Tom T Hall Author

Thomas "Tom T." Hall, music songwriter, singer, novelist, and short-story writer, is considered a Country Music icon. Elected to the Country Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2011, he has written 11 No. 1 hit songs and 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the No. 1 international smash "Harper Valley PTA" and the hit "I Love." Hall’s storytelling skills and his detail-rich songs sharpened and elevated the language of country music and earned him the nickname "The Storyteller." An integral part of the Nashville music scene for fifty-years and an inspiration to generations of artists ranging from Johnny Cash to Patty Griffin, Tom T. Hall was called by George Jones, “By far the all-time greatest songwriter/storyteller that country music has ever had.” Peter Cooper is one of the nation’s most respected country music journalists. As a reporter for the Tennessean since 2000, he has written about music and musicians, profiling notables from Johnny Cash to Taylor Swift, and winning numerous awards along the way. His work has also appeared in Esquire, Oxford American, Mix and American Songwriter magazines, and in liner notes for albums from Country Music Hall of Fame members Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Cowboy Jack Clement, Ronnie Milsap and Mac Wiseman. He wrote the inscription on George Jones’ tombstone. Cooper is also a Grammy-nominated producer and a singer-songwriter. He has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, A Prairie Home Companion, The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. A senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, Cooper teaches a course on the History of Country Music, educating Vanderbilt scholars about the music’s treasured artists and instruments and its place in American culture.