Born and raised in Fulton, MO, keyboardist/singer Joe McBride began playing the piano at age four. His uncle Bake McBride was an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians. His earliest influences were gospel music, bebop, straight-ahead jazz, Motown, and '70s R&B and funk. As a teenager, he began singing and playing at jazz clubs. Around this time, McBride was stricken with a degenerative eye disease that eventually claimed his sight, but his passion for music didn't diminish. He continued his musical studies at the Missouri School for the Blind and Webster University in suburban St. Louis, where he majored in jazz performance. He also attended the University of North Texas. Around 1983, McBride trekked to San Diego, CA, a bastion of smooth jazz radio. He began playing with the band Fattburger and guitarist Steve Laury.
In 1985, McBride visited his brother in Dallas, TX. What was originally planned as a two-week visit evolved into an abundant opportunity. He was flooded with performing offers, leading to McBride becoming a popular musician of the city's jazz club scene. During that time he met a young trumpeter named Dave Love at a function for North Texas State University. The two became fast friends and when Love ventured into the other side of the music business and started the Heads Up International label, the executive remembered the soulful pianist/vocalist he had met in Dallas and signed him to a record deal. In 1992, the keyboardist was featured on Heads Up labelmate Kenny Blake's debut Interior Design and began touring with the Heads Up Superband along with Blake, Gerald Veasley, andHenry Johnson. McBride has also been the opening act for Whitney Houston, Larry Carlton, and the Yellowjackets. His reputation has reached overseas, making McBride a favorite in Europe and Spain.
McBride's debut album, Grace, released in 1992, instantly made him a core artist at smooth jazz radio. McBride's other albums are A Gift for Tomorrow (1994), Keys to Your Heart (1996), and Double Take (1998). A stellar guest list of artists that have appeared on his releases includes Grover Washington Jr., Richard Elliot, Phil Perry, Peter White, Dave Koz, Rick Braun, and Larry Carlton, among others.
At the start of the 21st century, McBride's long sought-after dream was realized: an album that featured his band, the Texas Rhythm Club. His CD Texas Rhythm Club was recorded in his home base of Dallas and issued by Heads Up International on June 27, 2000. Higlights are "Howzit in Dallas," "Everything Remains the Same," the tender ballad "It's You," the snappy "Lone Star Boogie," and the humorous "Texas Blues Cruise." 2002 saw the release of Keepin' It Real while Texas Hold'em came out in 2005
Six Appeal is a professional six-part a cappella group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Six Appeal tours nationally in the United States, and performs around 150 shows a year. The group Six Appeal was founded in the fall of 2006 at Concordia CollegeinMoorhead, Minnesota by Michael Brookens and Jordan Roll. Originally a college hobby, performing at numerous campus events at Concordia. When the founders graduated in 2010, they moved their home base to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began touring as a professional ensemble. Six Appeal became a full-time touring act by the end of 2011. As a band they have traveled to 49 states and numerous international engagements including Russia and China. The band's current membership consists of the founders Michael Brookens and Jordan Roll, joined by Andrew Berkowitz, Reuben Hushagen, Virginia Cavaliere, and Mel Daneke.
Johnny Hansen(born 25 July 1965) is a Danish singer and musician, most famous as vocalist and guitarist ofdansbandKandis. In addition to his career in Kandis, he has also released his own materials including four albums. In 1983, at age 18, he joined the band Airport that split up in 1988. With Jens Erik Jensen, a fellow musician, he formed the duo Jens Erik and Torben. With bassist Jørgen Hein Jørgensen joining later, the duo became a band renamed asKandis. He also took part in 2001 inDansk Melodi Grand Prixwith the song "Lidt efter lidt" in a bid to represent Denmark inEurovision Song Contest 2001. It was co-written by him and Nanna Kalinka Bjerke. His song did not qualify in selection round of ten songs.
