Comments on Setting The Woods On Fire: Searching For Tom T. Hall

I have been a HUGE fan of Tom T. and despite the f...

2009-10-18T03:58:00.268-04:00

I have been a HUGE fan of Tom T. and despite the fact I am only 22, have been for years. When it comes to songwriters, I only have two that I put in the same category as T, and neither are exactly country.
Jimmy Webb - Humour is one area that Webb doesn't deal in, but his ability to use just a few words to paint an extremely vivid picture reminds me of Tom. Glen Campbell's version of "Highwayman" would be close to a Tom T. Hall song (IMO)
Loudon Wainwright III - LWIII fits nearly every category, but not really country. he definetely can't fit in a genre, but if you want personal, humour-filled lyrics, his songs are as close to Tom's as I can find. "OGM" & "Cook That Dinner, Dora" remind me of his comedic side. There are too many to mention here. the main similarity I see, is how they both would just write about themselves, there own lives, their own experiences, and know that people will be able to relate to them, rather than trying to create some generic piece of.......
but.... oh, and LWIII also just released a tribute album about Charlie Poole named 'High Wide & Handsome." a lot of old bluegrass songs are covered, as well as a lot of new songs done in the old style. I highly recommend it!!

Well - I have the name for you all!!! He has got t...

2008-11-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Well - I have the name for you all!!! He has got the capacity to replace BOTH Tom T. Hall AND Bob Dylan if you like - AND he should be in his 40:s. CHUCK BRODSKY! With a warm heart and sharp tongue he delivers every-day-observations - check him out on Youtube for example - THIS CLIP
--Stefan, admin for the swedish "World Music Café" blog.

If you are looking for a young Country trubador I ...

2008-10-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for a young Country trubador I suggest Amos Morris. He has a nice voice to listen to and sings a good ballad. Perhaps our lack of Tom T. Hall class country singers is our vanishing Country in this country. Amos Morris appears to be from Australia. I will send you a sample via e-mail.
Thanks for introducing me to Tom T. Hall, his music is now on my Christmas list.

Very much impressed by Hayes Carll - definitely ti...

2008-10-20T16:06:00.000-04:00

Very much impressed by Hayes Carll - definitely ticks your boxes.

Well, I am pleased that youtube has one video of ...

2008-10-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

Well, I am pleased that youtube has one video of Dale as I remember him. Seems he's gotten pretty outlawish over the years, though. Oh, well.

I think I would class things as "country" that you...

2008-10-18T17:12:00.000-04:00

I think I would class things as "country" that you might not given what I've read in the comments. But a few people I thought I'd throw into the discussion:

Steve Earle
Fred Eaglesmith
Tom Russell
Darden Smith - although he seems to be moving away from country a bit.

Thanks for your blog. I actually don't download. For some reason box.net gets flagged by my firewall LOL, but I love coming in and reading the posts, and getting ideas for music to buy - like Caitlin Rose.

I almost forget another modern favorite, Shawn Cam...

2008-10-17T15:43:00.000-04:00

I almost forget another modern favorite, Shawn Camp. He is an excellent singer/songwriter and can play Country as well as Bluegrass. Check out his "Live at The Station Inn" release on John Prine's Oh Boy label for a great Bluegrass treat or his Fireball album for a bit more rockin' Honky Tonk.
Then of course there's Jim Lauderdale...

(Just want to say at the outset: thanks for your b...

2008-10-17T14:49:00.000-04:00

(Just want to say at the outset: thanks for your blogging here, I've really enjoyed it!)

I'm fairly sure he's not the next Tom T. Hall, but my enthusiasm for Caleb Klauder (and Foghorn Duo) hasn't waned since I saw him in September. He certainly hits the authentic, heartfelt, storyteller requirements (he's more "old-time" than country). I love the burr in his voice. I wish I could get fancy with the MP3s: "New Shoes," "Greenback Dollar," and the cover of the Carter Family's "Lonesome Song" are all standouts.

If I hadn't read the beginning of your post, I wou...

2008-10-16T20:06:00.000-04:00

If I hadn't read the beginning of your post, I would have been convinced that you were describing Robert Earl Keen. He is one of the most thoughtful and entertaining singer/songwriters alive. Truly a Texas legend. Check him out.

fagans

It's tough. I hold Tom T. up pretty high myself. ...

2008-10-16T17:28:00.000-04:00

It's tough. I hold Tom T. up pretty high myself. I first thought of Todd Snider and Daryl Scott which both might score a little low on authenticity and country but are pretty solid nonetheless. Steeldrivers score high in those categories but might drop off a little on the songwriting categories.

