12 minute read
TOM T HALL
He called me Rab-a-kah. He stood at the counter making a cup of java that seemed to be ¼ coffee and ¾ hazelnut creamer and told me, “I have been looking at the way your name is spelled, and it seems it should be pronounced Raba-kah.” From that day on in the Fox Hollow camp located in Franklin, Tennessee I was “Rab-a-kah” to everyone.
It’s been seven days since I received the sad call that Tom T left this world to finally be reunited with his beloved, Miss Dixie Deen. I have spent the past seven days reading social media posts and articles that other writers have written on Tom T. I must admit I am not going to write about the celebrity facts of Tom T and Miss Dixie though I am a humble admirer of all these two accomplished in their lives. Instead, I am going to write about Tom T & Miss Dixie from my perspective and what they meant to the world of bluegrass and its ragamuffins like myself who they took under their wings until we found our own wings to fly.
My last communication with Tom T was a birthday video that included my best friend and IBMA Songwriter of the Year, Donna Ulisse, and me. We were being our usual silly selves and recorded a gloriously horrendous version of Happy Birthday. I sent the video to his assistant, Melissa, and texted that we loved and missed him dearly. I mentioned I was going to get everybody together to come see him whether he wanted us to or not. He replied back, “The door is always open, and you know where I live unfortunately. – Tom T”. Melissa texted that he was laughing and said, “You guys are great.”
We never did make it out to see him. With the battles of Covid-19 and its mutations it just wasn’t safe on top of the fact Tom T was a notorious recluse. I chuckle thinking about the Miss Dixie that I knew and how she would have fussed at him for locking himself away. I imagine I will always regret not getting to see him one more time. Tom T was happy to be retired from the road and the spotlight. He avoided it as much as possible even when he was part of the entertainment world. I do believe he still enjoyed some aspects of it though. He told me once that he absolutely hated photoshoots. Conveniently, he told me this on the day Miss Dixie made him stand still long enough for me to snap a few pictures of him for her email blasts. I have seen recent photos of Tom T after my time there, and I can’t help but wonder if those photographers were as nervous in that given moment as I was. Dan Hays wrote about Tom T on social media saying, “…In his retirement he seemed to simply want to be Thomas Hall…not “Tom T.” He was fond of saying he was the only man in Nashville trying to get OUT of the music business. He seemed to earnestly set himself toward that goal shortly after his wife and bluegrass music’s fairly [sic] Godmother, Dixie, passed a few years back.”
I was initially hired as a graphic designer and then as a studio engineer for the Halls. They both loved bluegrass music and the people who play and sing it. Tom T and Miss Dixie considered it their philanthropic duty to
Photographer: Joshua Black Wilkins
favorite bluegrass artists like Lester and Earl, which he later gifted to Jerry Salley. He also painted Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, and several others of his favorites. I think he really enjoyed giving his paintings to friends. I was lucky enough to receive a portrait he painted of me. I have it proudly displayed in my home as a reminder of how he saw me.
Foxhollow Recording Engineer Rebekah Speer & Tom T Hall
help artists in the bluegrass world. I, for one, know how appreciated they were by this community.
Tom T was an intellect. He had a wry sense of humor and a mysteriousness about him. Both Miss Dixie and Tom T were avid readers. I don’t recall a single wall without books, all of which they had read.
Tom T had a degree in journalism. He was the type of character who would learn all he could about a subject or story then only tell what he wanted the reader or listener to know. He would have the “office girls” help collect facts about whatever subject of which he was curious at the time. He asked me one time to look up how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. I don’t recall ever finding anything specific other than the answer was supposedly seven or infinite, as angels don’t have a physical form per se. I never thought his request was odd at all, just purely Tom T.
When I first came to Fox Hollow, Tom T was really into painting. His art had a folksy whim to it. He painted his Tom T was an avid Nicorette man. He was never without Nicorette gum that I could recall. He would take it out of his mouth to sing and stick it on the music stand or lyric sheet. I can’t say I ever saw him reclaim it after he was done recording. While I’m on the subject of Tom T recording, he was what we would call a “one-take Jake”. Very seldom did he ever sing a song twice, but then again, he didn’t need to.
One day Tom T came in while I was working on either an
ad or a graphic. He told me, “You know Rab-a-kah, people like to put a period after the T in Tom T, but it’s not an initial. It’s just simply “T”. ” So, I learned pretty quickly to leave the period off.
“As a kid I would practice with his records and write out his lyrics by hand so I could learn his songs. He was the single biggest influence on me as a songwriter. To personally get to know him (and Miss Dixie) after moving to Nashville and call him my friend was a true honor. Not many people are blessed to actually know and become friends with their musical hero.”
