Description:
This modest bluegrass session is evidence that, four decades after his recording debut, Tom T. Hall still ranks with country`s greatest storytellers, and his beloved wife and songwriting partner, Dixie, is one big reason why. Though the mood is generally upbeat, funerals figure prominently in "Jimmy Martin`s Life Story" (recorded shortly before yodeling guitarist Martin`s 2005 death and humorously suggesting the avoidance of hard-drinking blues songs at the memorial ceremony), "A Headstone for Harry" and the great "A Hero in Harlan," an unsentimental look at a small-town soldier`s return for burial. Elsewhere, pastoral memories of dirt roads, county borders and green hills surround acknowledgement about not fitting in with the young folks. Sometimes Hall`s just along for a relaxed ride among an all-star cast of pickers and strummers, and he talks more than he sings. But then, he`s always been a great talker. -- Chuck Eddy, Billboard
