The Brothers Blue

The Brothers Blue was born in the quaint Finger Lakes town of Honeoye, New York on an August day in 1998. 13-year-old Benny Blue knocked on the door of guitar-playing schoolmate, Matthew. He invited him to make the five-mile bike ride back to his house to watch The Wizard of Oz and listen to Dark Side of the Moon. And with their minds blown, like two fish in a sea of rolling hills, they developed a friendship that would last a lifetime.

Over the years, they played music together, and while in college, the boys formed a band called The Blue Lemons. Blending blues, rock, and Americana musical styles with folk sensibilities, the band played to crowds from Buffalo, New York to Burlington, Vermont. This platform allowed the brothers to find their voices as independent and collaborative songwriters, exploring the angels and devils that live in us all, and our place here in this land.

Their musical interests and song-writing chemistry endured for several years as their paths led them 3,000 miles apart when Ben moved to Los Angeles to study geology. Matthew spent this time at SUNY University at Buffalo where he earned a master’s degree in classical guitar performance. The boys continued to write songs together even while performing with other musicians in their respective cities.

Matt became the bass player for the Buffalo-based Irish folk band, Crikwater where he met fellow folk musician and fiddle player, Charlie Blue. Charlie’s fierce fiddle playing and virtuosic musicianship defined Crikwater’s energy and established the group as one of the premier Irish traditional bands in western New York.

Benny made his way back to the Finger Lakes and he quickly found himself playing banjo with Rochester-based acoustic quartet, The Crawdiddies. A staple of the Rochester folk music scene, the Crawdiddies conjure an exciting musical experience based in blues, old-time, and dance.

Once again in close proximity, the itch became too intense not to scratch for Matt and Ben to make music together as they once had. The boys were reunited but this time with many years of performance experience and a sterling collection of original songs. In the spring of 2015, Matt and Ben asked Charlie to join the band and with his fiddle and mandolin, The Brothers Blue sound was complete. They got right to it and recorded a demo of their original material in Benny’s barn on a warm, spring night.

Today, The Brothers Blue are one leaf on a branch of an ever-growing string music tree in upstate New York. They perform original and American folk traditionals in a multitude of venues around the Buffalo, Rochester, and Finger Lakes regions.