Home Free Dive Bar Saints Album Listening Party

(please note all pics in this blog are from a cell phone, not my usual camera)

Selfie snapped by Austin of the Dive Bar Saints Listening Party Attendees

During CMAFest in Nashville this June, the Home Free Guys invited some of their supporting Patrons, friends, and family to Springwater Supper Club & Lounge to be part of the new Dive Bar Saints Listening Party. Springwater is a popular Nashville dive bar and home to the video of title track off the new album and also makes an appearance in the newly-released video Catch Me If You Can.

Fans waiting to get into the Party enjoyed a nice down pour of rain before being let into the venue and let’s just say there was lots of snuggling under umbrellas as everyone tried to keep their hair, faces, and clothes from getting drenched, including me and my friend Dana. I had a picture of us, but deleted it because, well…not the best look for us. Luckily for our wet hair, the hand dryer in the women’s restroom ended up serving an additional role as a hairdryer before the listening session got started. At one point while waiting to get in, Tim drove by and playfully mocked fans for waiting in line so long but he knows by now fans wait hours to get into Home Free events, even in the pouring rain. Once inside, along with drying off and getting dive bar drinks, fans also had the opportunity to buy merch and enjoy time with the Guys chatting and snapping selfies.

Soggy hair, don't care with my friends Dana and Tracy

Selfie with Austin

Selfie with Rob

Selfie with Tim

As the performance was about to kick-off, people in attendance packed the small room holding the rather eccentric-looking stage, filled with a sparkling streamer backdrop and Christmas lights. There were some technical difficulties with sound as they went to start so we were greeted with some jokes and playing around with the recorded songs over the system. Once the bugs were worked out the Guys went through the entire album song by song either singing the song live or playing the recorded version while they sang and danced along, including what appears to be a new dance move from Austin-the shoulder shimmy. 

Chris working on the sound (to the far left)

This party was the first time the Guys performed some of the songs live. Stories behind the meaning of songs both Tim and Austin wrote were shared and made those songs just a little more special to me. As for Tim, he is trying to put out a message to live life to the fullest and to share his newly-found activism. And for Austin it was more personal especially with the song Love Me Like That, influenced by his relationships as far back as to when he was a kid navigating his relationship with his parents. 

Jeffrey East, a Nashville musician who opened for the Guys in Europe and co-wrote a couple of songs on the new album, joined them on stage at one point. He was described as one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and he really did give off that vibe while talking to fans that evening. 

Home Free with Jeffrey East

Steven Martinez, an adorable (sorry fellas, had to throw this in there), up-and-coming Nashville producer and good friend of Austin’s, was also introduced to fans as he co-wrote with Austin on the album. I’ve had the privilege of meeting Steven prior to this event and would describe him in the same way the Guys described Jeffrey-sweet. Be on the lookout for this guy to be a name all over Nashville soon! He will also be a creator on Patreon soon, so if you are someone who loves to support amazing talent, make sure to keep an eye out for that announcement from him and then support him (and I am sure Austin will also be passing along that info!).

UPDATE: Steven is looking to launch his Patreon campaign the first week of July! As a producer, he will be diving into how he makes covers in the "making of" style videos. A step into the producer's chair a bit going through the recording of all the instruments, vocals, background vocals, etc. He may also include some of his originals. Also, you never know what familiar faces may pop up in his videos!

Selfie with Austin and Steven Martinez (Jeffrey in the background LOL)

Fans hearing the songs for the first time at Springwater learned that Rob will be shining bright on this album as the lead on many songs. The Guys did share a fun story on how that came to be the case and I will say it is laziness on their parts (oops, I said it) but really what it boils down to is they all respect Rob as the incredible vocalist he is.

My favorite songs switch over time the more I hear a song or listen to something new and really start to comprehend the lyrics, but as of now, the song I am most excited about on the album is Dreamer. This is a song one member of the band has also said is his favorite, but I won’t call him out on that here. I will wait for him to tell you all if he chooses to.

While the Guys have released original songs in the past, they are mainly known for their covers of hit songs such as Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, Oak Ridge Boys’ Elvira, Meghan Trainor’s All About that Bass, and Maren Morris’ My Church. The big change from their previous albums to Dive Bar Saints is this album will feature mostly original music. Dive Bar Saints offers 12 tracks, 10 of which are original songs. The two covers include Vince Gill's 1994 hit Go Rest High on That Mountain and John Denver's 1971 classic Take Me Home, Country Roads. Another exciting piece to this new album is the fact it is being released on vinyl. This is a first for the Guys and they are also very excited to be offering the vinyl options to their fans. A friend of Tim’s, Jakob Christmas, painted the album cover for the record, which will be hanging on the wall of my music room at home come July!

Painted record cover by Jakob Christmas

These Guys have worked so hard on this album to prove they deserve a place in the Nashville country music scene. Biased? I am sure I am on this one, but I really believe this is true. The more I listen to the songs on Dive Bar Saints the more I believe music fans all over, not just in Nashville, will agree with me.

Currently you can check out three videos off of the Dive Bar Saints album on Youtube including the title track along with Remember This and Catch Me If You Can. Country Rebel recently released a video of the Guys singing Vince Gill’s Go Rest High on That Mountain from their recent Church Sessions at the Nashville Vineyard Church in Tennessee. Go Rest is not new to many Home Free fans as they have been performing this tear-jerker as part of their Timeless Tour that just recently came to a close in May. The official Home Free video for Go Rest was shot last June in the beautiful Smoky Mountains, but has yet to be released to the public.

Please take time to check out the videos and songs on this album and then go and preorder the album (release date of July 26th). Or simply take my word for it that this is an album you need and just go and preorder it right now! You won’t be disappointed and in the end you are helping five, amazingly talented men continue to live their dreams of creating music. You can preorder the album here: https://shophomefreevocalband.squarespace.com/

I was so privileged to be able to attend this listening party for Dive Bar Saints but want you all to know that there is an upcoming Dive Bar Saints tour where you too can hear the Guys perform their soon-to-be hits! Everyone needs to experience them live at least once…and if you are like many of their fans once turns into 20 or 30 or 40…well, you get the picture! Their tour schedule and tickets can be found here: http://homefreemusic.com/divebarsaints/#tour

Watch for Part 2 of this adventure coming soon-I'll call it the "Dirty Deets" LOL