Tom T. Hall

Tom T. Hall (born May 25, 1936, Olive Hill, Kentucky, USA – died August 20, 2021, Franklin, Tennessee, USA) was an American country music songwriter, singer, instrumentalist, novelist, and short-story writer.

As a teenager he formed a band named the Kentucky Travelers and during a stint in the Army he began writing comic songs about his experiences. After leaving the Army he worked as a radio announcer. His songwriting break came in 1963, when country singer Jimmy C. Newman recorded his song, "DJ for a Day". Many of his songs were written about his experiences and the people and places in the eastern Kentucky of his youth.

After his retirement from the road and major label recording, he and his wife, Dixie Hall, were heavily involved in bluegrass songwriting, promotion of newer bluegrass artists, and operating a recording studio for bluegrass artists. In 2004, he and Dixie won a Distinguished Achievement Award from the IBMA. In 2016, they were honored with an exhibit at the International Bluegrass Music Museum. Tom was elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978, the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008, and was honored as a BMI Icon in 2012.