Rench is an independent producer, songwriter, and musician who has been creatively breaking the boundaries between America’s top two genres since the turn of the millennium. Call it what you will - country-hip-hop, hick-hop, hip-hopry, the list keeps growing – Rench’s twangy, funky, irresistible mix is destined to raise eyebrows and open minds in a big way.

The 2002 release of Above Market Value under the band name Battlestar and subsequent string of live performances garnered praise from the New Yorker magazine, Vibe magazine, New York Daily News, and more. The collaboration of live band members as Battlestar America, and later B-Star, resulted in the release of What We Do, a 2004 group EP that captivated a growing local fan base. The energetic honky-tonk hip-hop swagger of B-Star was given a counterweight in Elkhorn Riders, a studio EP of ambient, downtempo traditional country trip-hop remixes released as a solo Rench project in 2005. These two EP’s marked the start of a constantly growing catalogue for Rench Audio, a specialty production house and independent record company showcasing music being recorded at Rench’s own studio.

The end of the 2006 saw the release of Life In... (+) expand

Rench is an independent producer, songwriter, and musician who has been creatively breaking the boundaries between America’s top two genres since the turn of the millennium. Call it what you will - country-hip-hop, hick-hop, hip-hopry, the list keeps growing – Rench’s twangy, funky, irresistible mix is destined to raise eyebrows and open minds in a big way.

The 2002 release of Above Market Value under the band name Battlestar and subsequent string of live performances garnered praise from the New Yorker magazine, Vibe magazine, New York Daily News, and more. The collaboration of live band members as Battlestar America, and later B-Star, resulted in the release of What We Do, a 2004 group EP that captivated a growing local fan base. The energetic honky-tonk hip-hop swagger of B-Star was given a counterweight in Elkhorn Riders, a studio EP of ambient, downtempo traditional country trip-hop remixes released as a solo Rench project in 2005. These two EP’s marked the start of a constantly growing catalogue for Rench Audio, a specialty production house and independent record company showcasing music being recorded at Rench’s own studio.

The end of the 2006 saw the release of Life In Mean Season, a Rench studio album with 20 tracks that feature a slew of talented country musicians, hip-hop DJ’s, and a strong dose of Rench’s talent at writing and producing subtle and nuanced combinations of the urban bang with the rural twang.


"With everything from Bluegrass to twangy, banjo and fiddle-driven country to R&B; tinged tracks, the underground, alternative hip hop beats bring an urban, sassy, forthright feeling to these unusual explorations. Not wavering from the country vocals and country influence, the danceable mating with hip hop make these Country-born tracks feel joyously jacked up on pop culture."
- CDbaby.com

"Goes beyond pairing laconic rappers and energetic turntablists with background harmonies and fiddling. Rench sings with a slow drawl about job losses, striving, union organizing, and other socialist concerns."
- The New Yorker

"Adding hip-hop beats, raps and turntables to the plaintive wail of Hank Williams, This is a band as comfortable with Cypress Hill's 'How I Could Just Kill a Man' as with Dolly Parton's '9 to 5.'"
- New York Daily News

"Rocking two turntables and a fiddle, Battlestar America will get you bobbing your head until your neck turns red." - Vibe Magazine

"you’ll find yourself addicted to this moonshine swilling double-wide producer who perfectly coalesces two distinct genres for a sound all his own. Extremely unique and daring, “Life In Mean Season” is a trailer park’s answer to Eminem’s daunting "8 Miles". " - Smother.net

"Rench has pulled off this unlikely mix of pedal steel, banjo and fiddle with sample loops and DJ scratching. Imagine Hank Snow making music with Outkast. " – Nuvo.net

"Rench’s vision has a toehold on a racy, improbable hybrid."
-No Depression (-) collapse