While back, Leigh Ellen Sandlin Cauthen saw an image of a then-new mural outside Macon, Georgia’s H&H Restaurant. H&H is a local soul food spot that in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s provided sustenance to a fledgling Southern rock group called the Allman Brothers Band.

That mural, unveiled around 2022, was by artist Steven Teller. It depicted H&H founders Louise Hudson and Mama Inez Hill and the classic-era Allmans lineup of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, bassist Berry Oakley and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai “Jaimoe” Johanny Johanson.

“I thought, Macon, there’s the connection there,” Leigh Ellen tells AL.com. “That would just be so cool to have him [Teller] come to Decatur.”

A Decatur, Alabama native, Leigh Ellen is the daughter of studio wizard Johnny Sandlin, who worked with the Allmans on classic recordings, including 1971’s “Eat a Peach,” a Southern rock studio/live essential, 1973’s “Brothers & Sisters,” the band’s lone number one album, and 1971’s “At Fillmore East,” widely regarded as rock’s greatest live album.

Leigh Ellen sent Teller a Facebook message. That connection resulted in Teller coming to Decatur to paint an epic mural honoring Sandlin. That mural, on the west-facing exterior wall of Cauthen & Cauthen, Leigh Ellen’s husband’s law firm, at 117 E. Moulton St., was just completed.

“It’s so exciting,” she tells AL.com. “And it’s been four years in the making.”

Following his time in Macon with Capricorn Records, Southern rock’s premier label, Sandlin returned to his Decatur hometown. There he owned and operated Duck Tape Studios out of his family’s home, where he recorded stars like Gregg Allman and local standouts like Huntsville blues band Microwave Dave & The Nukes. Sandlin died in 2017 at age 72.

In addition to Sandlin, a recording engineer, album producer and mixer, Teller’s Decatur mural depicts nine of many music greats he worked with.

Duane and Gregg Allman. “Brothers & Sisters” era Allmans and longtime Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell. Widespread Panic singer/guitarist John Bell. The great Southern soul singer Bonnie Bramlett. Slide guitar hero Derek Trucks. Legendary Swampers studio bassist David Hood. Wet Willie frontman and Jeff Beck collaborator Jimmy Hall. The bassist Oteil Burbridge, known for his work with latter-day Allmans, Grateful Dead spinoff Dead & Company and cult fave jam-band Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit.

On the mural, a young Sandlin is rendered in warm tones, his collaborators in black and white, with pink and cream blooms in the background. Murals have become commonplace in North Alabama and elsewhere. But this mural’s uncommonly beautiful and lyrical.

In a video posted to the Facebook page of Decatur Morgan County Tourism, Teller talked about his process: “Tons of research. I really wanted to take a lot of time to dive into his whole discography and really get acquainted with his work and his history and the people he was involved with.”

Teller, a Florida native, says he loves music so much it guides his painting: “I always say my artwork is only as good as the music I listen to while I’m creating it. So I just listened to a bunch of different music that he [Sandlin] produced and had been involved with. And ended up with this.”

On Facebook, Sandlin’s widow Ann wrote, “Those who knew Johnny knew him to be a very quiet and humble man who never blew his own whistle or tooted his own horn. He went about making music that was the foundation of Southern rock.

‘When he returned from Macon to Decatur in the early ‘80s he started Duck Tape Music where some of the world’s best musicians came to record. But it was kept quiet to the extent that very few people knew who came to Decatur. He wanted it that way. But it’s time I think for Decatur to embrace the rich musical legacy he left behind. I’m beyond happy at how the mural turned out. I hope others are too.”

Others from Sandlin’s orbit certainly are happy about the mural. Bramlett wrote on social media, “I’m so honored thank you sweetheart. I love you, Aunt Bonnie.” Sandy “Bluesky” Wabegijig, who was married to Dickey Betts and inspired classic Allmans song “Blue Sky” and their daughter inspired iconic instrumental “Jessica,” wrote, “This is soooo awesome!!!! I’m particularly excited to see Mizz Bonnie Bramlett next to The Duck and the other side of him Duane!!!! Right on Leigh Ellen!!”

“The Duck” was Sandlin’s nickname, the origin of which is a closely guarded family secret, Leigh Ellen says. She recalls Etta James being among her dad’s favorite artists to listen to, besides whatever he was working on at the time. Leigh Ellen cites Gregg Allman’s solo debut “Laid Back” as her favorite album Sandlin worked on, and that Johnny Jenkins’s cult-classic “Ton-Ton Macoute” was “the work that he said he was the proudest of.”

In later years, Leigh Ellen would play songs for her dad she thought he’d like. The last song she ever played for him was “Hope The High Road” by Jason Isbell, who in his early pre-fame years worked at Duck Tape Studios. Away from music, Sandlin’s interests included Atlanta Braves baseball, a passion he shared with collaborator Col. Bruce Hampton.

In the wake of Sandlin’s 2017 passing, the nonprofit Johnny Sandlin Foundation for Music in the Arts was created in his honor. “Essentially it boils down to,” Leigh Ellen says, “is really fostering the love of music and the arts for generations to come. “All aspects of arts — dancing, painting, theater, all of it.”

Plans are in the works for an official unveiling event for the Sandlin mural, targeted for this fall with performances from artists depicted in the mural including Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge and Jimmy Hall. Leigh Ellen says, “I want it to just be like an ultimate jam session.”