for the next level of being famous? Where going to the grocery store or dinner with friends and family becomes a parade of fans or more personal pictures of you are released.

2.     Obviously traveling and constantly being busy can be stressful and rewarding. What is your favorite and least favorite part of the “Crazy Life” of being busy musicians?

3.     If you could create your own Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor what would it be?

4.     You’ve had a chance to work with The Oak Ridge Boys and will perform at the Grand Ol’ Opry and were even inducted in the CMA. What would prefer to do next? Open for a big name country music performer or have one of your songs played on the radio?

5.     There are some incredibly talented Home Fries out there. What one fan homemade gift/artwork/poem/meme/picture has wowed you most?

6.     OK silly pick one questions:

a.      Pancakes or waffles?

b.      Sweet or spicy?

c.      Pizza or burger?

d.      Soda or tea?

e.      Sunshine or rain?

f.       Legos or video games?

g.      Movie or book?

h.      Comedy or action?

i.       T-shirt or button down?

j.       Jeans or shorts?

7.     What type of live concert do you prefer more outdoor fairs/festivals, big auditoriums or universities, where it’s mostly college kids?

8.     What’s your favorite video that Home Free has done so far?

9.     Do y’all get nervous before a concert or live appearance?

10.  Who snores the loudest?

I’ve been in two VIP sessions, but only asked one question and it was, what song is the hardest to sing live? Austin said Thinking Out Loud, Tim said the ones we don’t sing live, because they are too hard. That’ll learn me to phrase my question better next time. I almost added How many times does Tim get sent to his room in a day, to the questions above, but asked the snoring one instead. The VIP sessions are a great way to learn more about the guys and their music. Personally, I can’t wait for the next concert!

What question would you ask the Home Free guys?

Does your brow or crinkle have a Twitter account?

My last blog post talked about how excited we get when someone famous favorites or retweets our posts. I love the energy and excitement that builds around a fan base when it comes to their chosen famous personality. Today I have decided to stretch out to Twitter accounts that represent famous people’s physical attributes. Since I am a fan of the country a cappella group, Home Free, I’m going to explore their specific quality accounts. They have built up such a big fan following, you would think they were the real people.

There are five sweet, talented and generous guys in Home Free. And although I enjoy writing about them, today I’m going to talk about Crinkles, Austin’s Abs, Foust Brow, Rupps Guns, Adam’s Ting and Rob’s Beard. These are all Twitter accounts for physical attributes of the Home Free Guys. They are entertaining and yet hold true to being what they say they are; a crinkle, abs, brow, guns, ting and a beard.

Foust Brow is the first feature account I remember seeing and I couldn’t help but laugh when he insisted, he’s just a brow, Tim Foust’s brow that is. But the voice behind Foust Brow is very adamant that he is not Tim, just Tim’s fabulous brow. He has quite a following, too. I remember one Friday, which in Twitterland is Follow Friday, he had tons of requests, including mine, for him to follow them. We knew this wasn’t Tim, but why did so many ladies want to be followed by a brow? Foust brow is grateful to his followers, but he's also a little full of himself. However, if you're a Home Fry, you wouldn't have any other way. The brow is intriguing and quite the lady killer.

Crinkles has become another “famous” personal trait account. Crinkles represents the adorable crinkles on the heartthrob, Austin’s, nose when he sings. Haven’t seen them? Check out the Home Free O Holy Night video for a close up. Bossman or Austin has another trait account called Austin’s Abs. Both of these “boys” play their role as Austin’s crinkles and abs very well. They are funny, personal and love teasing their fans. Crinkles and Abs have gained a dedicated group of followers and interact with them every day. Most of the time, it’s good clean fun, but these guys know what Fry buttons to push to get Twitter a flame. Honestly, I never knew how much trouble a crinkle could get into, until now! I might add that the Home Fries are a willing and vocal group of ladies that revel in helping the proverbial “train wreck!”

Rupps Guns is, of course, Chris Rupp’s marvelous guns that he loves to show and the ladies love to admire. This account was a bit of a late comer to the party, but has quickly become very popular. Not sure if it’s because the guns are nice to look at or because he is cool and keeps the Home Fries thinking and on their toes with questions and games, daily. These guns, like the others, enjoy talking with the fans, spreading the word of Home Free and well, occasionally misbehaving. Not the real Chris Rupp, but his guns have his fans following him any where he goes!

