THE BRONAGH O'ROURKE BAND

The Bronagh O'Rourke Band

The Bronagh O’Rourke Band is collaboration between Bronagh and her husband Bob Batch - with various musicians backing them at different times.

Bob Batch grew up wanting to play the guitar and write songs. As a teenager, unable to afford lessons, he took every opportunity to learn from anyone who would play him a tune or teach him a chord.

A fan of Bob Dylan and the early folk rockers Bob gravitated to New York’s Folk City in the seventies, hanging out at the Greenwich Village scene for a time, and appearing on the same stage as Odetta and Suzanne Vega.

As his playing skill developed Bob joined different bands and learned a wide range of music, but some of the songs he learned back in his home town of Edgewater NJ would be the most important.

Edgewater was a predominantly Irish town and to play at any affairs a singer had to know Irish tunes. Years later, knowing the ‘Irish Standards’ such as ‘Black Velvet Band’ and ‘The Wild Rover’ got him work at a club called O’Lunney’s where Bob met Bronagh O’Rourke.

Bob and Bronagh began working together back in the early nineties and eventually married, forging a union that continues to drive their musical collaboration. While Bob has done other work, most notably with Dominic Chianese – Uncle Junior on The Sopranos – he is best playing with his wife in the Bronagh O’Rourke Band.

Bronagh O'Rourke

Bronagh’s unique vocals shine as she performs her songs in a style that can best be called ‘Country rock’. With a mix of original songs from traditional Irish / Country standards to contemporary, the band is an ever changing blend of the familiar and the unexpected.

Bronagh O’Rourke is a most intriguing export from the Irish music scene. Since arriving in America a decade ago, she has performed with numerous musicians at some of the finest Clubs and music festivals in the New York metropolitan area.

Bronagh began performing in her teens with a band called ‘Sunburst’ a popular regional band in Northern Ireland. Besides singing all the well known ‘Traditional’ Irish tunes, she wrote many of her own songs, developed from strong Celtic imagery and country music, which is so popular in Ireland.

In America where she came to pursue country music, Bronagh became popular in Irish clubs while doing demo recording work. After covering a wide range of styles she finds herself most at ease with the music she learned back in the country of her birth.

Today, a naturalized citizen, Bronagh is married with three children, but it hasn’t stopped her from keeping up with a busy musical schedule. In fact she has a new found appreciation for the traditions and musical heritage of her native land. Bronagh also has a collection of her own compositions on compact disc, entitled ‘MISE EIRE’ (Mother Ireland).