Lynch nació en Spokane, Washington y se crio en la pequeña ciudad de Auburn, California. El guitarrista Mark Kendall de Great White afirma que George empezó a intervenir las dos-manos (tapping) antes que Van Halen lo hiciera. Dos veces audicionó para el puesto de guitarrista de Ozzy Osbourne. La primera vez en 1979 - perdiendo con Randy Rhoads - y la segunda vez en 1982 para reemplazar a Brad Gillis. Según Lynch, fue contratado por tres días antes de que Ozzy cambiara de opinión y decidió contratar luego a Jake E. Lee. Sin embargo, este último afirma que Lynch "tuvo el trabajo, pero sólo dos semanas, vio el espectáculo, y en realidad nunca tocó con Ozzy". Lynch mira hacia atrás la situación de manera positiva, sin embargo; él ha dicho "Gané el premio de consolación, Randy consiguió salir de gira con Ozzy... y yo me puse a dar clases en la escuela de su madre". George tocó inicialmente en una banda de 1970 a finales llamada The Boyz, trabajando en los clubes de Sunset Strip en Los Ángeles, junto a algunos de sus contemporáneos como Van Halen y Quiet Riot. The Boyz iban a tocar en un club donde estaba Gene Simmons de Kiss y su sello discográfico propio. Van Halen abrió el show, pero Gene optó por no quedarse y ver The Boyz.
Lynch llegó a la fama en la década de 1980 a través de su trabajo como el guitarrista principal de la banda Dokken de la que había sido miembro desde 1980, con Don Dokken en la voz, Jeff Pilson en el bajo y Mick Brown en la batería. Dokken tuvo una serie de exitosos discos de platino tales como Tooth And Nail, Under Lock And Key y Back For The Attack, que ofrecen un prominente y melodioso trabajo de guitarra de Lynch. Esto cimentó su reputación como héroe de la guitarra. La pista instrumental "Mr. Scary" en Back For The Attack contribuyó a su popularidad entre los guitarristas. La banda fue nominada a un Grammy para la Mejor Interpretación de Metal en 1988. En ese año, lanzaron el álbum en vivo Beast From The East grabado en Japón, donde destaca el último sencillo "Walk Away". A pesar de la popularidad de la banda, el grupo se separó en marzo de 1989 debido a las tensiones internas con el vocalista Don Dokken.
Jeff Pilson (Illinois, 19 de enero de 1959) es un músico estadounidense, famoso por haber sido bajista de las bandas de hard rock y heavy metalDokken, Dio y Foreigner.
Pilson fue miembro de bandas como Dokken y Dio en la década de 1980. Actualmente tiene su propia banda de metal progresivo llamada War and Peace y trabaja con su excompañero en Dokken, George Lynch, en un proyecto llamado Lynch/Pilson. También se encuentra colaborando en la actualidad con Foreigner. Actualmente ha formado un nuevo super grupo junto con su ex compañero y amigo en Dokken Reb Beach, Robin McAuley y Matt Star llamado Black Swan, su álbum debut Shake the world salió a la venta el 14 de febrero de 2020, consiguiendo unas críticas increíbles en la mayoría de los medios online sobre rock.
Tocó para la banda estadounidense Wild Horses y apareció en la película Rock Star como miembro de la banda Steel Dragon en el 2001, al igual que en la banda sonora.
Hootie & The Blowfish es una banda norteamericana que gozó de gran popularidad en la segunda mitad de la década del noventa del siglo pasado. Fue conformada en 1986 en la Universidad de Carolina del Sur por Darius Rucker, Dean Felber, Jim Sonefeld y Mark Bryan. Han grabado siete álbumes de estudio hasta la fecha, y han colocado dieciséis sencillos en varias listas de sencillos de la Billboard. Su álbum debut, Cracked Rear View se convirtió en el disco más vendido en 1995. Certificado platino en dieciséis ocasiones, es considerado uno de los mejores discos de la historia, según la prensa especializada estadounidense. Actualmente ocupa el puesto 30 en la lista de los álbumes más vendidos de la historia y el séptimo puesto en la lista de los discos de rock más vendidos en la historia de Estados Unidos.
Hootie & The Blowfish fue formada en 1986. Los integrantes del cuarteto se conocieron cuando cursaban primer año en la Universidad de Carolina del Sur, en Columbia. Mark Bryan escuchó cantar a Darius Rucker en las duchas del dormitorio que compartían y quedó impresionado con sus aptitudes vocales. Juntos comenzaron a realizar covers bajo el nombre de The Wolf Brothers, hasta que se asociaron con Felber, un antiguo compañero de Bryan que tocaba con éste en la banda de la secundaria, y con Jim "Soni" Sonefeld y se dieron a conocer como Hootie & The Blowfish.