I am not hip enough to know what Adam’s Ting represents, nor am I brave enough to make a guess. Adam Rupp is the beatboxer of Home Free (and a damn good one), so we’ll just go with his ting being a beatboxing term, and leave it at that. There was a Twitter convo about this, but I'm sorry (#notsorry) to say, I missed it. Adam’s Ting is fairly new to the personal feature group, but is quickly joining the ranks of the other “guys.” Like Adam, his Twitter trait personality is a little quiet, but when he does tweet, you can bet it’s going to cause a raucous. You can’t throw out a name like Adam’s Ting and not get a big Home Fry reaction! Kind of like when Adam does his drum solo, the crowd goes wild.

Rob’s Beard is the quietest one of the group, the Twitter groups, not Home Free. Rob Lundquist, is very conversational and a joy to talk with during the concert experience. Listen to me, like I know them or something, ha! His beard, however, likes to be seen and admired, not so much heard. The Home Fries will bring Rob’s beard out of his shy cocoon. After all, we must have a complete set of Home Free characteristics represented. These personalities interact with each other as if they were really “on” the Home Free guys at concerts, parties or other gatherings. Well played!

Now don’t get me wrong here, yes, these boys are not afraid to stir up trouble and get the fans riled up and just have fun. And boy do they ever stir up trouble! But they also promote Home Free and make friends with fans. These account keepers are clever and well versed in all things Home Free. These Twitterlings, to the fans, are almost like having a little slice of the guys all to ourselves. We find them all irresistible and we are very glad, whoever they are, that they have chosen to bring the Home Fries into their Twitter world. I wonder what the real Home Free guys think of their physical attributes “exposing themselves” in Twitter (oops, I might have led this train down the wrong track with that comment)? If you don't follow these guys, you should, join the party: @CrinklesCrew, @FoustBrow, @RuppsGuns, @_theAustinsAbs, @Adams_Ting and @BeardFree

What would your physical attribute Twitter account be called?

Originally posted 6/17/15

A little rain can’t stop Home Fries

It was Saturday June 20, 2015, Home Free is set to take the stage at The Chautauqua Festival in Wytheville, VA that evening and the rain is coming down. Tim Foust posts a picture that shows a few fans sitting in their chairs, waiting patiently, in their rain ponchos and not the least bit bothered by the weather. In fact, the faithful Home Fries are taking pictures.

I was not at this outdoor festival concert, but, as a Home Fry, we get immediate reports on the concerts when fries are there! It’s awesome, it’s like being there. Home Fry, Anita Williams, tells us that she asked someone (not a Home Fry), to take pictures of their group. Anita stated that the lady kept smiling, thinking it was because they were being silly, she didn’t give it much thought. Then Anita and her fry friends saw the pictures! 

These goofy, fun loving men make being their fans easy and rewarding.

After the concert, Anita posted more pictures and had this to say, “OMG I am having concert withdrawal. Tim literally had me feeling the bass in my butt. Adam literally had my heart pounding in time to the beats. You could hear Chris when he sang bass, OMG, I had never heard it that clear before, he was incredible. Rob had my ears ringing with his whistles. Austin had me giggling with his expressions. They ALL had my eyes following everything and my mind trying to process it all. Can't go to sleep now. Ugh. But what a reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Home Free is not just outstanding on stage when their singing, but they bring plenty of surprises before the concert too! And these lucky fans have proof! Check out their schedule and try to catch Home Free, a witty and brilliant a cappella country vocal band, at a fair or festival this summer. They will not disappoint!

See the Home Free Tour Information page for dates or visit homefreemusic.com for concert ticket information.

Bass X 2, good ol’ boys and a sweet lady

Several months ago a fantastic conversation started on Twitter between The Oak Ridge Boys’ Duane Allen and Home Free’s Tim Foust. Things like collaboration, sing together and The Grand Ol’ Opry got thrown around and tweeted. Oh my, did the Home Fries ever go CRAZY! What a combination of class, talent, fun and bass! This is one of those collaborations that make headlines. Home Fries have been tweeting periodically to find out when this fine piece of awesome is going to happen, but got little to no response….until last week!

Classic harmonious country singers The Oak Ridge Boys meets today’s ground breaking first a cappella country vocal band, Home Free, and Elvira gets a make over!

Stay tuned Fries….it’s coming! Giddy Up, Oom Poppa Oom Poppa Mow Mow Giddy Up, Oom Poppa Oom Poppa Mow Mow (I can already feel the rumble).

ICYMI Home Free will be playing at the Grand Ol' Opry on July 17th. Check out http://homefreemusic.com/ for more information.