Artist

The Roches

Park Ridge, United States • Formed 1973

The Roches is a music group from Park Ridge, United States, active since 1973. Their discography on Gatefold includes 11 records.

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Albums tracked

In collections

1973

Since

Biography

The Roches (Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy Roche) were a vocal group of three songwriting Irish-American sisters from Park Ridge, New Jersey, known for their "unusual" and "rich" harmonies, quirky lyrics, and casually comedic stage performances. The Roches were active as performers and recording artists from the mid-1970s through 2007, at various times performing as a trio and in pairs. In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21

The Arc of The Roches

The pivots — what forced The Roches to reinvent.

The Frippertronics Audio-Verité Run
Robert Fripp caught their set at the Bottom Line and immediately took them into the studio to produce their 1979 debut. He kept the production hyper-minimalist, letting Maggie's deadpan contralto and the sisters' microtonal intervals breathe on tracks like 'Hammond Song' with his own understated guitar solo. The follow-up 'Nurds' and 'Keep On Doing' kept the eccentric acoustic spine intact, establishing them as folk's premier satirists.
The 1985 Synth-Pop Detour
Warner Bros. pushed for mainstream commercial hits and paired them with producer Howard Faley for 1985's 'Another World.' The stark acoustic guitars got buried under programmed drum machines, bright DX7 synths, and glossy mid-eighties production. It sanded off the organic eccentricity that made their harmonies cut, making the record a strange artifact of major-label overcorrection.
The Independent Revival
Ditching the corporate hit-chasing, they migrated to MCA and later Rykodisc for records like 'Speak' and 'A Dove.' Stewart Lerman and folk veterans stepped into the control room to rebuild the acoustic arrangements and let the sisters' vocal counterpoint lead the mix again. They leaned into children's records, holiday releases, and stripped-down touring, doing it entirely on their own terms until 'Moonswept' in 2007.

Influences

Paul Simon — Maggie and Terre sang backing vocals on Simon's 1973 record 'There Goes Rhymin' Simon' after taking his songwriting workshop at NYU. You can hear his conversational narrative pacing and unexpected acoustic chord movements all over their self-titled debut.
The Carter Family — The Roches routinely cited early Appalachian close-harmony mountain music as the bedrock of their vocal blend. That ancient, tight-knit sibling resonance is all over 'The Train' and 'Keep On Doing'.
The Louvin Brothers — The sisters studied the close, almost abrasive close-harmony duets of Charlie and Ira Louvin when building their own three-part vocal arrangements. You hear that stark, uncompromising country-gospel tension driving tracks like 'Losing True'.
The Weavers — They grew up immersed in the mid-century Greenwich Village folk revival championed by Ronnie Gilbert and Pete Seeger. The group's blend of sharp political wit, community folk tradition, and clear, ringing female lead vocals directly informed Suzzy and Terre's stagecraft.
Robert Johnson — Terre Roche took direct acoustic fingerpicking lessons from the country blues tradition that shaped Johnson's legacy, favoring odd rhythmic accents over straight strums. That idiosyncratic, jagged guitar rhythm gives 'We' and 'Mr. Sellack' their restless bounce.