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Video Spotlight: Mom by Home Free

Mother's Day is this Sunday and what better way to pay tribute to all of the wonderful moms out there than with a sweet Home Free video? This is their beautiful cover of "Mom" by Garth Brooks. A word of warning: if you are a mom or have or had a great mom, you might want to grab some tissues before watching. This is one of those.

Watching this makes me think not just of my mom, but all of the others moms I've had in my life. For my mom, who is not just my mom but is also one of my best friends. One of my main concert buddies and one of the reasons why I love to read and, by extension, write. For Babi, my dad's mom, who we lost way too soon. She called me Kimbe and we had a special bond. Some of the best memories from my childhood are from when we'd drive down to Chincoteague Island in Virgnia to see her and also go to their annual Pony Penning. For my grandmom, who was not exactly what you'd call a soft woman. She was strong and tough, but there was never a time when I doubted her love for us. When I think of her, I think of playing with Barbies in her office or watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy up in her apartment when she babysat me. She always had the best snacks too.

And for my great-grandmom, who I'm so happy I got to have in my life for as long as I did. Though it wasn't for long enough. She is what I think of when I hear the word lady. She was from France and never quite lost her accent. She wore high heels regularly and I can't remember ever seeing her without her nails done and lipstick on. She is the reason why I started taking French in 7th grade instead of Spanish. I ended up taking it for eight years total and those first two were rough. My fondest memory of her is having lunch at the family restaurant, just me and her, and she was teaching me the French words for everything. As it turned out, French ended up being one of my best subjects.

So yes, I guess you can say that I was blessed in the mom department. I dedicate this post to all of them. So much of who I am today is because of those four women. Three of whom are no longer with us, but who I trust are up there in heaven keeping an eye on things. So to those three in heaven and especially to my mom, I say thank you and I love you all. And as the aunt to three awesome nephews and two adorable nieces, I also want to give my sisters-in-law Allison and Diana a shoutout for doing such a great job with them. Along with all of my friends who are great moms. There's a lot of you now!

But really, this song and video is for all of the moms out there. From all of you soon-to-be moms and news moms up to the grandmothers and great-grandmothers and beyond. This is for all of you.

Happy Mother's Day!





Suffice to say, I think the gentlemen of Home Free knocked this one out of the park. First for a group that has as much fun as Home Free does, it's always nice when we get to see a more emotional side of them. I always love hearing wonderful vocal groups sing ballads because these are the songs that allow the beautiful harmonies to shine through in a way that faster songs don't. I feel that ballads are also the best songs to show off the magic that is a cappella music. Part of the reason so many people are drawn to a cappella is because they're looking for something simpler. We live in this time where it's often go big or go home. The spectacle has overtaken the talent in many ways. But a cappella isn't just music without instrumental accompaniment. It is also music without distractions.

See, one of the great things about a cappella music is the lack of filler. You have five men, in this case, singing four-part harmony with one (Adam Rupp) providing the vocal percussion. There's no room for anything else. This is music in its purest form. It goes to show that no instrument can trump the power of the human voice. Everything about this is so beautiful. It's always great when we get to hear everyone solo in the same song since it doesn't always happen. Tim Foust starts this off with that rich and warm bass voice of his. Then we have that luscious chorus that features Chris Rupp at the end. That's second tenor Rob Lundquist singing the second verse and high tenor Austin Brown on the bridge. It's hard to beat great voices singing with this much sincerity. That's another thing about a cappella music: because it's so stripped down as compared to other forms of music, it puts the singers in a somewhat vulnerable position. While emotion should always come from a real place, a cappella kind of leaves performers with no choice. There's no instruments to hide behind. So if it's going to work, you need to feel it. 

For Adam's part, this video serves to highlight how good he is at what he does. He's such a charismatic performer and so entertaining to watch live that it's interesting to watch how he pulls back here. A less talented vocal percussionist could have easily overtaken the other four in a song like this, but Adam doesn't. He understand what a song needs percussion-wise and does exactly that. No more, no less. 

Visually speaking, I like the decision to have the Home Free boys sitting against the dark backdrop. The simplicity of that setting is a nice contrast to all the heartwarming shots of all the moms with their kids. You can really feel the love in this video. It's poignant and beautiful. I could not imagine a better treatment than what they chose. Wonderfully done. Nice touch with Home Free honoring their own moms at the end.

Want to stay up to date with Home Free? Here you go.






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