This is a great post. It has challenged me to hold some of my favorites up to the Tom T. test.

Robbie Fulks is an excellent choice, as he can cer...

2008-10-16T10:38:00.000-04:00

Robbie Fulks is an excellent choice, as he can certainly turn a phrase with the best of them. I can see where Paul's "gimmicky" comment comes from, though, as occasionally he may be too clever for his own good.

On the whole, though, he would be near the top of my list, second only to Paul Burch.

Anon re: Todd Snider.If you act fast, you can get ...

2008-10-15T23:51:00.000-04:00

Anon re: Todd Snider.

If you act fast, you can get his new album for free at ToddSnider.net

Vaughn,It doesn't matter to me whether it will pla...

2008-10-15T22:55:00.000-04:00

Vaughn,

It doesn't matter to me whether it will play in the Bible Belt. If we're making confessions here, I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to the good book.

Maybe I need to get back into Fulks. I was a really big fan of his in the mid-1990s. He's great live and definitely an ace guitarist, but I thought his songs were kind of gimmicky. I haven't given the more recent stuff a fair shake, though.

What about America's favorite smart-ass, Robbie Fu...

2008-10-15T16:57:00.000-04:00

What about America's favorite smart-ass, Robbie Fulks?
Here we have a modern Country artist that writes, sings, plays guitar like an ace and...oh but wait a minute, he thinks God is a joke. That'll never play in the Bible Belt.
Still, he's awesome.

I have nothing to say regarding the question, but ...

2008-10-15T15:16:00.000-04:00

I have nothing to say regarding the question, but it just got me thinking about Ronnie Mac's Barn Dance at the old Palomino in North Hollywood that I used to go to in the late '80s-early '90s. Somebody mentioned Dale Watson, and he was a regular there. I haven't heard his records, though. Also used to have a lot of Bakersfield vets whose names I don't know...

One time they had one of those "outlaw" types show up, with a black leather vest and a beard, puffing out his chest and rocking his guitar back and forth as he drawled out his dirge-y macho anthems, and I reacted the way I usually do to that stuff: this has nothing to do with the kind of country music I love (any more than that Chesney video).

I have never been a big C&W fan, probably more due...

2008-10-15T02:13:00.000-04:00

I have never been a big C&W fan, probably more due to the fact that I live in Australia and have a lack of options than anything else.

Locally Troy Cassar-Daly, and Kasey Chambers are good, but for mind it runs a bit short after that.

I have always liked the alt Country of Gram Parson's, Townes van Zandt, Steve Earle the Jayhawks etc, but from what I've heard of "mainstream" country I have to agree with the most of the comments above.

I have been a fan more recently of Jim White, Lambchop, and I'm not sure whether bluegrass is part of country, but I love The Avett Brothers, and The Steeldrivers.

Listen to the Tom T Hall stuff and will listen again, but I will need convincing. Cheers for the Slobberbone (I had only previously heard Give Me Back My Dog) and Brent best tracks they are excellent, as were a couple of those Scott Miller ones.

Cheers

Julian

Top of the list has to be Todd Snider. Best songwr...

2008-10-15T00:57:00.000-04:00

Top of the list has to be Todd Snider. Best songwriter going right now- maybe a little more in the vein of Prine but he can write a song about a train... ("Play A Train Song" one of the best songs in the last 10 years.)

LD, thanks for the great comment and the mp3s. Th...

2008-10-14T23:42:00.000-04:00

LD, thanks for the great comment and the mp3s. The funny thing is that Tom T. Hall WAS played on the radio. He was a big star in the 1970's with several no. 1 hits on the country charts.

Hank, George, Patsy, Loretta, Johnny, Merle, Willie, and Waylon were all hugely popular too.

Shame you now have to live in Austin to catch the best country has to offer.

Thanks for the stuff! (It's now painfully obvious that my musical knowledge, such as it is, got stuck in time about three decades ago!)

While there's a quantum leap between the country m...

2008-10-14T22:44:00.000-04:00

While there's a quantum leap between the country music you're likely to hear on the radio and the real deal honky tonk stuff, I guarantee that if you came to Austin for a week, you'd probably see 3 country acts that would blow your mind, including the just-mentioned Dale Watson and Heybale, featuring Redd Volkaert's freaktastic Fender Telemastery.

I agree with Nelson on the Scott Miller rec. I'm fortunate enough to call Scott a friend and his greatness goes all the way back to his days in the mighty V-Roys. They were like a badass and slightly country-flavored Replacements.

