Junior Andrew Johnston wanted to share his songs with the world, so he established a local indie-rock band in March 2014.

Johnston said he started Sailor as a side-project while he was playing bass for Seven Seasons, a local rock band from Muscle Shoals.

Sailor started taking shape as a full band, but the spelling of its name had to change to “Sailour” in 2015, Johnston said.

“I had previously recorded an album as Sailor before we received a cease-and- desist order from 1970’s British-pop band Sailor,” Johnston said.

The band’s first album, “Shuttle EP,” released Dec. 17, 2015.

The members liked the name better with the “u” added, so the name change was just a small speed bump, Johnston said.

Johnston met senior Zebulun Worlund in 2014, and he became the guitarist and second lead singer for Sailour in 2015.

“My sense of humor got me into the band,” Worlund said. “One day, (Andrew) was talking about how he didn’t have a guitar player for his band. Being the jokester I am, I said, ‘I play guitar,’ and this was news to him. He asked if I wanted to jam with him that night. I said, ‘Sure’.”

Johnston said he and Worlund “rocked it duo for a while,” and Ty Beahm played with them from time to time before officially joining the band as producer and drummer. Graduate assistant Mark Bryant was the last to join the band, as he reluctantly filled in on bass but quickly fell in love with the group.

In December 2016, Beahm and Worlund had to part ways from the band.

Beahm left to become a worship pastor at Launch Pointe Church in Greenhill.

Worlund had to leave due to it being his last semester at UNA.

“Zeb leaving the band was really difficult for me,” Johnston said. “We have become such close friends, and we work so well together. We did most everything together. I honestly wasn’t sure if we’d continue after he left.”

Sailour performed at Warehouse 414 on Study Day in December 2016 for Worlund’s last performance as a member.

Sailour currently has two official members, Johnston and Bryant. The band is continuing to move forward. All of the previous members have made Sailour what it is today, Johnston said.

“I am 100 percent invested in this project, and I do believe in what we are doing,” he said. “I believe that’s necessary in whatever it is that a person might pursue. You’ve just got to give it all you’ve got, make sacrifices and stick through the rough patches.”

The band has recently been playing some acoustic shows whenever it can get some friends to play along.

“I can’t say too much about it right now, but I will say there is a chance fans may have something new to listen to this year,” Johnston said.

The band’s website is sailour.co and all of the social media accounts are @sailourmusic.

Look for Sailour in bars, record stores, music venues and coffee shops around North Alabama.