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The song begins with a piano line, a riveting melody ebbing and flowing under the hands of 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition bronze medalist, Daniel Hsu. Then, after a pause of less than a second, the familiar voice of Fort Worth rapper Lou CharLe$ comes in, with Averi Burk’s rock guitar chugging steadily behind.
Burk’s soulful vocals soon enter at the hook, and with Hsu’s piano motif serving as the foundation, the song crescendos into a dramatic, angsty, classical-meets-rock-meets-hip-hop track about staying true to oneself — a message that speaks to Fort Worth’s identity as a diverse, collaborative city.
“Free” — a single by Hsu, CharLe$ and Burk — debuted Thursday at Visit Fort Worth’s Annual Meeting, the convention and visitors bureau’s high-energy gathering of the local who’s-who to celebrate the city’s past year in tourism.
While the meeting is mostly a professional event, filled with numbers and reports on economic development, the event also spotlights local businesses and talent, complete with a theme song to tie it all together. It’s where Grady Spencer & The Work made a splash singing “bless my soul and take me back to Fort Worth” in their song, “Things to Do.” Another Annual Meeting would have Spencer returning to collaborate with CharLe$ for an unexpected country-rap anthem, “Take Me Home.”
This year, the envelope pushes further with “Free,” a song sparked by an idea between Hear Fort Worth (the music arm of Visit Fort Worth) and The Cliburn. Both groups reached out to Burk, CharLe$ and Hsu, who admits he was skeptical of the project at first.
“This isn’t the most typical pairing you see, and it’s not the most typical pairing for a reason,” Hsu says, laughing. “But I was still really excited. I met Averi and Lou; we got together and actually ended up making something that was really sick.” (That’s sick as in “cool,” older folks.)
After Hsu presented a few classical options, the trio landed on a Franz Schubert piece transcribed by composer Franz Liszt for the piano.
“There’s something about classical music that gives me the chills,” Burk says. “I feel like every genre of music hits a different spot, so why not hit all of them?”
Meshing each artist’s respective genre wasn’t easy at first, though, CharLe$ says: “[Hsu] sent a list of all these pieces we might do, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, there is nowhere to rap.’ There’s no beat; there’s no space — just us trying to figure out where we can have that intersection and at what point is that, and making sure that point that you meet is comfortable for everybody.”
And yet, for whatever reason, the moment the trio got in one room together, something just clicked. They had a solid team supporting them, with Fort Worth’s Steinway & Sons providing the piano, Niles City Sound’s Joel Raif and Music in Focus’ Jose “Chico” Santiago producing, and mastering done by Grammy Award winner Jordan Richardson, former drummer for Ben Harper (and occasional drummer for Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band).
There were no creative differences — not any dramatic ones anyway — and while “Free” isn’t a blatant declaration of local pride as previous Annual Meeting songs have been, CharLe$ says the track is reflective of Fort Worth’s character.
“The city is very supportive of one another,” CharLe$ says. “It gives us that extra push. Oh man, you’ve got Averi and Lou backed by classical piano? You’re crazy.”
Listen to “Free” below.
