Randy Bachman’s current BTO lineup includes his son Tal Bachman, whose 1999 Australian hit “She’s So High” is now part of his father’s set, and Tal’s wife Coco on drums.
by Paul Cashmere
Bachman-Turner Overdrive will bring a distinctly Bachman family lineup to Australia in February 2027, with Randy Bachman joined by his son Tal Bachman and Tal’s wife Coco, creating a direct connection between the band’s past and its present. One of the more unexpected additions to the BTO set is Tal’s “She’s So High”, the song that became a major Australian hit for him in 1999.
For Australian audiences, “She’s So High” has its own history. Released by Tal Bachman in 1999, the song became one of the defining international hits of his solo career and was certified Gold in Australia. More than two decades later, it has found a new home in the Bachman-Turner Overdrive setlist, performed by Tal alongside the songs his father wrote during BTO’s original run.
Randy Bachman confirmed the development in a Noise11 interview ahead of BTO’s 2027 Australian tour.
“My son Tal does his big hit ‘She’s So High’, and he’s playing in the band guitar and singing,” Randy said.
Tal is not simply a guest brought in for the Australian shows. He has become part of the current Bachman-Turner Overdrive lineup, a role that Randy describes as a natural extension of a relationship with the band that began when Tal was a child.
“There’s a picture if you look in the book or on the internet of Tal two years of age with beautiful white-blonde hair sitting on my brother Robbie’s drums and my brother teaching him how to play,” Randy said.
Watch the full 2026 Noise11 interview with Randy Bachman here:
Tal initially grew up playing drums before moving to guitar and piano. His connection to BTO therefore predates his own recording career, and his presence in the band gives the current lineup a direct family link to the musicians who established the group in the 1970s.
That connection extends to the drum stool.
Tal’s wife, Coco, is now BTO’s drummer. Randy says she has developed a playing style closely connected to his late brother Robbie Bachman, the original BTO drummer.
“She channels my brother Robbie,” Randy said. “She plays all the drum riffs exactly like Robbie played them.”
For Randy, that detail is particularly significant because the loss of his brothers has been one of the hardest parts of the later chapter of his career.
Randy lost three brothers, Gary, Tim and Robbie, within three years. Gary was closely involved in his career as a manager, while Tim and Robbie were part of the Bachman-Turner Overdrive story. Robbie was the drummer who helped establish the distinctive rhythmic character of the band, while Tim was a key member of the lineup.
“I lost all three brothers in three years,” Randy told Noise11. “Gary, who was our manager, Tim and Robbie.”
The distance surrounding their deaths made the experience even more difficult for Randy. He explained that he was unable to travel to Winnipeg for their services because he could no longer fly.
“So to me, they’re still with me,” he said. “I never said goodbye to them.”
Rather than remove his brothers from the BTO story, Randy has incorporated them into the band’s live presentation. Video footage of Robbie and Tim plays behind the band during the show, including material from television appearances and performances from BTO’s earlier years.
Randy says the result allows the past and present versions of BTO to occupy the same stage. Tal and Coco are now part of a lineup that can perform the classic material while also visually and musically acknowledging the musicians who created it.
The current BTO set therefore carries several generations of the Bachman story at once. Randy performs songs from Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who, Tal brings “She’s So High” into the programme, and Coco’s drumming provides a link to Robbie’s original role in the band.
For Australian audiences, there is an additional historical connection. BTO’s 2027 tour will take the current lineup through Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, giving Australian fans their first opportunity to see this version of the band.
The Melbourne performance will be at the Palais Theatre, a venue with its own rock history. Randy was told during the Noise11 interview that The Rolling Stones played their first Melbourne show there in 1965, with Roy Orbison as the opening act.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Australian visit will therefore be more than a return to the catalogue Randy created in the 1970s. With Tal and Coco now inside the lineup, the shows represent a continuation of the Bachman family story, with “She’s So High” sitting alongside “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, “Taking Care Of Business”, “Let It Ride” and the other songs that established BTO.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive Australian Tour 2027
February 3, Brisbane, Fortitude Music Hall
February 5, Sydney, Enmore Theatre
February 7, Melbourne, Palais Theatre
February 9, Adelaide, Thebarton Theatre
February 11, Perth, Astor Theatre
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