By Shana Thornton
Second & Commerce serves as a voice of arts, history, and culture representative of Clarksville-Montgomery County, and those who have called it home over its 200-year history. Yet, we are limited to 32 pages of content each quarter of the year. We often want to share more images and details about some of the stories within the pages of Second & Commerce. The most recent issue contains a story about the late-artist Tom Malone (1952-1998), written by his sister, Charlsie M. Halliburton, and we’d like for you to hear about how his lost OPEN WINDOWS recordings became a CD. Here’s a look at more of his artwork as well as a couple of the locations mentioned in the magazine article.
Artwork
Tom Malone, Untitled, mixed media. Courtesy of the Tom Malone Suite from the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center Collections.
OPEN WINDOWS – the album
Prior to his death, Tom Malone, who died of a brain aneurysm on April 10, 1998, at age 45, was a prolific artist, sculptor, and musician. His sister, Charlsie Halliburton, has written extensively about Tom and worked tirelessly to preserve his artwork and story. She writes that he had left a lot of work at his parents’ home, as many artists do, scattering artwork across residences. “Several months after his death, his mother found two carefully sealed packages on the upper shelf of a closet in the bedroom Tom used in his school days. The packages were marked ‘Do not open.’ After consulting with Tom’s father, it was decided that they should now be opened.
“After opening the first package…they found that its contents were carefully wrapped so that moisture would not affect them. The package included two large professional-type tape recording reels with written information describing the tapes and other materials and included original artwork. The tape was identified by Tom in his own handwriting and was entitled ‘OPEN WINDOWS,’ and the music described as: INSPIRATIONS FROM NATURE, SITUATIONS IN TIME, EMOTIONS IN THE SOUL, ENVIRONMENTS OF THE MIND.”
Left side: Tom Malone, CD Cover for OPEN WINDOWS…environments. Right side: Tom Malone, Cranes, mixed media, original artwork owned by Solie Fott. Used with permission for the artwork imprint on the CD.
They found another sealed package with more recordings and a letter from June 20, 1976: “These recordings and songs are original and are not in any way copied or adapted from any recorded or published songs by another person.” Signed by Thomas K. Malone and witnessed by Sally Malone, who was Tom’s wife in 1976. The package also included a list of titles and descriptions of the music on the tape.
Tom’s family questioned what to do with the music, so they contacted Sally. She couldn’t explain the music, just that she had been Tom’s witness in case he ever decided to make an album out of the music. She directed them to Chuck Emery, Tom’s friend and fellow musician. Halliburton writes, “Chuck identified the package as an album that Tom had recorded, remixed, and edited at Chuck’s studio, Catfish Bay in 1982.”
Chuck Emery explained that Tom contacted him in 1981 to discuss OPEN WINDOWS. They met at Emery’s studio in 1982 with “numerous boxes of tapes and lots of coffee” because Tom wanted to compile material he had already recorded. Emery writes, “The main job I did was edit, sequence, splice, and match levels of performances Tom had recorded at home over a period of seven years. The music on OPEN WINDOWS is a very small portion of Tom’s output over his lifetime, both solo and collaborative. But that’s another story.”
Left side: Tom Malone with one of his handmade guitars. Liner notes of the OPEN WINDOWS CD. Right side: Tom Malone, Back cover of the OPEN WINDOWS CD with Little Man artwork, mixed media, original artwork in the Tom Malone Suite of the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center’s Collection. Used with permission for the back cover artwork of the CD.
Eventually, Tom started the album’s artwork, discussed changes he wanted to make to the recordings, and moved around a few times. The project was shelved and Tom passed away. Emery wondered if anything would ever happen to it. Then, Tom’s longtime partner, Diane Dinsmore found the artwork for the album while going through their residence after his death. She contacted Emery around the same time that Sally also called Emery to let him know she thought Tom’s parents found the masters tapes.
The OPEN WINDOWS CD was born on October 18, 2000. From the CDs sold, all proceeds went to the Tom Malone Memorial Endowed Art Scholarship at Austin Peay State University.
Malone Halliburton Classroom & Deodor Cedar Memorial
Photos by Summer Lucio.
Located at the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets, the APSU Staff Support Committee’s commemorative footstone and memorial tree honors Tom Malone’s commitment to the university. Inside the Art + Design Building, you will find the Malone-Halliburton Classroom in honor of Tom Malone and Charlsie M. Halliburton’s dedication to the arts.
Gravesite at Sango Cemetery
Tom is buried at Sango Cemetery. His parents, Ann and Charles, were eventually buried on either side of him.
Photos by Summer Lucio.
Tom Malone, Untitled, mixed media. Courtesy of Charlsie Halliburton.
References:
Read more about Tom Malone:
Tom Malone by Charlsie Halliburton in Second & Commerce, Volume 4 Issue 4, 2025.
Shana Thornton is the Managing Editor of Second & Commerce, the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center’s arts, history, and culture magazine. She is an author and publisher, Founder of the Clarksville-Montgomery County African American Legacy Trail, and the Montgomery County Deputy Historian.