Music. According to Kim.

I would say that this became one of the albums I've anticipated the most, not just speaking of 2017 but in general. Why you ask? Because it's Home Free for starters and if you're new here, I love these guys a lot. They have become one of my all time favorite groups and the reason why should become apparent once you listen to them.  Seriously, I know a lot of the people who read this are reading it because they already love them. I'm hoping that this might inspire those of you who haven't heard them yet to hop of the Home Free bandwagon. They've released music videos for a few of the songs and I'll be including those in the post, so you don't even have to leave the post to hear them if you haven't. The videos are all great so let me go ahead and say that you're welcome ahead of time. The other reason I've been anticipating this album? Because it's the first non-holiday album that they've released with their newest member Adam ...

Welcome to the newest installment of my Music Therapy series. Arthritis Awareness Month is coming to a close and I couldn't let it end without doing another one of these. This one is going to be a bit different from the others. See, sometimes you need to listen to encouraging songs and other times you need to cry it out for the more emotional songs. But you know what? Sometimes what you really need is to listen to something that makes you want to move. This month has been a tough one, but I've noticed that I've been gravitating more towards those kinds of songs. The ones that make me want to dance. The songs that are just plain fun. Sometimes that's enough to pull you out of a funk or at the very least lift your spirits for a bit. There are so many songs I could have picked and it's safe to say they'll be other installments of this series that include more of them. This time I decided to narrow it down to YouTube artists. The next time I'll be focusing m...

Hear ye, hear ye! Home Free has released their first video of 2017 and boy, is it a great one. The men of Home Free took a couple of well-deserved months off and now they're back at it. Back on the road and back with new music. One of the best things about supporting Home Free and other acts like them is seeing which direction they go next. Today's video is their version of the Keith Urban hit "Blue Ain't Your Color". If this video is any indication, Home Fries are in for a wonderful year! Check it out.

Continuing my little series on my favorite music videos of the year, we have Home Free. It was a good year for Home Free, albeit one that came with a brief period of uncertainty as we adjusted to the revelation that Chris would be leaving and Adam Chance would be coming in. But as I've said on here more than once, this worked out about as perfectly as it could have. Chris is doing great things and Chance fits in seamlessly. I say this with absolutely no disrespect intended towards Chris, but in a way it feels like Chance has always been there. That's how well he fits in. The men of Home Free definitely gave their Home Fries a lot to be happy about. All of the videos they released were wonderful. So much so that trying to narrow it down to five felt pretty impossible. So, what did I end up doing you ask? Narrow it down to seven. Which is almost half of the videos they put out in 2016, but no matter. How about we get started?

This year I decided against picking my favorite albums from 2016. The truth is that I have way too many albums left to listen to and didn't feel like trying to do a mass listening of them all like I did last year. Instead, I've decided to pick some of my favorite music related things - starting with this. My top 10 favorite live music experiences from 2016. Some of these are regular concerts and some aren't. I will say that while there were a few other great shows I went to this year, it was actually very easy to narrow it down to my ten favorite experiences. These were all shows that just stood out to me. I went through and made some photo collages of some of the pictures I took at most of these events. Six, to be exact. Out of the remaining four, two of them were musicals I saw. One was a show where I only got a few pictures that were, frankly, terrible. The last was a show where I could have taken pictures, but was too caught up in the show. Although looking back, I wis...

Ah, you gotta love the men of Home Free. One day they might bring you to tears with a gorgeous, heartwarming arrangement full of those luscious harmonies of theirs. The next they come out with something like this. I know many of the people reading this will have already seen this video, but for those of you who haven't? Given what song it is, it will not surprise you to see that this is a funny video. One that managed to keep my giggling pretty much the entire time. Before we get to it, though, I want to take the opportunity to talk about their Christmas tour, a Country Christmas. I got to see it when they came to the TPAC here in Nashville and it was great. As expected. This was the fourth time I've seen them, but two of those times were sets at CMAFest that only lasted for roughly 40 minutes or so. I also got to see their Grand Ole Opry debut where they, like everyone during their Opry debut, just did two songs. Making this show the first full length Home Free concert. Th...

