Austin Brown is opening up about his decision to leave Home Free. The Georgia native announced in February that he was leaving the all-vocal group, after 12 years as one of its members, to pursue other interests, and spend more time with his wife, Amberly.
“Life is beautiful, life is long,” Brown tells Everything Nash. “We all go through seasons. And for me, it’s a new chapter. It’s a turning of a page. I’m always going to be in Home Free in my heart. And I’m just excited. I’ve got an incredible wife. I want to be home. I want to figure out a way to not be on the road as much these days. I’ve loved it for a decade, and then one day I just realized that I think it’s time for me to slow down.”
Brown has not announced an official final date yet, but he will remain with Home Free through the end of their Crazy(er) Life Tour, which kicked off this week.
“We still got a lot more to do here,” Brown maintains. “We still have so much music to make. We’ve got at least six more months of me being around at least. And it feels like we still have the Super Bowl in front of us. I’m so focused on just being here and present with my boys. I love these guys so much, and I’m just grateful for the time we had together. And, I’m looking forward to seeing where life takes me, and where life takes these guys. We’re friends at the end of the day, always will be. I’m just excited for the next chapter for all of us.”
Of all of the Home Free members, the only original member is Adam Rupp, who is one of the founders of the group, and will be around for a long, long time to come.
“We’ve learned to embrace new beginnings at this point,” Tim Foust claims. “To be honest with you, Home Free’s been around for 24 years, and [Adam] is the only remaining founding member. We’re all just part of a larger legacy.”
Brown might be leaving Home Free to pursue other interests, but he insists they will always be friends, and still make music together as their schedules allow.
“I still want to collaborate with everybody here, in different capacities,” Brown shaes. “We have a lot of music planned. I still hope to perform with Home Free every once in a blue moon. I don’t know what happened to me. Ten years ago, you would have never told me that all I wanted to do was be at home. But I’m turning into a homebody. Don’t get me wrong; I still love doing the show. I’m so excited to finish the tour and take every moment for what it is, and not take anything for granted. But we get to make a lot more music still, and I’m excited to do that.”
Home Free’s Crazy(er) Life album is available on March 29. Find all of their music and upcoming shows at HomeFreeMusic.com.
