10 Country Artists Who Blazed A New Trail 

You can pretty much say that ANY artist blazed their own trail, and I know there's gonna be a lot of "BUT WHAT ABOUT" questions, which I get, but these are just 10 people whose stories feel particularly notable/interesting/admirable! For times' sake, these are super broad overviews, and mega-fans of these artists will probably be left wishing for more details -- to them I just say, don't overthink it! I just wanted this one to be a fun intro to these artists' histories for people that might not know. Love y'all. -Grady

You should do a “10 songs that made you cry” or just sad story songs, or something similar. Cheers😁

Glad Home Free got in here! One of my favorites

glad you mention HF, they are my favorite group and i'm a woman of color YES I'm black and i love Home Free,

Obsessed with Home Free!! They definitely deserve way more recognition for the things they do. Those men ooze talent! 🤩

Thank you so much for including Home Free.! They don’t get enough credit. Tons of covers but also a lot of recent original music. I just feel nobody can really match them. Not just with acapella, but their original music- most people cannot even believe it is just voices. They are amazing. And you’re right about Austin. The most amazing voice I’ve heard in so long!

Home Free is one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Austin is representing Georgia and we are proud of him.

Love Home Free! As always with an acapella group, you really need to see them live.

You cannot compare Home Free to any other artist/band - they are unique. They've created their own genre with their country/pop/blues a capella magic. They are super talented, friendly and down to earth. Thanks for adding them to the list ☺

So glad to see you include home free in this video!

So glad you recognized Home Free; they really are phenomenal and I believe their business model will be the wave of the future!

Obsessed with Home Free!! So excited that you recognized them! My everyday go to!❤

Huge fan of Austin Brown and Home Free 🙌🏽

Absolutely love Home Free - cheesy or not!! Best group ever!! Shout out to Austin!❤

Thank you for mentioning my favorite group Home Free. They and Austin are amazing!

finally home free

Thanks for noticing Home Free and Austin Brown. They are fabulous.

I’m so glad Home Free was included in this list. They are so talented and don’t get the recognition they deserve. I have today that their fans are quite happy with the smaller venue concerts but we would like for more people to be able to hear them. People wot miss the instruments, I promise!

Home Free is absolutely the best! Especially AUSTIN BROWN!!! They are just unreal at how talented they all are!! And so good to their fans!

My brother-in-law is obsessed with Home Free. He has seen them live at least 3 times and his kids think Home Free is the original “All about that Bass”

It’s about damn time you talked about Home Free! Omg I can’t believe you would actually do it!

Great video thanks for Add Home Free and mention Austin We all love him yoo.

Saw Austin Brown in the thumbnail and had to watch to see Home Free mentioned ❤️ I’ve been obsessed with them since I first heard them.

I love Home Free. My husband surprised me with a date night to see them on Dallas. They are very entertaining.

I don't think I can explain how happy I got when I saw homefree

I totally agree with you sediment on Homefree!! honestly this idea of relatability goes for most of the A Capella genera. they are very personable with frequent livestreams and releases new music 1 or twice a month to RU-vid and streaming platforms. it makes it very easy to keep up with them and fell like you are always getting new content. bonus the lack of major label influence (they bought out their contract and rights a few year ago) means that the copyright bots are not super active with their videos, this has lead to a MASSIVE reaction/review seen here on RU-vid witch in turn keeps getting Homefree and other A Capella artist new fans.

Was super interested to hear what you’d say about Home Free. They have this weird pull on me. Some of their stuff I just can’t stop listening to.

So glad you included Home Free and Austin Brown!!

Home Free is amazing! I have been following them for quite a few years. Thanks for including them in this lineup.

I am here and a new subscriber because of HOME FREE !!! These guys are absolutely Amazing, so very talented, each and every one !!!! They put on a fabulous live concert and we are patiently waiting for Covid to ease up so the guys can start touring again !! Please check out their music, you will love them !!

