Work has been completed on a mural in downtown Mount Airy honoring The Easter Brothers, and the last-surviving member of the bluegrass gospel trio couldn’t be more pleased.
“I just wish it could have happened before my two brothers passed away,” James Easter said Tuesday while admiring the towering artwork depicting the popular group standing outside one of its tour buses as if headed to another concert.
Plans for the 18-foot by 14-foot mural were announced last fall, which led to Tim White, an artist who lives in Blountville, Tennessee, being tapped to design and paint the scene.
It occupies a wall outside the building housing Mayberry Trading Post on the lower end of the central business district on North Main Street in a rest area known as Jack A. Loftis Plaza.
Though two of the Easters are deceased, Edd and Russell, the brothers’ collective warmth and friendliness as captured in the image will live on, being seen by those sitting at tables in the downtown plaza while enjoying a pleasant day.
That location also is across the street from Mayberry’s Music Center, operated by James Easter, making it convenient for him to visit the site memorializing Edd and Russell and reminisce about their musical legacy launched in 1953.
“I mean, I can look across the street now and see it — it reminds me of all three of us,” he said.
The Mount Airy-based Easter Brothers are credited with writing more than 400 songs while garnering numerous awards along the way.
And from one artist to another, James was extremely complimentary Tuesday of the finished product turned out by Tim White, himself a musician who performs with the band Troublesome Hollow.
“On man, I don’t see how he could have done any better,” Easter said of White, adding that he was “very pleased” with the outcome of the project.
While he is the only one of the trio to see it reach fruition, James said that Russell, the oldest of the brothers, was aware of plans for the mural before he died last Sept. 29 at age 90. Edd Easter had died in January 2019. He was 84.
“I’ll 89 Saturday,” James Easter advised Tuesday.
The basis for the mural was a family photo showing the brothers dressed up and holding instruments while waiting just outside the passenger door of their bus. James says it was from a late stage in their touring career.
He was familiar with the work of White involving similar subjects, including a historic “Bristol/Birthplace/Country Music” mural emerging in Bristol, Tennessee, 35 years ago which has drawn worldwide acclaim.
In addition to producing handcrafted signs and murals since 1979, White — a Roanoke, Virginia, native — hosts and performs on a nationally syndicated program, “Song of the Mountains,” which is aired by public television affiliates.
White was here for about two weeks, with the weather uncooperative on only one occasion during the painting, James said.
The mural effort was spearheaded by Tammy Miller and Grant Welch, who were aided by Downtown Business Association President Phil Marsh.
Its cost was put at around $10,000, including pressure washing the building wall and applying a sealing coat before the artist began painting, supplies and other expenses.
Community donations helped pay for the artwork, which also benefited from a $2,000 beautification grant from the group Mount Airy Downtown Inc. as part of an ongoing program. It has resulted in multiple murals gracing walls in the downtown area.
After initially performing in Danville, Virginia, The Easter Brothers gained a following and made several recordings. Their career continued to pick up steam during the early 1960s through radio shows hosted by the highly popular Don Reno and Red Smiley.
The brothers also had a regular program on local radio station WPAQ and in 1979, the band began performing full-time, with the brothers giving up their day jobs to focus on music.
Their performance schedule included stops at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian Institution and Sydney Opera House.
James Easter said Tuesday that the group’s body of work remains popular, pointing out that a song he recorded with son Jeff in recent years, “Like Father, Like Son,” has achieved more than 3 million views on YouTube.
It’s another medium keeping the brothers’ musical heritage in the public eye, as will the mural in their home community.
“We had our own style,” James said.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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