Exclusive Country Music Cruise Interview with Home Free

Hey guys, it's Gail and we are backstage with Humphrey at the Country Music Cruise having

a fabulous time. Wait, are we having a good time? We're having a great time. So much fun

Anybody hungry? Always. Always. Every day. There is so much food. So I want to talk first of all about this year's cruise because you guys just performed

and you've got some other stuff going on. What is the best part about being on this cruise for you guys

Pretending like we belong with all these country superstars. I was going to say the food but I should probably say the music

You guys told me, we talked before the cruise, that you were going to be fans watching the

shows and I've seen you guys watching the shows. You're really out enjoying the other artists. Absolutely

Favorite artist so far? We're not going to say it. For me it's Billy Dean. He was so good

I grew up on this stuff. Him being here and getting to shake his hand again

Every time I see him I'm like, I'm still your biggest fan man, I promise. I didn't realize he was such a good guitar player

It was really a treat to hear him pick that guitar. I had never seen Sister Sadie before

They blew me away. My husband saw them. He said they were phenomenal. Yeah, I mean their playing is incredible

You guys performed last night. What a great audience, right? Yeah, they were wonderful. Two of them

And you guys played a late show. You ended, it was like 9 to 10.30

How was it? Surprisingly energetic. Really? Yeah. I didn't know what to expect

But yeah, they were the party crowd. Yeah, it was wild. You're Elvira

I could listen to you all do that all day long. You're coming back next year

Let's talk about that. You agreed to come back before you were even on the cruise

So tell me why. I mean we, mainly it's like as country music fans, it's like yeah, we'll do it every time

Especially seeing the rest of the folks who are going to be here. Diamond Rio. I mean that's an automatic yes if Diamond Rio is here

The whole lineup is incredible. And just to get to come out here and spend a week at sea and relax and enjoy the food

and the music, it's like, it's easy. This didn't even work. So we'll sign you up for 2026

You said it first. And I mean it. And you guys are getting ready to go out on your Crazier Life tour

So how excited are we about that? Very excited. I mean tour is crazy exciting, right

I was hoping somebody would do that. The shows are the best part of this whole thing

Sitting there in front of the crowd, you know, and just getting people going wild. It's pretty, it's knock on wood, it's what happens most of the time, you know

Well your fans are pretty excited every time you get on stage. I'm just going to say that

They love Home Free. But you did say this year that you're touring less. And I would love to know what that process was

Like you're cutting back a little bit, not going to spend every weekend on the road

which I'm sure your wives love. What was that decision like for you guys

I mean honestly it was sort of a byproduct of the forced time at home during COVID

You know, like we've never been home that long. So we didn't know what that was like

And after we got over the shock of it, we realized we kind of like being at home actually

And our families actually like us at home too. Still? Yeah, so far

We'll see. Maybe by 2026 we'll be touring more. That's interesting, really

So it was being home that made you realize you liked being home. Yep. Okay, but you just added a couple more dates

Yeah, I mean our management and agency, they don't like it when we're home

But your wives do and that's what counts. Okay, new music coming this year

Because we talked about it on the CMA carpet and you said something might be happening

So what do we know? Well, as the name of the tour suggests, that goes hand in hand with an album also called Crazier Life

So it turns out it's another ten year retrospective. We decided to do all new recordings of all of the songs that we released on our first album after the sing-off

Yeah, we figured if Taylor Swift is doing it, then we ought to do it too. Well, she probably. I mean, it'll do just as well as Taylor Swift, I'm sure

Surely, yeah. And halfway there, we'll be fine. We're home free. There's always new music coming all the time

That is true. Because you all are writers, which leads me to my last question

You guys are doing some independent stuff too. You played a song last night. Is that going to be on a home free album? Maybe

There's a good chance. We haven't got that far. Will it be on another Austin album

Maybe one day. I'm not going to release a record for a long time. But the Austin Browne single version is out there

So check it out, folks. It is. And the sweet tribute to your beautiful wife is awesome

Anybody else doing anything solo that they want to talk about? I mean, we all have side projects to some degree. Yeah

You can find that all online for sure. I feel like that's what makes you guys so great

You have this collective thing together. But you also endorse and support each other's solo stuff too

Which isn't really common in music. I mean, we figure the more the merrier

I mean, it's not a competition. It's just collaborative. And if somebody writes a song and releases a song individually, that's great

It's like, why not do the home free version as well? Why not? Yeah

This is really my last question. Are you really having as much fun on stage as you look? Oh yeah

For sure. Because you look so, like it's just the life for you. Absolutely

I mean, we love making music. We love making music together. We may not always be as full of energy as we look on stage

But we are having fun. That's it. Check them out at homefreemusic.com

Thanks, guys. Thank you. I guess homefreemusic.com. I guess that's it