Several of my favorites here. Discovered Home Free this summer and was hooked just love their stuff and loving Austin Brown’ Originals. Can’t get enough

As a Home Fry myself, (Home Free fan), it is so nice to have someone take notice of everything they have accomplished! Also, Austin is my favorite too! Thank you for including them.

Home Free is my all time favorite band, thank you for including them. I think they, and Austin Brown as a solist, are the best.

YAY !!!! You talk of Home Free today.. Those guy's are crazy good !!! And for the love of country, Austin Brown has new solo stuff on u tube and that man no's his music !! And likes writing it too :) These guy's sound just as good at their concert's as they do on their CD's and videos... Pure Amazing talent... Thanks Grady

Proud to be a Home Free/Home Fry. Love that hi tenor Austin Brown

Thank you for shouting out Home Free. They are very hard working gentlemen that connect with their fans at a level unseen by other artists. I have been to concerts but going to a Home Free concert is like no other. You feel their love and connection like I’ve never felt before. As a supporter of Home Free I have subscribed to your channel because without your support of them I never knew you were there!

Great Analysis. Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton are two of my favorites from my era but I have to confess I am a enthusiastic "Home Fry" through and through and absolutely love all of Austin Brown's solo stuff he just started releasing.

Thanks for including Home Free in your top 10! Love their music! They are a great group of guys! Austin Brown is making amazing music with his friend Steven Martinez! 😍😍

Thanks for the Home Free love!! They are a phenomenal group, and their sensation at a live show!! And that Austin Brown, his voice is smooth as butter!! Great list!!

Huge home free fan. If you ever get a chance to see them live, do it. I don’t want to sound overdramatic, but when you’re watching them, it will amaze you that there aren’t any instruments. Tim’s bass is mindblowing in person too. It’s an awesome experience.

Home Free is great! This past year was definitely hard not seeing them live!

Great to see Home Free on this list with a shout out to Austin Brown.

Yay! I'm so happy you included Home Free. They are amazing and I think they need more recognition than they get. I urge everyone to check them out. It's a great rabbit hole to go down.

Hi, Grady! I found your video very interesting and informative! I am an avid fan of Home Free and wanted to thank you for including them in your video! I have been a fan of theirs since I saw their first appearance on the Sing Off! I’m not even a big fan of Country Music. Well, I don’t listen to Country Music radio. There are artists and groups I like, and some I have discovered due to Home Free covering their songs. I have seen Home Free live 6 times, and every show has been different and better than the one before that one! These guys are like brothers and their road crew and management teams, etc. are considered extended family! Anyway, they are definitely the real deal! Thank you, again! I have subscribed to your channel!!

Thanks for compiling this, and the narrative. I'm a Home Free fan (Home Fry) and especially enjoy hearing your industry perspective on this fine vocal band.

Thank you for mentioning Home Free. They are awesome!

i loved this thanks and i am a Home Free fan for sure they are amazing love them so much everyone has an awesome voice and they are so great in concerts and i am in Aww always #loveHomeFreeForever and Austin Brown is doing some amazing things now

Thank you for including Home Free. I’m a huge fan and love their music. Proud Home Fry.

So glad to hear you include Home Free. Love all the people you mentioned but as a Home Fry they are my favorite!

All artists you've named are legends in their own way. But as a Home Fry, I have to say: thank you for a shoutout to them. I became a Home Fry in April 2020, and since then, I'm lost in their music rabbit hole. It's ridiculous, lol. Also, huge thanks for the shoutout to Austin alone. It means a lot to him. ♥

Home Free let's go! Thanks for including them!

Thank for talking about Home Free and Austin Brown. They are the best. Austin has an amazing voice love listening to him

LOVE that you included Home Free! They are absolutely amazing!! Austin is most definitely my favorite and he recently started a solo career on top of what he is doing with Home Free. All of the Home Free guys are so awesome and dedicated to their fans and that is just one of the many reasons we are so loyal to them.

Thank you so much for including Home Free! I’m one of those legion of fans supporting on Patreon and IndieGoGo... I’ve seen them live in 11 states & a province of Canada for a total of 79 times.

