It was late one night in the dog days of summer 2004 that a band took to a makeshift stage inside a barn in the humble outskirts of Ottawa. The line-up that fateful evening consisted of Peter Voith and Shawn Tavenier aka ‘The Bourbon Brothers.’ To this duo was added two members of Voith's original band Quarter Life - Anders Drerup (bass) and Shane McEwan (drums) both of whom had just met Tavenier that very night. Having decided, albeit temporarily, to call themselves 'Moonshine and the Haywagoners' the boys, fueled by the summer heat, beer and the noise from a barn full of what would be the first of their many captive audiences, played through the infamous and memorable night that would mark the debut of the Bourbon Brothers Band. It was clear to all present that night that something special was going down. Drerup would eventually take his rightful place on the guitar and Jason Leen, a long time friend of Shawn and Pete and also newly minted member of Quarter Life, took up the bass.
Since that first summer the boys have been playing shows, making friends and tearing up the bar scene in and around Ottawa, Ontario. The Bourbon Brothers Band plays like a band born in the summer, and treat every show like another all-Canadian barn burner. As versatile as the Canadian weather itself, the Brothers warm a barroom in the winter and sweat out the summer-time blues with an infectious mix of just about everything that makes you want to let loose and take on the night. They bring unequaled energy and life to every song that they play, and pride themselves on keeping their audiences on their feet and moving until the beer is gone and the lights come up.
“I like to think that there’s something for everyone at our shows. We love what we do and it’s because of the people who come to the places that we play. We have yet to feel anywhere else the same kind of energy from a crowd that we get here in Ottawa. People don’t give this town enough credit. ”
-Shawn-
wicked time at the wedding, YOU GUYS RAWKED!!! You will be back. Thanks for playing extra late and sticking around after to have a few beers and what ever else you's had to go along with it..HINT HINT!! I still can't beleive you forgot hte ?????????..... ~Keep Rawk'n!
down by the bay
where the watermelons grow
back to my home
i dare not go
for if i do
my mother will say :
have you ever seen shawn
playing a gong
down by the bay!
