The Last Resort Band - About the Band

About the Band

LAST RESORT BAND

Last Resort Band

The music of the Last Resort Band is probably best described as “grassed up soul and rock n’ roll music”. The vision of the band is to present mostly recognizable covers in a truly fresh and unique fashion. The world has plenty of bands playing obscure songs using 2 guitars, bass, drums and keyboards. The Last Resort Band brings unique instrumentation and musicianship to some of your favorite songs. You will hear influences of soul, R&B, gospel, Americana / bluegrass, and rock n’ roll when these guys take the stage. Ever wondered what it would have sounded like if Sonny Osborne played banjo with Otis Redding?

The band originally formed in 1994 when 4 members of a nationally touring Americana / Bluegrass band decided to change direction and form another band. Johnny Green (vocals & acoustic guitar), Jack Ketner (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, steel, banjo & vocals), Mark Vernon (bass & vocals) and Norman Allred (drums) set out to create a combination of instrumentation and songs that would be quite different. Several members had a repertoire of soul and boogie music. It seemed like a natural place to start. In 1996, Glen Alexander (fiddle, mandolin & vocals) sat in with the band playing fiddle and mandolin. Johnny and Jack moved away and Norman and Mark kept the band going for another year until they called it quits in 1997.

Last Resort Band

Ten years later, Norman, Mark and Glen received a call from Johnny asking them to show up and play a gig that he had booked just 2 weeks out. There wasn’t time for rehearsal or a new name, so the guys showed up as the Last Resort Band and the band picked up right where they had left off. The band continued to play Thursday nights in local restaurants and clubs. For nearly a year the band rotated some of the area’s finest musicians to fill the fifth man spot. This allowed some variety in the instrumentation and set lists.

That plan was working fine until a chance meeting with Sammy Shelor (banjo, guitar &vocals) at a jam session at the Galax Fiddler’s Convention. Sammy is a 4-time IBMA Banjo Player of the Year and a 14-year consecutive nominee. When Sammy opened up his case and started playing, the band found its fifth member. Though he heads up one of the finest bluegrass bands on the planet (The Lonesome River Band), he still finds time to add his touch to The Last Resort Band’s brand of soul and rock n’ roll.

The band members have all toured extensively and recorded on major labels. There is a combined 160 years of live playing experience between them. It is safe to say these guys have been around the block musically.

This project is all about having fun. There are no agents, producers or promoters—just five guys that love presenting good music in a fresh and unique way.

SAMMY SHELOR

Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals

Sammy got an early start with the banjo, when his grandfather fashioned him a banjo from an old pressure cooker lid when Sam was only four years old. By age ten, he was performing in local bands and became a full time professional musician when he graduated from high school, joining The Heights of Grass at age 19. That band eventually morphed into The Virginia Squires, and brought Sammy into contact with banjo legend Sonny Osborne, who helped shape the young picker’s approach to working as a pro banjo player.

Since becoming a member of Lonesome River Band in 1990, Sammy has been featured on dozens of successful recordings, both with LRB and as a guest player. His solo project “Leading Roll” is still a popular title in the Sugar Hill Records catalog and his work on “Knee Deep in Bluegrass” for Rebel Records helped that project earn the Instrumental Album of the Year award from the IBMA in 2001. His peers in the International Bluegrass Music Association have voted him “Banjo Player of the Year” on four separate occasions.

GLEN ALEXANDER

Fiddle, Mandolin, Vocals

Glen is one of the regions most celebrated fiddlers, winning fiddle contests for over twenty years. He is a two-time winner of the prestigious Galax Fiddlers Convention as well as Fiddler of the Festival at the famous Union Grove Fiddlers Convention. When he is not competing, he is usually judging the competition.

Glen got his start by playing fiddle with his dad’s band, Muddy Creek Bluegrass Band. He has played with numerous area bands that had him opening shows for Ricky Skaggs and Alison Krauss. He has shared the stage with Roy Clark, Larry Gatlin, Doc Watson, Jack Lawrence, Ronnie Bowman and others. Glen is an accomplished session player as well. You can hear his work on over 100 recording projects including his own solo CD.

In addition to his live performances and session work, Glen also teaches violin lessons and manages the Violin Shoppe in Charlotte, NC.

JOHNNY GREEN

Vocals, Acoustic Guitar

Johnny’s love for music is rooted in the soulful gospel music he grew up singing. Though he had some formal vocal training, it was a steady diet of black gospel music and the emotion of the old soul artists of the sixties that most influenced this singer. It was when his love for soulful gospel music intersected with bluegrass music that the sound he refers to as “rhythm and bluegrass” was formed. This is the sound the Last Resort Band captures so well. Some of his musical inspiration comes from listening to Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, John Cowan, The Beatles, and the Fairfield Four.

Johnny has traveled extensively and recorded on a national label while playing all types of music. Though he has shared the stage with many artists through the years, it is the current line up of the Last Resort Band of which he is most proud. These are his best friends and musical heroes.

MARK VERNON

Bass Guitar, Vocals

Mark Vernon comes from a musical family rich in southern gospel harmony. He started singing professionally at 5 years old. By the age of 21 he was working steadily in local bands. In 1982 he took his first full-time traveling gig with the Plum Hollow Band. In 1987 he joined the Carter Brothers Band. In 1994 he joined fellow Carter Brother band mates as a charter member of the Last Resort Band. In 1997 the Last Resort Band disbanded and Mark worked with several projects headed by local musician Davis Tucker. In 2007 Mark was instrumental in the reforming of the Last Resort Band.

Mark has shared the stage with Nantucket, George Hatcher Band, Poco, Doc Holliday, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Marshall Tucker Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. His music career has taken him from Sloppy Joe’s in Key West to the Lone Star Café in NY, to Boot Hill Saloon in Rapid City, SD to Calgary, Alberta and Oslo, Norway.

NORMAN ALLRED

Drums

Norman aka "Stormin’ Norman" has been playing drums since the age of 6. He is a seasoned drummer with a very diverse musical resume. He has played Blues with Big Bump and the Stun Gunz, Americana/Bluegrass with the Carter Brothers Band, Rock n’ Roll with Khyber Pass, Jazz with Tom Brown and Lonnie Liston Smith, and Beach with the Catalinas, East Coast Rivieras, and the Part Time Party Time Band. Norman is a full time musician. When not playing live shows, he also teaches private drum lessons and serves as the drummer for the First Wesleyan praise band in High Point, NC.

Norman has shared the stage with Trisha Yearwood, Bo Didley, Leroy Parnell, Stevie Ray Vaughn, BS&T, the Coasters, the Platters, Dave Mason, Dr. John and many others.

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