My name is Vern Bishop. I started singing as a young boy, but it wasn’t until I was in the service in 1968 that I started learning guitar well enough to accompany myself while singing some Johnny Cash and Hank Williams songs. While I was in the Army, I had the chance to meet Johnny Cash, June Carter, Buck Owens and some others. After I returned home, I started singing in local taverns and clubs in our area. Soon I was getting called to do other events. I started traveling down south to do some recording of my own songs.
Since then, I’ve played shows in Branson, Missouri; Mountain View, Arkansas; Georgia; Alabama and Nashville. I sang at Loretta Lynn’s Hurricane Mills, also. One of my biggest thrills was to sing two Hank Williams songs on the stage of the Rhyman Auditorium for a tour group. I have opened shows for Stonewall Jackson, Narvel Felts, Porter Wagoner, David Frizzell, and other artists. Performing on the WSM 650 radio show out of the Opryland Hotel was another of my great experiences. I was pleased to be invited back and renew some of these acquaintances and perform for many of them again.
In addition, for ten years I was co-owner of a small country show in the Hill City area where I live. It was a great experience. I met many talented people and I was able to help a lot of them get started with their pursuit of music.
The members of the Moose River Band and I have been playing music together for the last twenty years. We have three accomplished singers in the band who are very diverse in what they do. Our lead player has played music for fifty years, starting at age 9! He has played for Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and other notable artists. The band does a mixture of Country, Country Rock and Old Time Rock and Roll. We love to entertain our guests and get the crowd involved throughout the show. Members of the band are: Lead Singer-Vern Bishop; Lead Guitarist-Donny Johnson; Bass Player Dave Zilbert; Keyboardist-Jody Zilbert; and Drummer-John Damjanovich.