The Brothers Yee
The Brothers Yee are a 5-piece band consisting of Bogmen bandmates Billy Ryan (guitar/vocals), Brendan Ryan (piano/accordion/trumpet), and PJ O’Connor (acoustic guitar/vocals), and Chris Fischer (bass guitar/vocals). Since 1999, the band has played a residency in New York City, first at Finally Fred’s in the West Village (1999-2002), followed by Bar Nine in Hell’s Kitchen (2003-2010), and The 11th Street Bar in the East Village (2011-currently).

Following The Bogmen’s initial break-up in 1999, The Ryan Brothers and O’Connor began a weekly gig, dedicated to their shared love of piano-based artists like Tom Waits, Allen Toussaint, The Platters, and Johnny Mercer. As the shows became more popular, more well-known selections by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Band, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Neil Young became staples of the weekly set. “It was important for us to bring new songs in every week to keep things fresh,” recalls Billy Ryan. The band were initially called “Billy Ryan & Friends” as Billy’s studio above Tortilla Flats in the West Village became the band’s headquarters. The addition of Chris Fischer allowed the band to pursue the 3-part harmonies of their heroes like The Byrds and The Beach Boys.

O’Connor, who was originally the band’s drummer, took hiatus in the early days of the band’s residency at Bar Nine in Hell’s Kitchen to tour as a member of NYC dance-punk outfit Radio 4. The Ryan Brothers, meanwhile, were collaborating with Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes) for what would soon to be a critically-acclaimed album that saw them tour Europe and the USA as well.

2011 saw the residency move back downtown to The 11th Street Bar. The band began to pursue a more “Old-Timey” direction as O’Connor moved to acoustic guitar. Country music, bluegrass and harmonies took center stage with more accordion (Brendan) and mandolin (Billy). At this point, the band became known as The Brothers Yee.

Following the success of their annual “Fat Tuesday” shows, The Brothers Yee decided to add another “theme” performance: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia which they have performed every August thereafter.

Says O’Connor: “Our similarities to Jerry Garcia Band are no coincidence, nor is our identical instrumentation. I think that The Brothers Yee serves as a welcome chance to give our guests a fun night of music that we all love while taking a night off from our original, creative endeavors”.

With that in mind, The Brothers Eye are extremely excited to perform the Garcia/Hunter songbook for like-minded lovers of this music in such a special venue.

Obviously 5 Believers

An evening of music from the sprawling works of Nobel laureate and all-world rocker Bob Dylan.  The band features Jason Camillos, Peter Schellbach, John Nesbett, Neil Nunziato, Ted Motz and some special guests.  Bring your brain... and your dancin’ shoes!