Leave it to the talented men of Home Free to do something that usually kind of annoys me, but doesn't when they do it. You see, Full of (Even More) Cheer is more or less a re-release of their album Full of Cheer . My issue with re-releases is that most of the time, they throw on a few new songs without doing anything to the rest of the album. In those cases, I'd rather they just put out an EP of the new songs. I do recognize that there are various reasons for doing this and I think a lot of the time, it's out of the hands of the artist. Even still, I usually end up giving your average re-releases the side-eye. This album, however, gets a nod of approval from me instead. Partly because I love Home Free too much to ever give them the side-eye. But mainly because they actually changed things up. Bless 'em. The first big change? Well, Full of Cheer  came out before Chance joined the group. So into the studio he went so that this new album would reflect the current line-...

I said that I would be reviewing this and there's no time like the present. In listening to this, I've concluded that Chris Rupp is basically the musical equivalent of a chameleon. Especially when thinking about some of the other videos that he's put out this year alone. His taste in music is evidently quite varied and part of the fun of being a fan of his is seeing what he'll do next. He's not one to be pigeonholed into one style of music. This is perhaps an odd comparison, but in some ways he reminds me a bit of Eric Church in that respect. Namely, that he basically makes whatever kind of music that he wants.  Luckily for those of us who follow him, we live in a time where he's free to do this. Thanks to Patreon, content creators are able to produce any kind of content that they want without needing the support of a major label. It really is a wonderful thing. It also makes you think about how limiting being on a major label can be. Aside from having the ...

Something strange has happened to me. I used to have a fairly strict rule about waiting to listen to Christmas music until December. Or rather about choosing to listen to it on my own, since it seems like the stores start playing it earlier and earlier. But generally, I like to save Christmas music for December. Now as you're of course aware, it is definitely not December yet. It's definitely still November. And yet, I find myself writing a review of a Christmas album. This is mainly for three reasons. The first being that it seems like there's a lot of Christmas albums coming out. I know that I, in all likelihood, will not be able to write about all of them. But there's a few that I'm definitely planning on getting to. Seemed like a good idea to start now. The second reason I wanted to write about this album? It's the first new album that I've listened to in its entirety and it's great. The third reason? Peter has worked so hard getting it right and ...

After uploading my last video spotlight, I realized that the next thing I posted would be my 200th blog post. I uploaded my first blog on January 6th, 2012. I've gone through periods where I was writing a lot and then there'd be weeks or even months that would go by where I wouldn't write at all. Falling in love with a cappella music near the end of 2014 has done wonders for my writing, as evidenced by all the a cappella related things I've written about over the past couple of years. That love started when I happened across a video by a group that I'd never heard of. The video? The CMA Single of the Year Medley. The group? Home Free. As soon as they uploaded this on October 28th, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I wrote about it. Because how could I not take the time to write about this one? Upon realizing that this post would be my 200th post, I couldn't think of a more appropriate video to talk about. I mean, it's a video by the group tha...

Considering that it's been over two months since I last wrote about Home Free, this is long overdue! They've put out a string of wonderful videos over the past couple of months. Although, let's be real: I don't know if these guys are capable of releasing a video that isn't wonderful. They give me the same problem that so many of my other current favorite acts give me. Namely, that there's so many great things to choose from that it can be nearly impossible to pick. I'd been leaning towards writing about this one and that decision was sealed after putting up a poll on Twitter. This is Home Free's cover of "Die a Happy Man" by Thomas Rhett and it's beautiful. Take a few minutes to watch and see for yourselves and then we'll talk more about it afterwards. Deal? Deal.

Ah, the Fourth of July. The day that we Americans celebrate our independence from the British. The day we celebrate our freedom. I read an article the other day talking about how we've made it more about the date instead of the actual reason for the holiday. We do that with a lot of things. That writer argued that we should get back to calling it what it is: Independence Day. It's a valid point. After all, people gave their lives for the sake of freedom. Freedom that we still enjoy today, freedom that some would try to take away from us. All the more reason to remember the significance of the day. It's not about the fireworks or the food. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those. There isn't. They're some of the ways we celebrate; not what we celebrate. Note the distinction. These days it sometimes seems like a crime to have pride in your country and that is a crying shame. I would hope that everyone would be proud of their country, be they my fe...

