Tom T. Hall and Peter Cooper began the evening with a conversation about the new CD and the many friends Hall had in attendance.
He was joined by a stellar group of musicians at the Country Music Hall of Fame tonight to celebrate the release of “I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow.” The new album features a remarkable array of artists revisiting Hall’s “Songs of Fox Hollow,” a 1974 children’s record that included the hits “I Love” and “I Care.”
Though a kids’ record, the original “Fox Hollow” worked on many levels and this tribute album does as well. Take a dozen or so talented musicians,turn them loose on an underappreciated gem, and the results will be inspired. Eric Brace and Peter Cooper produced the project and sang and played as well.
Many of the artists on the album showed up for the concert. Patty Griffin’s “I Love,” Buddy Miller’s “Sneaky Snake” and “Bobby Bare’s “I Care” were among the highlights.
A kids’ record has to be fun, and Gary Bennett and Mark and Mike (Mark Horn and Supe Granda) and Jon Byrd, respectively, informed us about barn dancing, a one-legged chicken and conversations with a goat.
Elizabeth Cook and Tim Carroll couldn’t be there to revisit their performance of “I Wish I Had A Million Friends,” but the Wrights stepped in with an outstanding version.
Tommy Cash was on hand, but opted not to play “Old Lonesome George the Basset,” the song he recorded for the project. Brace and Cooper jumped right in with their own entertaining take. Jim Lauderdale contributed an engaging “I Like to Feel Pretty Inside” before heading out the door for another show across town.
The finale, “I Made a Friend of a Flower Today,” featured Fayssoux Starling McLean and Tom T. Hall, bringing the evening to a touching end.
Lloyd Green, Jen Gunderman, Mike Bub, Mark Horn, Duane Eddy, Baker Maultsby and Richard McLaurin rounded out an exceptional band.
Cooper is a music journalist and Brace is a former music writer for the Washington Post. They brought both reverence and the highest of standards to this extraordinary project. “I Love” was a labor of love and it shows.
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