When Tim Foust takes the stage to perform for fans, he is usually standing with Adam Rupp, Austin Brown, Adam Chance and Rob Lundquist, as part of the acapella group, Home Free. But, to celebrate his birthday, Tim gathered up a group of his friends and put on what is probably the most memorable show I have ever attended.
The event, held on Saturday, July 22, at City Winery Nashville, was Tim Foust & Friends Birthday Bash. Even if Tim had done this as a solo act, I am sure he could have kept the audience entertained from start to finish. But, much to the delight of the audience, the friends he had with him that night were some of the most talented performers in the entire music industry. Wherever your taste in music might be, Tim had you covered.
I know a lot of our readers are very much like me, having limited what they listen to to country music. Country music is what we like. And, as a rule, it is what we listen to. However, I definitely learned there is a lot more going on in the world of music than just country. You are going to see some names in this article that you’ve never seen in an article on Country’s Chatter, and I really hope you will look them up wherever you can find them, and listen to these folks sing!
The show opened with Tim, his wife, Jenika Marion Foust (vocals/fiddle), and Christopher Chatham (guitar). When they started singing, my first thought was ‘it cannot get any better than this’. It didn’t take me long to figure out that was wrong. Every act that stepped on stage gave a performance that far exceeded my expectations.
Emoni Wilkins has managed to combine beauty and power in her vocals. Accompanied only by Alex Bachardi, Emoni’s performance was outstanding. I watch very little television, but those of you who were fans of The Sing-Off, may remember Emoni from Season 4, when she performed with the group Ten. That was the year Home Free won the show, and Tim shared with the audience that their participation in the show led to some long-lasting friendships. His audience on Saturday night was very happy that Emoni was one of those friendships!
Julia Easterlin was another artist who captured the hearts of audience members. I was so involved in the show, I’m not sure my notes are right. I had it down that Julia was part of the group Tuarrah, but I may be wrong about that. She was accompanied, I believe, by Christopher Marion, and I think he was with Tuarrah. But again, I was paying a lot more attention to what was going on up on that stage than I was to what I was writing on my note pad, I have no idea who was who … I only know that I’m glad I didn’t miss a minute of that show. You just need to look this stuff up and check these artists out. All I know for sure is that I walked away from City Winery on Saturday night knowing that I had just seen something I probably won’t be seeing again (at least not any time soon).
While each artist who stepped out on stage was a surprise for the audience, the biggest surprises came when Austin Brown (Home Free) and Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) came out to be part of this awesome event. I won’t try to tell you about each artist or their performance, but I would really like all of you to find out what you can about these unbelievably talented people, and listen to their music. This was an amazing show, and as I mentioned, it is certainly something I will not soon forget.
I’m going to close this out with the list of entertainers we saw, a lot of pictures for you all to enjoy, and a HUGE ‘thank you’ to Tim Foust for putting this birthday present together for all of the audience members. I think everyone in attendance is already counting down the days to next year’s Tim Foust & Friends Birthday Bash.
Tim Foust & Friends Birthday Bash Performers: Tim Foust, Duane Allen, Derrek Merrier of Rosewater, Luisa Marion, Beth Schwartz, Austin Brown of Home Free, Christian Li, Jenika Marion Foust, Christopher Marion, Chris Chatham, Eric Bueglar, Charlie van Kirk, Julia Easterlin and Emoni Wilkins.
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