The Sources of Country Music
In 1973, at the age of 84, Thomas Hart Benton was asked to paint a mural for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. He was encouraged to take on the ambitious project by famous country music singer, Tex Ritter, who suggested that he paint a large visual summary of the roots of country music. The result was The Sources of Country Music (1975), a large multifigure composition that presents five distinct scenes describing the music of ordinary Americans.
The central motif is a barn dance with two fiddlers and a group of square dancers, which represent the dominant music of the American frontier. On the upper left of the painting, three women dressed for Sunday church sing with hymnals in their hands, emphasizing the importance of church music in Protestant America. In front of the church choir, he painted two barefoot mountain women that sing and play the dulcimer – a string instrument associated with the music of the Appalachian region in America. On the right, Benton added an armed cowboy singer strumming his guitar, an homage to Tex Ritter. Ritter died while Benton was working on the mural, and the Country Music Foundation agreed to dedicate the mural to the country singer. In a letter to the Foundation, Benton suggested to incorporate Ritter in the mural: “I go for the idea that the mural should come in some way be a tribute to Tex Ritter. Why don’t we symbolize Tex in the cowboy singer?”. Further away from the cowboy, there is a black man, likely a cotton picker, playing the banjo – an instrument that was brought by slaves to America. In the background, a train is speeding through, and beyond the railroad track, a group of black women dances on the distant riverbank. The Sources of Country Music like Benton’s art in general has a characteristically dynamic style and composition. The mural expresses the powerful rhythm of music: many of the figures seem unstable, trying to balance on an even, shifting ground, and even the telephone poles in the background seem to sway to the sides.
The mural represents the various cultural influences on country music, many of which are part of an American folkway that was quickly vanishing. The train signifies advancement, which can highlight both the positive and negative aspects of American progress. These advancements led to a more uniform and homogenous American culture, but as a result, many regional customs disappeared. Benton modeled the train in the painting after the Cannonball Special. This alludes to the popular folk song The Wabash Cannonball, which describes the scenic beauty and the surroundings found on the Great Rock Island train route. It is said that Benton was not entirely happy with the appearance of the train and had considered repainting it. Some have even suggested that the artist died of a heart attack on January 19, 1975, while he was standing in front of the mural trying to decide if he should repaint the train. Whether the story is true or not, the mural was probably not complete as Benton did not sign it.
