Bat Bennett

International guitar-slinger Bat Bennett brings his one-man roller coaster show to town with a non-stop barrage of outstanding musical technique on the acoustic guitar and unbelievable vocal versatility.
Bat tours North America relentlessly performing impeccable cover favorites as well as masterfully crafted original material. Moving in a perpetual segue, Bat threads the tunes together seamlessly, keeping audiences in wonder at the playfully effortless changes from one style to the next, and not even HE knows what will be coming next. All shows are entirely improvised, and no two are ever the same. There is no song list -anything goes.
Bennett’s musicianship is truly a sight and sound to behold, and the show falls squarely into the ‘can’t miss’ category for his fans. Bat keeps the energy ratcheted all the way up to maximum, and audiences sing along until hoarse with gleeful unity or dance like kids. His show currently tours in 40 US states, the Caribbean Islands and Canada.
Bat delights in covering nearly any type of request; the motto is that “If I have heard it, I can probably play it” and play them he does- without a break between songs for the show’s 3 & ½ hour duration. His voice astoundingly deceives with every new song, sounding so much like the original singer that you’ll almost be convinced that he’s lip-syncing.

Amazing. Phenomenal. Unbelievable. These are the adjectives most commonly used to describe the Singer/Guitarist from New Mexico, whether they are talking about his voice, or his guitar playing. Now in his tenth year as a Solo Performer on the National stage, Bat leaves quite an impression wherever he plays.

Bat grew up in Zion, IL, a little North of Chicago on Lake Michigan’s shoreline where Illinois becomes Wisconsin. With his brother Steve, Bat started playing bluegrass tunes on banjo & guitar when he was eight years old. Singing around the campfire & entertaining at family parties was a typical occurrence for the boys.
The family moved to New Mexico around the time Bat was in High School, and meeting other musicians with largely different styles gave him a whole new world of influences to practice on and draw from. A musical sponge, Bat soaked up every note of these new sounds and began applying them to his music. Bat wrote his first compositions as a teenager, one of which, ‘Playground’ has been recognized Internationally and is currently used in rotation on Jazz radio stations in the USA.
In addition to guitar & banjo, Bat learned to play drums, piano, and bass. After high school he easily found enough work as a Bass player to keep him employed (as well as simultaneously doubling on the Keyboards) for the next 20 years.
He spent a period of time hitchhiking across the US and ultimately landed in San Francisco, where he began polishing his amazing ability to cover almost anything from the Rock, Folk, Country, Soul, Metal and Oldies catalogs, playing on the famous wharf for tourist tips.
1986 Bat met Brenda while in New Mexico, and they were married. They raised three children in the Rio Rancho and Albuquerque area.
Looking for a way to serve his country, Bat began a series of letters to the United States Department Of Defense, and after a year of being directed to this office and that, found himself in a traveling position as an entertainer for US Troops overseas for all branches of US Armed Forces, performing what most people know as USO shows for active duty forces in bases all over the world. Bat has performed for Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Ambassadors and Statesmen not only for the US but also the Emissaries of many lands in over 50 countries. One year became nearly ten, and the touring went on without letup until 2002.
During all this time of travel and performing with bands, Bat had become the Lead Singer in the ensembles he was performing with and, gifted with an incredible voice range, learned to use it in every style, learning to copy with uncanny accuracy the vocal tone & style of the greatest of singers from Journey to Johnny Cash. Touring non-stop, audiences are still awed nightly by his unbelievably versatile voice.
Returning home and performing much less, Bat found other work for a time in a number of ways, but mostly helping Brenda to run her advertising Business in Albuquerque. After a couple of decades of National and International performing, Bat felt he was done with the music business and told Brenda that he was ready to get out. Brenda, however, had other ideas.
The children having grown up and moved away, Brenda was eager to get out on the road and see the country. She convinced Bat to pick up his old 12-string guitar again, and take a run at the music business as a solo guitarist, and she, his manager.
“What can I say?’ admits Bat. “She was right.”
Bat returned to his guitar playing with an intensity that was unstoppable. In all the years of bass playing, Bat had always been practicing on the guitar and doing solo gigs here & there, but now turned his attention to the instrument with a vengeance. Practicing day & night, Bat wrote & recorded the first solo CD “Waiting For Zavala” on only two instruments- 12 String Guitar and voice. The result is what he refers to as “Heavy Folk.” Most others call it acoustic music on steroids. The guitar playing is flashy and impressive, and the melodies are beautiful. Catchy tunes that stick in one’s mind immediately, while studiously avoiding the sound of typical pop radio formula songs.
The second CD “Digital Sculpture” takes folk music to a whole new level. While still recorded strictly with acoustic guitar & voice, the production is more lavish with vocal arrangements and percussion sounds- all of which are produced from drumming on the guitar body in various ways. Digital Sculpture features Bat’s Magnum Opus for acoustic guitar called “Last Stand In Texas’; a three-movement masterpiece of 12 String guitar virtuosity that leaves the audiences standing in the aisles at the shows.

Bat has been touring North America solo now for 5 years from Coast to coast in the USA & Canada. The CDs have been acclaimed worldwide, and have been featured on television shows in Europe. He has been awarded back-to-back songwriting grants from ASCAP for his compositions, and the performances of them.
The latest CD “Tone Poems” was released in late 2015, and is an entire volume of instrumental compositions for Solo Guitar, which includes, in addition to his world renowned 12-String playing, pieces for standard 6-string, and compositions on nylon string classical guitar. There are many short and catchy guitar ditties, one outrageously spoofy character tune, and a few very serious pieces. . . topping the list is Bat’s newest masterwork for Classical Guitar “Mathematics,” a spellbinding labyrinth of Musical corridors. The main thrust of this work is impressionism, and each piece is crafted to evoke images through sound- hence the title.

Bat’s songs themselves range in style from one to another; he uses his knack for versatility generously, covering ground from Big Band Jazz to Country, Doo Wop to Rock. He does not like to have two songs of a similar style on the same CD, and is always searching for a melody better than the one before it. The lyrics are intelligent and sometimes silly, but always poetic & thoughtful. The guitar arrangements, while obviously very difficult to compose and perform, flow beautifully from his fingers and paint a rich atmosphere of sound and impression.
Amazing Guitar, Incredible Voice, Absolutely Delightful Music.
WARNING: NO EXPLICIT LYRICS IN THIS MUSIC!!

Bat is a performer; he does not do 'wallpaper' gigs. This is to say that if you simply want background music for ambience, do not hire him. It is a show, and the audience will be involved.

All lighting and sound are provided by Bat.

Must have covered performance space in the event of inclement weather.
Bat's show runs on 110-120v. He must have his own dedicated circuit. There cannot be anything else on his circuit. Pool pumps, refrigerators, garage door openers, blenders, etc all cause awful buzzing and whirring in speakers. It also causes blown breakers, which will kill a show in an instant. Adequate extension cords (14 gauge or lower) must also be provided if the performance is to take place far from the circuit.

The performance surface must be flat. Bat cannot stand on the slope of a hillside to perform. This may include laying down a plywood (or similar) deck for speakers and performer.

Bat and his wife Brenda like coffee. If you want to make fast friends, have some coffee around.
Payment is due at the completion of the agreed performance.

Bat and Brenda are very good at this; all you really have to do is give them a call, and they'll make sure that your event happens exactly how you want it.