Summer is officially upon us. The heat is oppressive and reminds me of why I prefer more moderate temperatures, but it's all good. As long as I have good music and access to air-conditioning, things are good. In fact, things are better than good because some of my favorite artists have been releasing some great videos as of late. Home Free certainly being among them. Their newest video is a cover of a Justin Timberlake song, one that I've seen hailed as the most popular song in the country at the moment. I actually have yet to hear the original version and unfortunately for it, Home Free's cover is going to be hard to top. "Can't Stop The Feeling" is just flat out fun. Perfect for summer. See for yourself. And if you find yourself dancing along, well, know that you're not alone.

Welcome to the 2nd installment of this series! In Part 1, I focused on emotional songs with the intent of moving from the dark to the light. Or, as is the case with many of the videos in today's post, the lighthearted. Lately, I've been gravitating a bit more towards more upbeat songs. You know, the ones that make you want to dance along. The ones that make you smile and just put you in a happy place. The ones that are flat out fun. If you ask me, you can never have too much fun. There's so many people who take themselves way too seriously and I think the world would be a better place if more people made a point to enjoy themselves more often. From a chronic pain standpoint, I think anything that encourages us to move is a good thing. Now obviously, this is not always possible. Be it due to pain or stiffness or overwhelming fatigue, sometimes the best thing to do is rest. Listen to your body.  That said, if you feel up to it and the music moves you, let it. Not a dance...

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 neve...

Ah, Home Free. You can always count on these producing great harmonies and putting out great videos that fit their songs pretty perfectly. "Good Ol' Country Harmony" is another Tim Foust original and the arrangement is his as well. I like all the references to other country groups in the song and it has a great melody. Fun to sing along with this one. So yes, Home Free, I believe I will sing along with you. As far as the video goes, once again I love the treatment they used. It's not one I'd expect which makes me enjoy it all the more. This video makes me smile and I think it might just make you smile too. Check it out.

This video holds a special place in my heart. It was the first VoicePlay video I ever saw and it was thanks to Home Free. This was near the end of 2014, about a year after it was released. I had seen my first Home Free video not long before - the CMA Medley, as it were - and it was love at first sight. I call it the musical thunderbolt. This led to me going on a Home Free video binge which is when I came across this one. Thus, kicking off my love for VoicePlay. Because when I come across a group of talented, singing zombies, I need to know more. I just do. What that says about me, I don't know. Probably shouldn't think about that too much. As some of you already know, Home Free and VoicePlay competed in season 4 of The Sing Off which Home Free ended up winning. This was back in the December of 2013. It makes me a little sad that I didn't watch, especially considering that both of these groups were on the 2014 Sing Off tour which came to the Ryman. I remember seeing it o...

It was only a matter of time before Home Free would be making an appearance in this series. I just can't seem to go too long without writing something about these guys. Anyone already familiar with them will undoubtedly be able to relate. Not only are they incredibly talented, but their music video game is strong. Very strong. So strong, in fact, that it was hard to decide which of their videos should be the first to be featured. Given my general disdain for this time of year, I decided to go with a video that never fails to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "Everything Will Be Okay" was filmed by the fine folks of FifGen films. It is a Home Free original - bass singer Tim Foust wrote this with Dave Guisti - with a message that we all need to reminded of every now and then. That no matter what's going on, no matter how bad things seem, sooner or later things will work themselves out. Sooner or later everything really will be okay. So sit back, relax and just...

Preparing for this blog has renewed my commitment to listen to each album I get right when I get it. I don't know about y'all, but I'm actually pretty bad about that. Unless it's an album I've been really looking forward to, there's a very good chance that I'll hold off on listening to it. I don't know why I do it, but I do. Which is okay, so far as it goes - until you decide to make a best of 2015 list, but can't until you go through and listen to all of them. That's right. These past couple of weeks, I've been going through and listening to every album and EP that I got in 2015. I don't recommend doing this. Especially when it involves roughly 80 full-length albums and over 40 EPs. 1,360 songs total, according to the iTunes playlist I created. Yep. I repeat: I do not recommend doing this. Now, I've been reading a bunch of these kinds of lists and just about all of them focus on one kind of country music only. Like mainstream pop...

You can find Part 1 directly under this post or right  here  if you're feeling lazy. No judgement here. I'm going to keep up the pattern I started in part 1 meaning that we're kicking things off with...