A cappella sensations Home Free set to board the CP Holiday Train

CALGARY, Dec. 5, 2014 /CNW/ - Country vocal band Home Free joins the Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train this week to help raise money and healthy food for U.S. food shelves.

The five country stars from Minnesota will take to the Holiday Train's box car stage in Gurnee, Illinois on December 7 and will ride the rails until December 16, when the train stops in Kenmare, North Dakota. Founded by brothers Chris and Adam Rupp, and including Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist and Tim Foust, Home Free has been performing live shows since the early 2000s and in December 2013 they were crowned champions of NBC's "The Sing-Off'. The group will make an appearance as returning champions on Season 5 of "The Sing-Off", which airs on December 17.

Home Free just released a holiday album, "Full of Cheer" and have been touring most of 2014 promoting their debut release, "Crazy Life". They'll be performing along with country star Kira Isabella who has been on the train since November 30.  Kira is featured in a version of "Baby it's Cold Outside" on Home Free's new holiday album. Kira made her U.S. debut in 2013 with the release of "A Country Boy For Christmas." That year she was nominated for a Canadian JUNO Award for "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" and took home the 2013 Canadian Country Music Association Award for "Female Artist of the Year."

The U.S. Holiday Train will travel across the U.S. Northeast and Midwest before its final show December 17 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, while the Canadian train will travel west and wrap up its journey December 18 in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

The CP Holiday Train program is aiming to generate healthier donations this year as it makes stops in 150 communities.

The online #HealthyDonations Challenge encourages patrons attending Holiday Train events to take a second glance when pulling food out of their cupboards to ensure their non-perishable donations are nutritious and heart-healthy. CP's goal is to have 20,000 people take an online pledge to underscore how important it is that everyone has access to nutritious food. 

You can show your commitment at http://bit.ly/1x6u4r8.

The full CP Holiday Train schedule is now available on cpr.ca.

Supporters can also join the Holiday Train on Facebook and follow the two trains on Twitter, and Instagram @CPHolidaytrain #CPHolidayTrain. Track the challenge at #HealthyDonationsChallenge. For additional information, photos, a route map, and downloadable pictures of the two trains, visit:www.cpr.ca.

Note to editors:

Schedule times reflect the arrival time of the train. Shows start approximately 15 minutes later unless listed otherwise.

For additional information, photos, a route map, broadcast b-roll, and downloadable pictures of the two trains, visit www.cpr.ca.

About the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

CP's annual Holiday Train program is a rolling fundraising event that travels across Canada and the United States raising money, food, and awareness for food banks and hunger issues, hosting free holiday concerts along the way. Since 1999 the program has raised close to C$9.5 million and 3.3 million pounds of food. Each Holiday Train is about 1,000 feet in length with 14 rail cars decorated with hundreds of thousands of technology-leading LED lights and a modified boxcar that has been turned into a traveling stage for performers.

About CP

Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to eight major ports, including Vancouver and Montreal, providing North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of Canadian Pacific.

SOURCE: Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

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