Tom T. Hall at Tin Pan South

Tin Pan South’s highlight to date had to be Tom T. Hall’s performance at the Bluebird Cafe tonight. Hall said he plays just one night a year and this was it. Lucky audience.
Tom T. played some of this best-known songs, supplemented with entertaining anecdotes and playfulness. He followed up his “How I Got to Memphis” (surprisingly, the most lucrative cut in his catalog) with his take on how Elvis Presley pronounced Memphis.
Particularly compelling was the story behind “The Year Clayton Delaney Died.” I’ve known the song for years, but didn’t learn until tonight that Clayton’s was a true story, and that he died at age 19.
Joining Hall were two fine songwriters – and two of Tom T.’s biggest fans – Eric Brace and Peter Cooper. Hall clearly thinks highly of the two younger songwriters and his ease with them fueled the evening. It was an extraordinary night.