Who needs a little more love? Show of hands? Following the giving is better half to receiving theory, the good folks at Red Beet Records have taken a favorite family album from the 1970's and opened their hearts. Anchored by Peter Cooper, players came on board to tribute Tom T. Halls 'Songs of Fox Hollow' release with of 'I Love: Tom T. Halls' Songs of Fox Hollow', right in time for the singer/songwriters ' 75th birthday. The album is a text book example of fan meeting business as marquee names line up to deliver songs immediately friendly and familiar. Patty Griffin reminds you of pleasures both guilty and proud when she delivers "I Love" while six strings wranglers Buddy Miller and Duane Eddy plug in and wiggle their way through 'Sneaky Snake'. They are joined by Elizabeth Cook, Tim Carroll, Eric Brace & Last Train Home, Jim Lauderdale, Tommy Cash, Baker Maultsby, Bobby Bare and many others in forming new visions of wandering the hills and valleys of Fox Hollow.
Peter Cooper laid out the history of the original project, "One long ago summer, two children roamed Fox Hollow, the Tennessee farm of legendary country music storyteller Tom T. Hall and his wife,
Dixie. To the kids, Fox Hollow was a place of activity and enchantment, and Tom. T. followed them around, answering their questions about the land and the animals. The children passed along their wonder and Tom T.'s answers began to rhyme".
The album, 'Songs of Fox Hollow', brought the Tennessee farm to the world, garnering two number one country hits with "I Love" and I Care". The gift of music that Tom T. Hall gave held not only a universal memory but appealed to children and adults equally. The message is carried into the digital era masterfully by Peter Cooper and the assembled talent. Age lines blur again as the songs are seen through the eyes of a child and the memories of maturity.
Filling in the past with a present timeline, Peter Cooper explains that "in the summer of 2010, Eric Brace and I gathered our friends at Fox Hollow to sing and play these songs back to Tom T.. He listened and grinned while Mark & Mike sang of the one-legged chicken. I think he teared up a bit when Patty Griffin sang "I Love". And the arrival of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Duane Eddy was 
enough to bring out the kid in Tom T. "Duane Eddy? Oh,boy!" he said".
The music 's ability to make children and adults see the same picture, no mattered how faded the image, is an art that Tom T. Hall's words apply to these songs. 'I Love: Tom T. Halls' Songs of Fox Hollow' captures innocence in a bottle, helping us remember not only how we viewed but also the real importance of things as dictated by a pre-teen to-do list. More on the album, the recording and why this album needed to be made can be found on Peter Cooper's website. Danny McCloskey
