“ALL In The Family II,” a new bluegrass and country music mural, will be dedicated on the first floor of Sherrod Library on Friday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m.
This mural by noted North Carolina muralist Marianne Mylet is based on a work by Virginia artist Willard Gayheart. Both artists will be on hand for the event.
The formal dedication will be followed at 7 p.m. by a musical performance in the D. P. Culp University Center’s Martha Street Culp Auditorium by Canadian blues and bluegrass harmonica virtuoso Mike Stevens, the ETSU Gospel Ensemble, noted ETSU musicians Raymond McLain and Jack Tottle, the ETSU Bluegrass Band, and other guest performers.
“ALL In The Family II” is a large (9 feet by 13 feet) and colorful mural that portrays a number of influential figures in bluegrass and country music. Included, among others, are Bill Monroe, who is known as “The Father of Bluegrass Music,” as well as the A.P. Carter Family, Earl Scruggs, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and country music’s first superstar, Jimmie Rodgers.
The most unusual aspect of the mural, however, is that it also portrays various members of the African-American musical community and a Hawaiian innovator, who, unknown to the general public, are linked in important ways with the giants of bluegrass and country music. Some of them are famous, like the “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith, and trumpet pioneer Louis Armstrong.
Others are less-known. Among the additional African-American musicians pictured in the mural are:
Blues guitarist Arnold Shultz, whom Bill Monroe considered a friend and major musical influence.
Rhythm and blues recording artist Arthur Crudup, whom Elvis Presley idolized early in his career, as Presley was developing his unique blend of white and black music.
Singer and guitarist Leslie Riddle, a close friend of the A.P. Carter Family, who helped A.P. collect songs to record and taught Maybelle Carter how to play blues-style guitar.
“‘ALL In The Family II’ thus illustrates in dramatic fashion the vitally important role generations of African-American musicians have played in the rich tapestry which comprises America’s bluegrass and country music,” said Tottle, director of the ETSU Bluegrass and Country Music Program.
“It clearly shows the remarkable degree to which, even during the old days of racial segregation, both black and white musicians were, in fact, members of the same musical family,” he said.
The mural is Mylet’s reinterpretation of Gayheart’s print, “ALL In The Family I,” the concept of which originated with Tottle. Copies of “ALL In The Family I” will be available for purchase at the dedication.
The artwork is an initiative of the Bluegrass and Country Music Program, which is part of ETSU’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. Information about the figures portrayed and their interrelationships with one another will be placed near the mural. Printed material in greater detail will also be available for those interested in learning more about the American musical heritage and the remarkable musicians depicted in “ALL In The Family I and II.”
The dedication is free and open to the public. A donation of $3 is requested for the subsequent concert.
For more information or for special assistance or seating for persons with disabilities, contact Tottle at (423) 439-6957 or the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at 439-5348.

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