Loved this video! I am a huge Home Free and Austin Brown fan. Thank you for including them. They are certainly blazing new trails and finding new ways to connect with all of their fans.

Glad to see Home Free on here. They are a great group. I've been following them since The Sing Off and seen them live 6 times

Reba is up there with Dolly as some of the most talented, most generous, wholesome people in country music.

I'm so happy you talked about Home Free! I've been hoping they'd appear in one of your videos!

Love Home Free and very happy you included these talented gentlemen on your list.

Can't believe you finally discovered (or posted) about Home Free! I've loved them for years, their live shows are great!! Their covers are often better than the originals. Creativity like theirs needs to be appreciated. They have an incredible following without even being on the radio.

Excellent video as always. I've never heard of Home Free, just checked them out, they sound great.

I LOVE that you included Home Free in this list, thank you! They truly have blazed a different trail than almost any other country artist. With their hard work in with Patreon & RU-vid (especially youtube videos) & has gained so many followers & fans (known as Home Fries) through reaction videos & concerts. I love so much of the music these guys create & look forward to what is to come in the future. Thank you also for the kind shout out to Austin, who if you didn't already know, has his own youtube channel & is also putting out covers & his own songs there.

i’m so glad you added scotty! i feel like he’s really underrated he’s such a good singer

It's super great to see Home Free getting some love. There is really something special about them. All of them are just stupid talented and I think we are in for great things from them over the course of the next couple of decades.

Home Free is my favorite band I rarely listen to anything else... Their sound is simply amazing... And Austin Brown is my favorite person in the world.... Dolly and Reba are two greats...❤️

So glad Home Free and Mr. Austin Brown are being featured more and more!! They are the best!!

Home Free Home Fry here and gotta say together they are a real, honest, open group of some of the most talented men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Individually they all are just as talented and if you don't believe me just check out their youtube page or do yourself a real favor and go see one of their live shows. It's absolutely amazing what these guys can do with just their voices. Austin has the voice of an angel, Tim Foust has a range and is their main bass and trust me I have felt my seat vibrate when he hits those low notes. Adam Rupp is an amazing beat boxer with a talent you won't believe even seeing it with your own eyes. Rob Linquist is an amazing saprano and can carry notes that will rock your socks and last but not least Adam Chance or (Chance) as we frys call him has talent that lets him do it all. Trust me you won't be sorry and once you hear them you'll will be a true fan (Fry) as well. They all five have personal pages as well as the group. Don't miss the opportunity to see these talented young men. They are fantastic!!!!!

I've been waiting for you to talk more about Home Free! I've been fans of them since they won the Sing-Off and have a connection to them as a Minnesota country band being from Minnesota myself. Thanks for including them in a video with such inspirational, classic and awesome country artists! Thanks for another awesome video Grady! :D

So glad you covered a bit of Home Free's journey and their amazing fan base, Home Fries! Each one of these guys could have a solo career, but together they are magnificent! And with the pandemic shutting down their touring, Austin has been able to release some amazing solo tracks! Subscribed.

So... will you talk more about Home Free on the channel now? 😀

Cody Jinks is incredible. Thank you for including him here.

So glad you mentioned Home Free, they are my favourite band, absolutely amazing a capella!

Home Free ♡ good things start in my home state!

This was a really enjoyable video! I learned so much about these that I didn't know. Of course the ending was a highlight treat for me add Home Free Home Fry, and an Austin Brown supporter. I look forward to your future videos now that I've subscribed. 🙂

Thanks for Including Home Free in there, they are indeed blazing a trail. I never was a fan of country music so much until I stumbled upon Home Free and now I'm certainly a bonafide "Home Fry" and love many others in your countdown as well.

Grady !!! Thank you for mentioning Home Free. Yes I am a Home Fry, and they are pretty amazing. Austin's high tenor sure swoons the ladies !! New sub here and yes I found out about you from Home Free's Instagram account this afternoon. God bless you and again thank you

Man old country before around 2005 is just sooo good imo

Love Home Free and Austin Brown

An interesting combination of artists, from huge stars that even country-ignorant Brits like me had heard of to some new names. I credit Home Free with introducing me to so much great music, that I would never had heard otherwise, and they also led me to your channel a while ago. Great to see you featuring them - they're so talented, and yet so down to earth and connected with their fans. Thank you, and I'll be sure to look up the artists you've featured here that I hadn't heard of.

