A musical dream come true

Yes, it's another post about Home Free. What can I say other than my name is Kim and I am a Home Freeaholic. Not only can I admit that, I do so with pride. Good thing too since I'm pretty positive that there is no cure for this. Now, I first wrote about these guys back in March. You can read that post in its entirety here if you wish, but here's a rather pertinent excerpt:

"Home Free is also like Little Big Town in that they favor more intricate harmonies over basic ones and said harmonies are rock solid. Neither of these groups would work anywhere near as well if anyone was missing. Each person is great on their own, but their true strength lies in the combined sum of their parts. I truly believe that if you like one of these groups, you'd probably like the other as well. Especially if you enjoy any of the LBT albums that Wayne Kirkpatrick produced. Just because Home Free sounds closer to how LBT did then. I also believe that Home Free needs to cover at least one Little Big Town song at one point. I'm just saying." 

Well. Guess what? Turns out Cinderella was right when she sang that "If you keep on believing/ The dream that you wish will come true." That's right. Ladies and gentlemen, Home Free has covered a Little Big Town song! Okay, so it's not the entire song and it is mashed up with another song. Namely "Fishin' in the Dark" by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. But even still. Home Free has covered a Little Big Town song. Dreams can come true, y'all. I'm not sure I can adequately describe how thrilled I am about this, but I am sure going to do my darnedest. In doing so, you'll also get an idea of what exactly both of these groups mean to me. As such, with absolutely no disrespect to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, I'm not going to be focusing on "Fishin' in the Dark" other than to say that I really like the way Home Free blended these songs together. They work so well together! 

But first, I need to clear something up that has been driving me insane. This mashup is listed as "Fishin' in the Dark/Down in the Boondocks". So many people seem to be under the impression that Little Big Town remade a song by Billy Joe Royal that *is* called "Down in the Boondocks" and that *that* is the cover. Those people are wrong. That is another song completely. Little Big Town doesn't even have a song called "Down in the Boondocks". Their song? Simply called "Boondocks". Just "Boondocks". It is not a remake; it is an original Little Big Town song. Not only that, it is their signature song. Seeing it referred to as "Down in the Boondocks" makes the LBT fan in me twitch a little. Now, it's important to note that Home Free is aware of the mistake, but by the time anyone realize it, the liner notes had already gone off to the printers. These things happen. In the meantime, just remember: "Boondocks". Just "Boondocks". 

Whew. I feel better now. So without further ado, take a second and watch the awesomeness that is "Fishin' in the Dark/Boondocks".

"Boondocks" just got funky. Let's talk about it.


Oh where to start? We can talk about how well these songs work together. How well they complement each other. We can talk about the arrangement, which, frankly, rocks. But I think I want to talk about the actual video first. I feel like it's going to be a bit polarizing; I, for one, really like it. They could have gone a more traditional route with none of the effects. That's something many artist/video directors would have done. But you know what? It wouldn't have worked. It wouldn't have made sense. Because like I said before the break, "Boondocks" - along with "Fishin' in the Dark - just got funky. And thus required an equally funky video. This video is a FifGen production, specifically Jimmy from FifGen, and they did a great job with it.  This treatment is perfect for this arrangement. Just as the original "Boondocks" has more country grit to it and the video (found below) reflects that. 

See? Both videos not only suit their version of the song, but also fit who they are as a group. "Boondocks" was such an important song for Little Big Town. They'd released a self-titled album on another label before that and it didn't do so well. Was it a bad album? No, it wasn't. There were some great songs on it, but it wasn't quite right. It didn't really give you an idea of who Little Big Town was and perhaps they weren't completely sure who they we yet either. It wasn't a good time for Little Big Town. Personal tragedies plagued them and they got dropped from what was the second label they'd been on. They were considered damaged goods in a way and as talented as they were, no one seemed willing to help them out. And this is where Wayne Kirkpatrick comes in. A songwriter they'd written with and later asked to produce them in what had to be one of the smartest decisions they ever made. Wayne believed in them, so much so that he paid for their sessions when they were unable to. I don't know how many he paid for, but I know he did so for a couple of years. Until The Road to Here was finished. God bless that man. He helped them find their voice. He helped them become who they were meant to be. "Boondocks" was the first single off that project and it was a statement as much as a single. As they sing, "You can take it or leave it/ This is me/ This is who I am". Ain't that the truth. 

To say this song resonated with others would be an understatement. The first time I saw Little Big Town was at the CMAFest (or whatever they were calling it then) in 2005. "Boondocks" had just been released about a month or so earlier, but I hadn't heard it yet. I hadn't even heard of them. Me and a friend of mine just decided we wanted to check out the Riverfront that way and they happened to be part of the lineup. I didn't realize just how important this group would become to me. I didn't know how many miles I would end up traveling to see them. I didn't know how many states I would end up seeing them. I didn't understand the impact these guys and girls would have on my life or how many of their songs would become my personal anthems. "Boondocks" being among them. I didn't know any of that. But I knew that I absolutely loved this song. I loved what it said and I love how it sounded. 