De forma independiente lanzaron dos EP promocionales en casete en 1991 y 1992. En 1993 lograron editar 50,000 copias de un EP autofinanciado intitulado Kootchypop, cuyo nombre tomaron de la referencia hecha a los genitales femeninos por la co-estrella Shirley Hemphill del show What's Happening. El álbum Cracked Rear View los sacó del anomimato, catapultándolos a la fama; fue un éxito instantáneo, llegando a ser el disco más vendido de 1995 y certificado platino dieciséis veces. A ello contribuyeron especialmente cuatro de sus hits: "Hold My Hand" (# 10 EE. UU.), "Let Her Cry" (# 9 EE. UU.), "Only Wanna Be With You" (# 6 EE. UU.) y "Time" (# 14 EE. UU.). En 1995 el grupo alcanzó un acuerdo extrajudicial con Bob Dylan por el uso no autorizado de letras del autor en la canción "Only Wanna Be With You" El quarterbackDan Marino, miembro del Salón de la Fama figuró en el videoclip de la canción "Only Wanna Be With You", junto con otros atletas.
La banda obtuvo el galardón en la categoría de "Mejor Artista Novel" en la Edición de los Premios Grammy de 1996. El grupo apareció en el programa televisivo MTV Unplugged en la víspera del lanzamiento de su segundo disco, Fairweather Johnson, en 1996. Aunque las ventas comenzaron favorablemente, amparadas por el éxito del sencillo "Old Man and Me" (# 13 EE. UU.) pronto comenzaron a descender, quedando la cifra en cuatro millones de ejemplares vendidos en los EE. UU.. Hasta la fecha, el grupo ha lanzado otros tres álbumes de estudio: Musical Chairs, Hootie & The Blowfish y Looking for Lucky.. También lanzaron un disco compilatorio de caras B y rarezas en 2000, nombrado Scattered, Smothered and Covered. El disco es nombrado así en tributo a Waffle House, una popular cadena de restaurantes nocturnos sureños. Específicamente el título hace referencia a un plato de picadillo con cebollas troceadas y queso derretido.
En 1995, Hootie & The Blowfish contribuyó al álbum tributo a Led ZeppelinEncomium, con la canción "Hey Hey What Can I Do" que fuera originalmente concebida como parte de la banda sonora de la serie Friends en 1995.
Kidz Bopis an American children's music group composed like a music brand that producesfamily-friendlycover versionsofpop songsand related media. Kidz Bop releasescompilation albumsthat feature children coveringclean versionsof contemporarypopsongs that chart high on theBillboard Hot 100and/or receive heavy airplay fromcontemporary hit radiostations several months ahead of each album's release. Kidz Bop releases censored and substitute profane lyrics, however, critics have commented that this doesn't necessarily remove the adult themes from the music.
The concept was developed by Razor & Tie co-founders Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam[1] and released its first entry on October 9, 2001.[2] Since its debut, Kidz Bop has sold over 21 million albums and has generated over 4.5 billion streams.[3] Kidz Bop has expanded to include merchandise, music videos, a live touring division, and seeking talent search competitions.
Home Freeis an American countrya cappellagroup of five vocalists: Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist, Adam Rupp, Tim Foust, and Adam Chance. Starting as a show group, they toured with approximately 200 shows a year across the United States.The group won thefourth seasonofThe Sing-OffonNBCin 2013. They sang an arrangement ofHunter Hayes' "I Want Crazy" as their final competitive song, earning the group $100,000 and a recording contract withSony.
The band released their first major label album, Crazy Life, in February 2014. Their most recent album, So Long Dixie, was released in November 2022.
Home Free was originally formed in January 2001 by Chris Rupp in Mankato, Minnesota, when some of its members were still in their teens. The five founding members were brothers Chris and Adam Rupp, Matt Atwood, Darren Scruggs, and Dan Lemke. They took their name from a boat owned by Atwood's grandfather who helped support the group financially in their early years. The group began as a hobby for the singers, but they gradually grew in experience and popularity. By 2007 they had enough of a following to pursue music full-time. During this period, the Rupp brothers and Atwood formed the core of the group, with Atwood singing lead tenor. Other members of the group came and went. Current member Rob Lundquist, another Minnesotan, joined in 2008.