Grady, another great video. Some heavy hitters on this list with Willie, Merle, Dolly, and Johnny. I've loved Darius since Hootie and he is one of the top 3 best concerts I've seen. And Home Free, man they are good. Dive Bar Saints is phenomenal. Bonus points for repping Massachusetts with Lori McKenna. We have a strong country heart in New England. I can't argue with anyone on this list. Great choices. If I was to make my own list, I'd add 4 more. Former soldiers Kris Kristofferson and Craig Morgan. As active military, that speaks to me, especially since both did some pretty badass stuff in the service. I'd also have Aaron Lewis, former hard rock lead singer of Staind, going back to his western Massachusetts roots and singing some fine country (there's a pattern here I admit). And of course, one of the all time legends, Chris LeDoux. Former world champion bareback legend, selling homemade tapes out of his truck at rodeos, getting repped by Garth Brooks and putting on a wild show that Garth still borrows from. Keep up the great videos.

Great video! Glad you included the very talented Home Free and Austin Brown.

Thanks for the Home Free/Austin shoutout! Been following them since they were on the sing off and I love them!

Wow Ohio’ love it! Always good to know you can change the mould and still be part of it. Especially especially Home Free. They’re in great company’ The rest of them that is... in the company of Home Free . Thank you thank you thank you!

Thanks for mentioning my favorites--Home Free and especially Austin Brown, who is doing some very special stuff on his own while the group can't do their shows.

Grady,,,, we need that a cappella audio

I love Home Free 💕💕💕💕

Love seeing Home Free on the same list as these greats of country music. On a completely different topic, I have a nitpick with the video - why are there no captions. There is not even an option for the auto generated captions. Please make your videos accessable and include captions. Thanks.

Absolutely loved this video, Grady. Great idea! Hopefully this does well for you (views) because I’d love to see a Part 2.

I was so delighted to see Haggard mentioned; as a Bakersfield girl, it was fun to learn new things about him. EDIT: Willie was so...clean-looking?!?

Wow thank you for including Lori McKenna, I love her!

Like a lot of other commenters have already said, I'm a Home Fry and I'm so glad they are included in this list. In fact, it was your thumbnail with the picture of Austin that grabbed my attention! I don't think this list would have been complete without them, to be honest. That being said, wonderful choices all around. I'm sure there are many more that could have been added, but all of these people are truly special. And with this list, you've gained a new subscriber!

I love your videos that go deeper into classics! I was raised on a lot of the 60's and 70s country and love learning more about the era from a contemporary younger critic, somewhere around my age.

You forgot to talk about Austins new solo songs aside from Homefree

Weird to see Willy's voice coming out of a clean-cut guy in a suit.

Love Home Free!!!💞💞💞💞

This was a really fantastic list and I totally love with your picks. Sure there’s others worthy of note but this was an excellent start! It’s interesting that you chose Home Free along with the other top notch performers. A cappella county? Who’da thunk it 😂 But you’re right. They are blazing a new trail that’s been untried. And their high tenor, Austin Brown breaking out with his own stuff right now is challenging but smart! Gotta give him some credit for taking it on! You’ve got a new subscriber here!

David Alan Coe should be in here too, such a unique story and it’s really interesting

As with so many others I was ecstatic about the inclusion of Home Free. I actually watched this video because it had a picture of Austen on the screen. So many on your list are now considered classics and i believe, in many years, Home Free will also be considered classic. I was a fan of your channel before but am a subscriber now. Keep up the great videos.

You have soooo many Home Free comments! Home Fry here. Saw them Live. You might have to start mentioning them more, or reviewing them. Seen Rob and Austin singing Nessus Dorma. Really helps to showcase range, and talent.

Grady Smith never disappoints! Great idea for a video. Excited for this years content