Video observes 62nd anniversary of “The Day The Music Died”
All-vocal country entertainers Home Free and the legendary Don McLean are bringing their special rendition of “American Pie” to life with the new video for their collaboration on the time-tested anthem that’s available now.
First premiering exclusively on The Tennessean on Wednesday (Feb 3rd), the clip visually enhances the making of this all-vocal rendition of “American Pie” – spotlighting each Home Free member and their individual parts as they come together with McLean to sing the story of the rise and fall of rock & roll in the 1960s.
With the video release, the collaborators are also observing the 62nd anniversary of “The Day the Music Died” – affectionately coined after the lyric in McLean’s signature anthem – in remembrance of rock & roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson.
“Any song which has a legitimate melody lends itself to an a cappella rendition,” McLean explains to The Tennessean. “The guys in Home Free just did their thing and did a tremendous job at it, too.”
“It starts in a way that’s just very introspective, very true to the words and to the moment ‘The Day the Music Died,’ and just how powerful that can be,” Home Free’s tenor Austin Brown continues. “But also, the hope that can come from the movement associated with an event like that… It really changed so much musically. While it was ‘The Day the Music Died,’ in a lot of ways, it was also the day that music was reborn.”
McLean was set to kick off the American Pie 50th Anniversary World Tour with a special show on February 3rd at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa — the same venue in which Holly, Valens and Richardson last played that fateful night — but has been postponed due to the pandemic. A new date has not been announced as of press time.
