Allen Brothers

The Allen Brothers were a Dayton band formed by Red Allen’s four sons. They performed with Red and also independently. Harley sang lead and tenor and played guitar and mandolin, Neal played mandolin and wrote some of their songs, Greg played banjo and sang baritone, and Ronnie played bass and sang baritone. They recorded three LPs with Red on King Bluegrass Records and three albums on their own, two on Rounder and one on Folkways. They started appearing together in the early 1970s. Neal passed away in 1974 but the remaining three brothers continued on until the early 1980s. They probably played more different bars around Dayton than other bluegrass bands, including some that were unusual for bluegrass. They appeared at Grammer’s at 101 Pine Street in the Oregon District, Annarino’s Supper Club at 2826 North Dixie, The Golden Fly at 1907 North Main Street, Gilly’s at 132 South Jefferson Street. The Clock Lounge at 3534 Linden Avenue, Club House Lounge at 121 South Main Street, and T.J.’s Night Club at 606 Taywood Road in Englewood. Harley left to write songs in Nashville and Greg and Ronnie played music together at the Stockyards Restaurant in Dayton in the mid 2000s.