Simpsonville Twins to be Featured on The Today Show

If you've hanged around Greenville enough, chances are you've seen twin violinists Stephen and Jeff Neil busking downtown or playing local festivals. On Thursday, the Simpsonville residents will go national when they take their act from the streets and local performance stages to NBC's Today Show.

The twins will appear and compete for the title of “Today's Best” during the “Quest for the Best: Twin Talent” segment, which will air Thursday morning June 6 at 9 a.m.

Contending with two other twin talent acts, the Neil brothers will perform a selection from their electric strings act, Synergy, at NBC Studios in New York City.

The Neil brothers have been playing strings — Stephen on the violin and Jeff on the viola — since childhood, honing their talents on both acoustic and electric instruments. 

Stephen earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Furman University in 2008 and has since taught strings both privately and for the South Carolina public school system. Additionally, he has performed for various venues, including weddings, fashion shows up and down the East Coast, baseball games, local events and more. He has released his debut single, Breakthrough, which is available on iTunes.

Jeff earned his bachelor’s degree in performance from St. Olaf College in 2009, has performed as part of the Ulysses Trio on the Norwegian Epic cruise ship and now works as a street performer in downtown Greenville.

The pair formed Synergy Violins, LLC, with plans to further develop their performance career as contract headline entertainers for cruise lines and are already booked, starting this summer.

Synergy also performs at various venues throughout the Southeast as a quartet with members Kristen Miller, violinist, and Jean Loder, cellist. The quartet also specializes in both acoustic and electric performances.

Their musical influences are diverse, stemming from a classical upbringing to Latin, Rock, Techno and more. Check out the above video of their electric strings cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."