I just discovered The Cleverlys this morning, even though their facebook page says they’ve been around since 1952. It’s a family band according to their Facebook bio, which I have no reason to disbelieve.
Their music isn’t exactly traditional bluegrass. I guess that’s to be expected from a band that lists Bill Monroe, Fergie, and U2 as their main influences!
I’m going to try to tell you who plays what in the band, but I had some trouble unraveling all the names so I may not have it exactly correctly. As best I can tell, this is the lineup.
Digger Cleverly plays guitar and sings. Digger’s brother Miles plays the upright bass. Miles is blind incidentally. Vernon Dean Cleverly, is the youngest brother and plays the banjo. Digger’s youngest boy, Digger Jr Jr, plays several instruments and sings with the trio. And finally, Miles’ boy Otto Cleverly also performs on several instruments with the family band.
I’m not sure, but I think I may know one or two of those boys, but I can’t remember from where.
The band performs a fair number of originals, but also do a handful of covers. Below I’ve embedded their unique version of In The Pines. Be sure to visit the Cleverly Youtube channel for some other great covers. Their bound to have cut something you’ll enjoy.
