www.ucdailynews.com
By Ward Norris
You’ve seen his murals in a dozen movies, on the covers of books, bunches of country music videos, and in countless ads.
Where “Nashville” is celebrated, images usually include the Ryman, a country music singer and that Big Guitar in front of Legends. That painted guitar, and so many of the iconic images we’ve come to associate with Nashville and country music, was created by Cookeville’s own Ron Sweeney. (In one of the pictures, he is posing with the Legend’s guitar which is currently in the shop for a “Ron Sweeny Repainting.”)
This week his work will once again be featured on a big screen with the release of the movie “Country Strong,” but the local artist may be too busy to notice.
Friday, Sweeney began work on a new set of iconic images, commissioned by the owner of the well known “Legends” on Broadway in Nashville. The new mural, however, is not destined for another Nashville location this time, but for an Austin, Texas one.
The mural is two-dimensional, but it will have a stand-out guitar made out of wood–a depiction of Willie Nelson’s famous Martin, but this one is thirteen feet tall. And, while Willie is a Country Music Giant, even he might have a little trouble wrapping his fingers around this one.
The work will be complete for a March 1 opening of a new Legends-style music venue in Texas. Working at an undisclosed location, Sweeney will be working this entire month on the 13 foot by 30 foot mural for the stage of the new Austin honky-tonk. The mural, along with Willie’s guitar, will be the backdrop for the stage in the saloon.
Sweeny, long established a nation-wide master in this art form, has several techniques to doing his art, including using yardsticks, tape rules, ladders, and even a special red paint to code certain building processes.
Sweeney is giving exclusive access to CookevilleTimes as the mural unfolds this month — so that Cookeville will be the first to see Country Music’s next famous image.
