Reflecting on his experience, he thought there might be a way to capture what he had been through as well as the entire Mayberry ideal. “I was in the parade, waving to people, and thinking to myself, ‘What am I doing here?'”Ī storyboard artist for animation, Howell had written some screenplays and other ideas for film. “For people to be staring at me and asking me questions, it was very surreal - a fish-out-of-water experience,” he said. Howell was able to get an invitation to the festival, and had a blast over the course of a week. I thought it was kind of a silly idea - who’d want my autograph? But he said, ‘Oh, you have no idea.'” “But Greg came back and said that I should go to some of these, and sign autographs for your dad. So I kind of knew about them,” Howell said. “My father used to go to some of these festivals, before he passed away. A friend of his, Greg Schell, whose father Ronnie Schell had been a guest performer on the show, suggested he check them out. But he didn’t quite understand the level of fandom the show inspired until he attended a festival dedicated to it. So Howell was immersed in “The Andy Griffith Show” world. Hoke Howell used to carry production stills of his time in character in the trunk of his car, so when people recognized him and asked for an autograph, he could do one better and sign a photograph. His father, Hoke Howell, played Dud Wash in two episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show,” and he had seen first-hand how much the show touched people. Howell was a fan of the show and had seen all of the episodes. “Mayberry Man” was a project inspired by family connections and the passions of a fanbase. “I never, ever thought anything like this would have come about way back when I first started the band. “This has been the highlight of the year 2020 for the Circle City Sidewalk Stompers Clown Band. We hadn’t gotten to play as one basically since December 2019, so it was special being able to play again,” Sutherlin said. Filming of the movie was the first performance the band had done in months due to the pandemic, and the unique gig turned into an emotional reunion for members. The Circle City Sidewalk Stompers will be featured prominently in “Mayberry Man,” which will hopefully be released later this year. In the span of a wild few days, the band performed and was filmed for the movie. “We were without a band, and I thought we couldn’t have a parade without some energy, some music,” said Stark Howell, writer and director of “Mayberry Man.”īut a local organizer had one last idea - the Circle City Sidewalk Stompers, a fun-loving jazz band founded by Franklin resident Steve Sutherlin. Disappointingly, they had to consider doing the scene without music. That was the consensus among the filmmakers behind the new feature, “Mayberry Man.” The movie follows the story of an arrogant out-of-towner who is arrested for speeding in a small town, and as punishment, forced to help with the town’s yearly “The Andy Griffith Show”-themed celebration.Īs they were planning an integral scene in the movie, they found it increasingly difficult to line up a band to perform in the parade. Without a marching band, it’s not really a parade. The band, founded by Franklin resident Steve Sutherlin, is featured in the movie. The Circle City Sidewalk Stompers band poses for a photograph with actor Allan Newsome during filming of “Mayberry Man” in Danville on Sept.
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