Jerry Salley
Tom T and Dixie were everyday people yet at the same time they were exactly what you expect your heroes to be. I can hear him now… “Rab-akah, hand me my reading glasses”, though he had twenty-five or so odd pairs of them scattered around the studio. He was humble and he had humility. He was one hell of a songwriter. He was and always will be “The Storyteller”. •
"Rebecca, you said smile." Tom T 2011
Tom T was definitely a legendary songwriter, singer, and entertainer, but to my family and I, he was all of that, but most importantly, he was our friend. He and Miss Dixie brought us into the fold at Fox Hollow, and our lives are so much richer because of it. We treasure our time spent there with them. He took so many people (including me) under his wing, and taught them about the music business, songwriting, life, golf, installing peacock defense systems, and so much more! Talent and creativity like his only comes along once in a lifetime, and I’m so glad I got to share a few miles of his journey alongside him. He left the world a better and richer place, than when he found it.
Troy Engle
“Tom T & Miss Dixie were some of the best friends Bluegrass music ever had. It was an honor to know them, record their songs and even write one with them. Forever they will be missed.”
Larry Stephenson
I still pinch myself when I think about having a wonderful 3 hour lunch with Tom T and Miss Dixie. I cannot tell you what I ate that day but I can tell you that the stories he told were priceless! At some point I mentioned that I had Catahoula Dog named Molly and Tom T leaned over and asked if she had a blue eye and I said yes! Without skipping a beat he offered to buy her from me right then and there because he said he always wanted a blue-eyed dog. Then he regaled me with a story of seeing a blue-eyed dog on a front porch out in the country some years back and he had longed for that dog ever since. I quite simply worshipped Tom T’s writing and will always be grateful I had the opportunity to tell him so sitting there at his lovely table.
Donna Ulisse
We had the privilege of getting to know Tom T Hall years ago, having spent hours at their home studio and at their dinner table. His songs have always reflected the very nature of his personality. Sometimes he said the most in the room by only saying few words. Few but profound. We have so much love and respect for him and Miss Dixie and will greatly miss him as we do her.
The Isaacs
Our friendship with Miss Dixie and Tom T Hall began in the spring of 2005. I was working on a gospel cd at the time and had reached out to them for a song for the project. I was a bundle of nerves when Miss Dixie came on the line. I indicated that we had never met, but we had mutual friends in Chris and Sally Jones” to which Miss Dixie responded “then you must be a fine person”. This quickly put me at ease, and from that day on, both Tom T and Miss Dixie took us in like family. Each year we traveled to SPBGMA and IBMA, we would visit and spend quality time with them, helping throughout the events and having the time of our lives.
Tom T had a special way of letting you know he cared about you and that you mattered to him. Be it a word of encouragement, wisdom, or simply welcoming you with a tender and unassuming “we left the light on for you”, Tom T made us feel special, and we remember his every mark of affection. He was genuine in song and in person, it was who he was to the very heart of the man. Gifted and so giving, a life so well lived. We have such fond memories of them both.
Janet McGarry & Serge Bernard
Megan Gregory, Rebekah Speer, Beth Lawrence, Becky Buller & "Miss Dixie" Hall
Tom T and Miss Dixie were so kind to me every time I was around them, which wasn’t really very often. It was such an honor that they invited me to write with them for the Pickin’ Like A Girl album. When I got to the writing session, Tom T said, in a gruff, matter of fact way, “We’re going to write ‘The Windowsill Song’ and it’s going to be all about the birds coming to the windowsill. They’re teaching you their tunes and you play them on the fiddle.” Then he walked out to work in the garden or with the chickens or something, leaving Miss Dixie and I to start on the song. All day he wandered in and out of the writing session, adding a thought here and a line there. It was so interesting to me to observe their writing process, how they weren’t afraid to fight for things they felt strongly about adding to or leaving out of the song. I went all Beatrix Potter on the last verse, which I worked on at home and emailed over to them. So glad they liked it! I have another song idea I squirreled away a long time ago, in hopes I’d have a chance to write with them again, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m so grateful to have gotten to know them!
Becky Buller
“Tom T was a very warm and engaging performer but he was never fond of crowds, and he never craved the limelight. In and outside of music he was a true individual and a renaissance man, constantly learning and expanding his skills. His songs were true stories that he had lived or witnessed. He was also extraordinarily generous. That’s what gave them their power. On a personal note, he was a close friend and mentor. It’s a huge loss.
Chris Jones
Tom T was the kindest considerate man I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, always had such a good heart, treating Ronnie & I like family. We loved him dearly. Tom T Hall was a simple man. He wrote simple melodies that the average person could understand. We were blessed to record two songs that he wrote especially for us. Both were number ones on the national chart. I’m glad our paths crossed.
Frances Mooney
