Artists Share Stories and Songs at ‘All for the Hall’ in Los Angeles
Kyle Young, Kevin Cronin, Sheryl Crow, Zac Brown, Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill at All for the Hall in Los Angeles (photo by Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
More than two hours later, however, Brown’s powerful performances proved him wrong, as his songs fit nicely alongside those of Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, and Emmylou Harris. When Brown finished a solo acoustic version of his song “Free,” in which he broke into Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic “ in the middle of the song, the other four stars smiled and applauded.
“Zac, you’re the man,” screamed a fan from the balcony. Harris, from three stools away, looked at Brown admiringly and simply stated a reverent, “Thank you.” Cronin, who was next in line as the five singer-songwriters took turns performing songs with just acoustic guitar accompaniment, added, “ I remember buying Zac’s first record and thinking, ‘Here’s a young man playing songs that Vince, Sheryl, and I can relate to, because it’s similar chord structure and similar storytelling.’ But then, man, you take the songs, and you just take it to a whole new level.”
Brown, his quiet humility showing, stammered a bit and said, “Me, being kind of the new guy, it’s just an honor being up here with all you people.”
That exchange typifies what makes the annual All for the Hall concerts such one-of-a-kind experiences. The five songwriters come from different generations, different genres, and different backgrounds from across the United States. Yet this intimate concert—done as a Nashville-style guitar pull, with all the performers lined up across the stage at once, playing a song at a time, then moving to the next—also demonstrated a spirit of creative unity. Most of the time they joined in with each other, singing harmony, or adding their guitars. Gill, in particular, offered lead guitar licks to nearly every performance.
The All for the Hall concerts don’t feature a set list, and the performers often decide what to do on the spur of the moment, depending on what others have just performed, or to fit the mood they’re in when their turn comes around. “You’ll hear some great songs, possibly some new songs, because we don’t really know which songs they’ll do, but then neither do the songwriters,” explained Kyle Young, director of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in his opening remarks.
That foreshadowing proved true when Zac Brown told a story about growing up hiding behind his guitar, which became his constant companion. After Brown performed “Martin,” about his favorite instrument, each of the others told stories about their guitars and chose appropriate songs.
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Harris told of the early Gibson guitars she owned, including the one in her hands at that moment, which was the same guitar she took to California when she first went out there in the early 1970s at the invitation of Gram Parsons. The guitar got kicked in during transport, but Harris later had it repaired, although it still shows signs of the damage nearly forty years later. She then performed “The Road,” an autobiographical song she wrote about Parsons that opens Harris’s most recent album, 2011’s Hard Bargain.
Gill explained how, from an early age, he invested in guitars rather than buying homes or fancy cars. He revealed that he lost 50 guitars, 60 guitar cases, and 30 amplifiers in the May 2010 floods in Nashville, then he performed “This Old Guitar and Me,” from his 2003 album Next Big Thing.
The concert opened with Gill performing “Bartender’s Blues,” a George Jones hit, which Gill dedicated to Jones, who turned 80 years old the previous day. Setting a tone for the show, all four other writers joined in on harmony on the choruses.
Diversity has become a hallmark of the All for the Hall concerts, which have always mixed generations and genres, showing the connection between country music and other popular music styles, while also making the point that, when stripped to bare essentials, a good song is universally powerful no matter what label is put on it.
Museum director Young used the occasion to speak of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s current expansion plans, which will take the museum to 350,000 square feet from its current 138,000 square feet. He explained how the expansion would add exhibit and archival space, a new 800-seat theater, new education classrooms and facilities and much more, and he encouraged attendees to participate in the museum’s ongoing “Working on a Building” fundraising campaign to finance the new construction.
Young also commented on the museum’s plans to open a special exhibit, spotlighting California’s contribution to country music, in March 2012. The exhibit, The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California Country, was first announced publicly at the 2010 All for the Hall Los Angeles concert. Young expounded on how the plans have taken shape since that announcement.
Gibson Guitars also made a special announcement at this year’s concert. The instrument manufacturing company has created a replica of a famous guitar, the Gibson J-200, played by the late California country musician Ray Whitley. Gibson has created a new replica of the special guitar and will donate proceeds from its sale to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Working on a Building capital campaign.
Fittingly, the concert ended with the five artists performing the Carter Family’s “Wildwood Flower,” a tune revered among guitarists because of Mother Maybelle Carter’s famous part in the song—played on a Gibson guitar, as it turns out.
