Wendell Holmes, a pianist, guitarist, songwriter and singer who performed as a member of the noted Holmes Brothers trio, died June 19 of pulmonary hypertension at his Rosedale home. He was 71.
The son of Sherman T. Holmes Sr. and Easter Dusten Holmes, educators, Warner Wendell Holmes — he never used his first name — was born in Plainfield, N.J., and raised in Christchurch, Va.
Mr. Holmes was born into a musical family. His father played the trumpet and sang, and both of his parents encouraged Mr. Holmes and his elder brother, Sherman T. Holmes Jr., to listen to Baptist hymns, as well as to blues singers such as B.B. King, Junior Parker and Jimmy Reed.
As a youngster, Mr. Holmes learned to play the piano, trumpet and guitar.
"It was a small town, and my brother and I were about the only ones who could play anything. So we played in all of the area churches on Sundays," Mr. Holmes said in an interview recalling his days growing up in Christchurch.
On Saturday nights, they played blues, soul, country and rock 'n' roll as a fill-in band at Herman Wate's Juke Joint, which was owned by a cousin.
"When he couldn't get any good groups to come from Norfolk or Richmond, he'd call us. That's how we honed our sound," Mr. Holmes said in the interview, which was his agent provided. "We used to say we'd rock 'em on Saturday and save 'em on Sunday."
After graduating in 1961 from St. Clare Walker High School in Christchurch, Mr. Holmes moved to New York City, where his brother, who played bass, was performing professionally.
In 1963, the brothers founded The Sevilles and backed up such singers as John Lee Hooker, Jerry Butler and The Impressions.
Willie "Popsy" Dixon, a Virginian and a drummer, started working with the two brothers in 1967, and they began performing with a succession of Top 40 bar bands.
After the first session the three men played and sang together, Wendell Holmes declared that Mr. Dixon was now officially "a brother."
The three performers joined together in 1979 to form the Holmes Brothers and played gospel, country, blues, and rhythm-and-blues music. It wasn't until 1989 that the band landed its first record contract with Rounder Records, which released "In the Spirit" in 1990 and "Where It's At" in 1991.
Music critics praised the recording. The band subsequently toured the world and made 12 studio albums, three of which reached the top five on Billboard's blues albums chart.
They also recorded with Real World Records, Alligator Records and Stony Plain Music.
When they released "Speaking in Tongues" in 2001, Geoffrey Himes, writing in The Washington Post, praised the album, which contained songs by Joan Osborne and Ben Harper, as well as several of their own compositions.
"The kind of music that the Holmes Brothers make — sanctified gospel and Southern soul so mingled together that one can't pull them apart — would seem out of fashion and out of date," wrote Mr. Himes.
"Its no surprise that Sherman and Wendell Holmes and their longtime trio mate, Popsy Dixon, tackle their own tunes as well as material by Bob Dylan, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff on the new album, 'Speaking in Tongues,'" he wrote. "All those songwriters are over 50 and remember a time when gospel-soul was part of the atmosphere."
Their musical reputation secure among critics and fans, the Holmes Brothers became regulars on the summer folk, blues, gospel and jazz circuits, and recorded with such musical nobility as Van Morrison, Rosanne Cash, Phoebe Snow and Willie Nelson.
When Alligator Records released their last album, "Brotherhood," last year, Greg Kot, music critic for the Chicago Tribune, wrote, "The Holmes Brothers are conversant in so many styles of music, they turn country-blues-gospel-soul and a bit o' rock and even doo-wop into one big river of sound, the way it should be but often isn't on so many so-called roots albums."
He added, "But the sandpapery voices of brothers Wendell and Sherman Holmes can't really be dimmed, nor can Popsy Dixon's soaring falsetto. … The Holmes Brothers slip into these songs like a favorite flannel shirt."
In its review, The New York Times described the Holmes Brothers as "deeply soulful, uplifting and timeless."
The trio often ended their concerts with a powerfully moving rendition of "Amazing Grace."
Paul Kahn, who managed the trio for Concerted Efforts, a Somerville, Mass., music booking agency, told the Associated Press at the time of Mr. Holmes' death that his most popular ballad was "We Meet, We Part, We Remember."
Last September, the Holmes Brothers were honored with a National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. They won two Blues Music Awards and in 2005 were named Blues Band of the Year.
Mr. Dixon died of bladder cancer in January, and when Mr. Holmes entered hospice care, he posted online through his agent an open letter to his fans and friends.
"You know that it is my custom to tell everyone who will listen … 'don't go it alone,' and I can tell you that by God's amazing grace that I have had a truly enjoyable journey," he wrote. "It's been a great ride and my thanks to you for making it so. I love you, and may God bless you all!"
His brother, who lives in Saluda, Va., continues the group's legacy as the Sherman Holmes Project, which includes Brooks Long and Eric Kennedy.
Mr. Holmes, who had lived in New York City, Hackensack, N.J., and Bordentown, N.J., moved to Essex in 1991. He had resided in Rosedale since 1999.
"Music was his hobby and love," said his childhood sweetheart and wife of 41 years, the former Barbara Curtis.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. July 11 at Cavalry Baptist Church in Saluda.
In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. Holmes is survived by two daughters, Felicia Holmes of Edgewood and Mia Williams of Perry Hall; another brother, Milton Holmes of Philadelphia; and three grandsons.