For much of the group's history they worked with many talented bass singers, but did not have a full-time committed bass voice. In 2007 Chris Foss sang with them. Elliott Robinson was added as bass in September 2008, and was replaced in June 2009 by Troy Horne. Later that year, Horne left to rejoin the House Jacks. To replace Horne they turned to Tim Foust, who first sang with them as a guest on their 2010 tour. A Texas native, Foust was then pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter of country music and had recently released a solo album, but was not ready to sign on full-time. Matthew Tuey sang with the group in the interim of 2011, until Foust joined them full-time in January 2012.
In 2012, Austin Brown was working on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship as a featured singer in their production shows. When Home Free joined the cruise as a guest performing group, they met and became close. Brown, who was born in Tifton, Georgia, let Home Free know that he would be interested in joining the group if they ever had an opening. At the end of 2012 lead singer Matt Atwood and his wife, who had married the previous year, were expecting their first child. Finding the group's touring schedule incompatible with family life, and having an opportunity to take over his family's real estate business in Mankato, Atwood made the decision to retire from the group. Home Free then invited Brown to join as lead tenor. He sang his first show with the group in October 2012, and became full-time in January 2013.
The group, made up of Chris and Adam Rupp, Lindquist, Foust and Brown, competed in the fourth season of The Sing-Off, recording their performances in September 2013. During that time, the group arranged for substitute performers to fulfill their previously-scheduled concert commitments. The series was televised in December 2013, and the group headlined the Sing-Off tour across 32 cities in 2014.
On March 18, 2016, it was announced that, after sixteen years of performing with the group, co-founder Chris Rupp would be leaving to pursue a solo career. He would be replaced after May 8 by Adam Chance, formerly of Street Corner Symphony.
An update of Home Free's 2014 album Full of Cheer called Full Of (Even More) Cheer was released in November 2016 and debuted at number two on the Top Country Albums Chart with 13,000 sold - the band's best performance on the chart at the time.
The band has been actively posting videos to their Youtube channel since 2009. In May 2020, they announced that they had reached 1 million subscribers to their channel.[12] Home Free was also an early adopter of Patreon, where they crowdfund to raise money to produce their videos.[13]
All five of Home Free's singers have formal musical training. Lundquist and the Rupp brothers all have bachelor's degrees in music. Adam Rupp's primary instrument is trumpet, but he also plays drums, keyboard, and bass guitar. Since joining, Foust and Brown have also become very active in writing and arranging.
In terms of musical roles, Home Free includes a lead tenor (Lundquist), a high tenor (Brown), a baritone (Chance), a bass (Foust), and a beatboxer (Rupp), who provides percussion sounds. Lundquist and Chance sing traditional tenor and baritone harmony, respectively, and Foust sings bass with the range of a basso profundo. Occasionally, the latter two singers switch roles. All of the singers occasionally sing solos supported by the harmonies of the other singers.
Home Free's styling as a country group is relatively recent. Before Foust joined the group, Home Free was an all-purpose a cappella group, singing in a wide variety of styles, of which country was only a minor one. With the additions of Foust and Brown, the group moved more in the direction of country and found that audiences responded well to it. Home Free had auditioned three times for The Sing-Off (without Foust and Brown) and not been accepted. When auditioning for the fourth season, they made a conscious decision to style themselves as a country group. In an interview Brown said this identity is what grabbed the attention of The Sing-Off’s casting director, who said, “You guys really fit something we don’t have.”
Don McLean invited them to collaborate on a 50th anniversary recording of his 1971 hit "American Pie". The music video for this performance went on to win three Telly awards in 2021. Home Free has collaborated on several occasions with fellow a capella artist Peter Hollens on "19 You + Me" in 2014 and the hymn "Amazing Grace" in 2016. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Hollens and Home Free collaborated on a cover of the U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", incorporating a choir made up of over 200 members of their respective Patreon patrons; each performer or family group recorded their audio and video remotely.
Also in 2020, Home Free collaborated with Lee Greenwood and the Singing Sergeants of the United States Air Force Band in a recording of Greenwood's hit song "God Bless the U.S.A.". The song was released on June 30, 2020, and reached #1 in digital song sales as of July 18, 2020.
