Home Free Induce Christmas Memories With New Album, ‘Warmest Winter’

All-vocal country group Home Free kicked off the holiday season with the release of their new Christmas album, Warmest Winter, on November 6. The 12-track collection showcases a mix of covers, heartwarming original songs, and collaborations. Home Free are seasoned professionals when it comes to recording and performing Christmas music, releasing previous holiday albums and embarking on holiday tours since 2012, and the group’s Rob Lundquist says they worked to make this album their most diverse yet.

“It was kind of hard coming up with songs because we already have put out so many different Christmas songs, but we wanted to do older ones that everybody knows, we wanted to do some newer ones that maybe people aren’t aware of that we like a lot, but we also wanted to pepper in some originals as well from [band members] Tim Foust and Austin Brown,” he told Sounds Like Nashville in an exclusive interview.

Some of the more familiar songs on the album include “Christmas Don’t Be Late (The Chipmunk Song),” “Tennessee Christmas” featuring Rachel Wammack, “What Christmas Means To Me,” and “Run, Run Rudolph” with Striking Matches. Home Free also enlisted Alabama for a rendition of their classic holiday tune, “Christmas In Dixie.” The project also features some more rare Christmas covers, such as “Christmas In L.A.” from funk group Vulfpeck and the haunting “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. Although these are tunes some fans may have heard before, the unique arrangements created by the all-vocal group breathe new life into the songs.

The album’s original tunes especially stand out, beginning with the title track, “Warmest Winter,” co-written by group member Austin Brown. Inspired from Brown’s real-life Christmas memories, the nostalgic song finds the group singing about warm Christmas moments with some relatives who have since passed away, including Brown’s grandmother.

“It’s a very personal song because it is about his family and his grandma whose been gone for four or five years now,” says Lundquist. “They do talk about the loss of that. The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘This is a home run, man. You got really personal with this. It’s very heartfelt.’”

Other original tunes include a Christmas-themed love song called “Snow Globe,” which was written by Foust, and the lighthearted “Cold Hard Cash,” in which the band appeals to potential gift-givers to give them money, instead of presents, for Christmas. The album as a whole hits on many themes related to holiday season, and Lundquist says the band is happy to share that Christmas joy with fans.

“We all love Christmas, we all love Christmas music, and it’s kind of a fun opportunity to be able to sing something a little bit different,” he says. “It’s just a fun way to branch out and everybody loves a good Christmas song.”

In addition to releasing Warmest Winter, Home Free will spread holiday cheer with a concert at the Ryman Auditorium on December 21. The band will also produce a fan-funded holiday livestream, which will feature appearances from Alabama, The Oak Ridge Boys, Rachel Wammack and Striking Matches.