I'll toss my hat in the ring for a pair of Tom T-esque singer/songwriters, neither of whom are exclusively country, but tap into the soul of country music for much of their work: Brent Best and Mike Nicolai. Brent used to front Slobberbone, who were like a country-flavored Soul Asylum, albeit drunker and with more killing in their songs. Brent is one of the rare songwriters who can be literate, funny, and blow your mind with pathos. Nicolai is my favorite songwriter and I honestly think he's one of the best songwriters ever I've heard. He almost has a Townes Van Zandt quality about him, in that he'll turn a phrase and it'll hang in the air, pregnant. Just when you've got your head around that sucker, along comes another phrase to slap you silly. Like both Townes and Tom, he doesn't have a great vocal range, but his voice is a perfect fit for his songs and just slays me. Here's a couple samples from both guys.

Brent Best - Robert Cole
Slobberbone - Pinball Song
Mike Nicolai - Slowly Dying [Ray Price]
Mike Nicolai - The Green Lantern Needs Your Vote

Dale Watson

2008-10-14T20:22:00.000-04:00

Dale Watson

Thanks for responding to my earlier response Paul....

2008-10-14T16:07:00.000-04:00

Thanks for responding to my earlier response Paul. Excellent post from which I've found plenty of artists to check out myself. Scott Miller is an artist I will look into (thanks nelson), and being a big Waylon fan will certainly track down 'That Lonesome Song'(thanks Vaughn).
Thanks also Paul for introducing me to Tom T Hall, an artist I only seriously looked into after regularly reading your posts here.
While we're on the subject of Waylon though another fellow outlaw by the name of Larry Jon Wilson(who appeared for one track on Heartworn Highways alongside Guy Clark, Townes etc..) has just released his first album in 30 years. The self-titled record is a stripped back affair very much in the vein of the aforementioned Townes Van Zandt and American Recordings era Cash. I only received the album today but already it feels like a powerful addition to his acclaimed 70's work
and comes reccommended to fans of Townes and Rick Rubin era Cash.

If anyone wants to check out a promo video for Jam...

2008-10-14T15:26:00.000-04:00

If anyone wants to check out a promo video for Jamey Johnson copy and paste the link below. You'll find he has his head in the right place.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1681730697/bctid1688391228

If you like your Country a little on the Waylon si...

2008-10-14T15:10:00.000-04:00

If you like your Country a little on the Waylon side of things then check out the new album by Jamey Johnson, "That Lonesome Song".
He sort of looks a little like Rob Zombie (and that's a good thing in these days of the blow-dried boys) he's got a great deep baritone and a killer band. I keep going back to it and it keeps getting better with every listen. It kinda dark (but that's another good thing) and it actually sounds like a Country record almost all of the way through.

Guys, great comments! Thanks.s.m. - I agree there...

2008-10-14T12:26:00.000-04:00

Guys, great comments! Thanks.

s.m. - I agree there will never be an exact replica of Tom T. Hall. He was a true individual. My concern, which may be alleviated as a result of this post and the follow up comments, is that current country music is devoid of voices that combine the intelligent, humorous, and realistic aspects of Tom's voice. It's a big hole that could be filled a lot of different ways, and probably has been without my knowledge.

Jeff - I'm not in the know on Kevin Fowler, so I'll have to check him out. Thanks!

Nelson - I've heard some Scott Miller, but not much. I'm definitely intrigued and will undertake a thorough examination of his work. Thanks for the awesome comment with mp3s. It should be a post in and of itself.

For my money, the next best thing to Tom T. who is...

2008-10-14T11:39:00.000-04:00

For my money, the next best thing to Tom T. who is out there right now is Mr. Scott Miller. I may be biased since he his the patron saint of my humble blog... but I think he hits all of your criteria.

1.Authentic: We'll revisit your example of a father and son song. Daddy Raised a Boy

2.Humorous (but maybe not so much wise): Miller has smart funny songs, but this is just an early chestnut that refuses to go away. Drunk All Around This Town

3.Heartfelt (but not sappy): Miller has professed his hatred of babies on many occasions... but he wrote this song for a friend on the occasion of the birth of his son. For Jack Tymon

4.Storyteller: Miller studied History at William & Mary University. As a result, some of his best story songs tell tales from America's past. The Rain

5.Country: Take a train ride from New Orleans to New York with Miller and Tim O'Brien on this one. Amtrak Crescent

You cand find out more about Scott Miller and purchase his music here.