Since that hot June day in 2005, how many times have I seen Little Big Town? Over 50. How many miles have I put on my car? Thousands. How many states have I seen them in? 9, plus Washington, D.C. Probably worth noting that many of these shows were either fairs and relatively small festivals or bar shows. I've gotten sunburned for this group and rained on. I had to make a long walk back to my car barefoot once because I lost my flip flops due to some unexpected and sticky mud. I've gotten lost and stayed in some questionable neighborhoods for this group. I've spent an insane amount of hours on my feet and had to hobble around the days after shows because of it.  I've had beer spilled on me and nearly got assaulted a few times on LBT trips. Those bar shows, man. It's like a weird version of the Wild West at times. 

In addition to all that, I've also made some great friends through this group. I got to meet and even chat with them on several ocassions over the years and so I can verify that all of the wonderful things you've ever heard about these guys and girls is true. They really are some of my favorite people. They're always so willing to offer a smile or a hug or a kind word, perhaps the occasional piece of advice. Their songs have spoken to me when nothing else could. I wouldn't trade a second of any of those trips for anything. It's been a privilege watching their crowds grow over the years, even though it's meant that they've become less accessible. They were always too good to be kept secret. Now I've gone from complaining about them not getting the praise they deserve to watching them win accept award after award. It took way too long for them to get where they're at - over about 15 years give or take - but that's another story. The last time I saw Little Big Town perform was when they were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry last fall. Yeah, I cried a little. 

One of the greatest things about going to all those shows over the years was getting to see  "Boondocks" grow. That first show, no one in the crowd knew the words. At least not where I was sitting. It was still very new. Now they have arenas full of people singing it back at the top of their lungs. It's always a highlight of the show and it's been fun how it's evolved. They've played with it some over the years. I'm partial to when they'd have all the lights go out and then a voice - Jimi's voice, all by it's lonesome - "I feel no shame...I'm proud of where I came from." And then, yelling to see if the crowd was with him (always). And then "I was born and raised...in the boondocks". Cue the band coming in. A bit of a ham, that Jimi. But dang if it wasn't effective - even just thinking back to it pumps me up a little. I'm serious. I never thought another group could make me feel the way they did.

I was wrong.

It's been a little less than a year since I discovered Home Free. I believe that one of the reasons I came to love them so much so quickly is because they reminded me of Little Big Town. Older school LBT, to be exact. Home Free takes me right back to those days when Little Big Town was still making music with Wayne Kirkpatrick. Now don't get me wrong; I like the music that they've made with their current producer Jay Joyce (who produced both Tornado and Pain Killer), but my favorite albums remain the three they made with Wayne (The Road to Here, A Place to Land and The Reason Why). Their harmonies seemed so much more prevalent then than they are lately. Of course, their popularity has really exploded since they started working with Jay Joyce, so there's that. I don't love them any less and it's so wonderful seeing them finally getting the recognition that's been long overdue. Even if I do miss the "old" days. I didn't realize just how much I missed them until Home Free wandered into my life.

Here's something funny: thanks to the song title mix up, I was not expecting this to be Little Big Town's "Boondocks". And then I heard this for the first time and excited doesn't begin to cover it. Especially since having them start with just the harmonies and having the beat (Adam) kick in later, it reminded me a bit of how Little Big Town sometimes starts their sets with just their voices, having the instruments coming in later. I don't know much they do that these days. The point is that this gave me a serious case of deja vu. It's why I urge any Little Big Town fan to check out and Home Free and vice versa.

Anyway, as previously stated, "Boondocks" has been a personal anthem of sorts. I was not born and raised in the "Boondocks"; I grew up in Maryland in the suburbs, right outside of Washington, D.C. Though we did spend chunks of our summer in the same fishing town the Brothers Osborne hail from. And after graduating high school, I spent a couple of years at a small Baptist college in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Never heard of it? Neither have most people. It's this tiny little town kind of right between Raleigh and Fayetteville. It's changed some over the years, but you know what all was in Buies Creek while I was there? The college (obviously), two gas stations, a fire department, a bank, a post office, a laundromat, a barber shop and a stop light. A stop light that I believe had only recently been installed when I started going there. I learned about Jesus at a Catholic high school, but I met Him in Buies Creek. The truth is that I wouldn't be the person I am if it weren't for the boondocks.

So suffice to say, the song "Boondocks" holds a very special place in my heart. I don't think that there's many groups who can do the song justice. Home Free does. They took this song and made it their own, even mixing it up with another song, and managed to do so while still maintaining its original spirit. The heart of the song is still there. This is what I love about Home Free, and really this can extend to a cappella music in general: the ability to play with a song and all its parts while not losing whatever it was that made the song stand out in the first place. While I would've been thrilled with any Little Big Town song that Home Free could have chosen to cover, I'm so happy that it was this one. It really was the perfect choice.

Meanwhile I'll close with this. Remember how I said that the first time I saw Little Big Town was at CMAFest and the last time was at their Grand Ole Opry induction? Well, I saw Home Free for the first time this June. At CMAFest. The second time I saw them? At their spectacular Grand Ole Opry debut. And now Home Free has sung my favorite parts of the song that made me a Little Big Town fan. How wonderfully appropriate. Thank you to Chris, Adam, Rob, Tim and Austin for breathing some new life into a song that has meant so much to me!

And thank you for reading.