Our Story

Brotherville is a Country music band located in Pittsburgh. Established in the Spring of 2008 between childhood friends Eddie Matthew and Bryan Brunsell. What started out as an acoustic act where Eddie and Bryan could sing and perform their original songs to their loyal fans, has now grown into a full ensemble of musical talents; Bruce Kush (lead guitar) Steve Hale (drums) Mike Scimmi (bass) and Bob Hesz (keyboard, harmonica and vocals). Brotherville is a band that pays homage to traditional Country music, sings with a Rock ‘n Roll edge and performs with the big arena mentality – always giving their fans what they came to see and hear.

A Jam Session
Brotherville’s story is a long road of musical twists and turns and has come full-circle in what started out as a jam session in 1996 between Eddie, Bryan and Paul Desabato (Eddie’s cousin). Having grown-up as childhood friends in the blue-collar, hard working neighborhood of Lawrenceville, just 10 minutes from the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, Eddie, Bryan and Paul collaborated with the idea of starting a band. All coming from different musical influences at the time, their music grew into a style that was a reminiscent of a “revival sound” of sorts, giving credit to bands such as CCR, The Rolling Stones and many more from that era – hence their first band name Revival. After a few years of small shows and jams, the band morphed into a new Rock/style project called Klayhill. Changing names, but not passion Eddie and Bryan performed live in front of thousands of fans for years with Klayhill and recorded their first 5-song EP. With these experiences, they bonded a relationship, a brotherhood they’ve maintained since those childhood years.

A Phone Call
As the Klayhill project was coming to a close in 2004, Eddie and Bryan were going their separate ways musically. Having been a big Country fan for years, Eddie decided that he wanted to devote his efforts into a project that would fit his personality and allow him to tell his story, “Growing up in Pittsburgh, most of the music you would hear were either Oldies or Rock… if you wanted to hear Country music you better hope someone had a record, tape or CD because it wasn’t that prevalent and hardly any radio stations played it,” says Eddie. While he was carving his path, Bryan was going back to his roots, performing all the songs and influences he grew up on – Rock ‘n Roll, Motown and Southern Rock. “The phone call is what got it all started. After years of jamming together and always talking about how it would be great to collaborate on a new project at this stage in our lives having kids and families, I called Eddie with an idea for a country song that I thought would be perfect for him as he was performing with The Shooters Band at the time. I’ve always written songs for different genre’s and all these ideas for country songs kept coming to me, I figured I’d give them to Eddie and he could use them. I knew Eddie was writing some great songs himself, but figured I’d not let these ideas go by the wayside. So with this, Brotherville was born,” says Bryan.

For the next year, Eddie and Bryan would collaborate, perform small acoustic shows and Bryan would also join Eddie with the Shooters band shows as well, always giving it 150% as performers, singers and songwriters. “Country Music is truly a stand-of-mind and we exemplify what it stands for. We’re real people, real places and have an honest story to tell. We’re from the city and proud of it and we embrace what Country music is grounded in. We’re both down-to-earth, have families and want to write songs and sing about whatever we want to. No gimmicks, no smoke, just doing our thing” says Eddie.

Through their performances and shows, Eddie and Bryan have met really talented musicians and have put together a line-up for Brotherville nothing short of top-notch, professional players. As mentioned earlier, Bruce Kush on lead guitar, Steve Hale on drums, Mike Scimmi on bass and Bob Hesz joining Brotherville on stage as their keyboard player, you will not only see, but also feel the passion and energy at every show!

No bar or venue is too small or too large! Brotherville has collectively performed on stage with notable-recording artist Bill Deasy and at major Pittsburgh events and venues; Post-Gazette Pavilion, Hard Rock Cafe, Tour of PA Finishline Festival at the Southside Works, Fireworks Night outside PNC Park, Highmark sponsored Community Walks, Animal Friends Bark-in-The-Park hosted by Jim Krenn, Heinz Field, McFadden's, Paradise Island Beach Bar, Club Cafe, dejAVu Lounge, Diesel, Oakland Cafe, The Pittsburgh Zoo and Live at Market Square. Bringing and appreciation for the traditional, but yet a love for the new, Brotherville is all about the songs and the fans, thinking of new ways to entertain and give people something to remember and take home. “What we love about the process is we can write about anything, something that people can relate to. It’s not magic, you just have to be honest in what you do and believe in it,” says Eddie.