Vernon Dean Cleverly

Bush played banjo, and some guitar, as V.D. on the band’s first album, The Cleverlys (Grabbin’ Cabin, 2011), recorded at the NECAT Channel 19 studios in Nashville with Harris on guitar, Mark Pearman as Otto on mandolin and fiddle, Stevie Wilkerson as Harvey D. on drums and mandolin, and Irl Hees as the bassist Miles; its songs included “Born to Be with You.” That year the band played the CMA Music Festival and made its Grand Ole Opry debut on July 15, 2011. Every member plays a part in the band’s invented family history, and when a musician leaves, the story is amended but the character is never killed off, so that it can be taken up again. On later records, such as Blue (Mountain Home, 2019), the banjo chair belongs to a different character, Dale Vernon Dale “DVD” Cleverly.