Ronona J members Greg Cohen (from left), Shelley Barnes (MET’00), Art Illman, Dan Brooks (SPH’87,’02), and Craig Ross (SPH’14) outside their Natick practice studio, June 24.

BU Soundcheck

Ronona J

School of Public Health cover band: balancing music and demanding careers

In our new series BU Soundcheck, BU Today features various University bands and singer-songwriters. We talk to them about the stories behind their sound and where they find inspiration for their work.

Dan Brooks and Craig Ross were longtime colleagues before they became bandmates.

The two sat next to each other at the 60th birthday party for their department chair in 2018 when they first started to hatch an idea for what would become the band Ronona J. 

“I’ve always wanted to just get together with other people and play,” rhythm guitarist Brooks (SPH’87,’02) told Ross (SPH’14), adding: “I don’t even care whether anybody else ever sees us.”

At the time, Ross, a bass player, was an SPH research assistant professor of epidemiology (now retired) and Brooks was an SPH associate professor of epidemiology. They soon recruited colleague Greg Cohen, then an SPH research scientist, as the band’s lead guitarist after they noticed him playing during his lunch break in Boston Medical Center’s outdoor courtyard. Shortly after, Brooks reached out to Shelley Barnes (MET’00), the SPH epidemiology department’s senior financial administrator, to ask if she’d like to join the band as a vocalist after he’d heard her singing to herself in her office late one night.

“We started playing at that point, just in my living room,” Brooks says. “Everyone would come over, we would have some food and pick up all the furniture in the living room. And then it kind of just built from there.”

Before long, the group realized that to complete their sound, they needed a drummer. That’s where Brooks’ longtime friend Art Illman came in.

“I had started to practice drums again after a 20-year absence, and then I was invited to Dan’s living room to audition,” Illman recalls. “That’s sort of how it all began.”

By this point, the band had already crafted their name, a fusion of each member’s Massachusetts hometown: ‘Ro’ for West Roxbury (Brooks), ‘no’ for Norwood (Barnes), ‘na’ for Natick (Ross), and ‘J’ for Jamaica Plain (Cohen).

Their current repertoire includes covers of both classic and contemporary rock and blues, as well as a few original songs written by Ross, like “Facebook Friends,” a quippy play on modern social media culture.

“I will say it was very special having the opportunity to play some original music and the way that came together,” Ross says.

Ronona J performed publicly for the first time at Ross’ birthday party, about two months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With music venues closed everywhere, Ross and Cohen, who left BU in 2024, were determined to keep the band going. They began to look for practice space, first in Allston, a neighborhood known to support up-and-coming bands. When they couldn’t find an appropriate space there, they eventually settled on a studio in downtown Natick.

“I’m notorious for never doing things in small measures,” Ross says. “We set some high standards for ourselves, putting together a very professional setup, with good quality sound equipment.”

When pandemic restrictions lifted, the band began performing at local bars and small venues across the Metrowest Boston area, including Skybox 109, a sports bar in Natick.

“The town of Natick seems to really love us,” Cohen says with a laugh.

Most recently, they performed at the Society for Epidemiological Research Annual Meeting, held here in Boston. And thanks to Ross, who is a board member and key funder of The Center for Arts in Natick, the band has secured a gig at the Natick Farmers Market for their next show, this Saturday, June 28. “I’ve always been a very active member of my community,” Ross says. “So I’m able to pull some strings.”

“I’ve learned so much about how a band really comes together to create sets of music that are consumable by an audience,” says Cohen. “It’s one thing to perform the songs. It’s another thing to try to really have a stage presence.”

Their biggest challenge as a group remains balancing their practice and performance schedules with their professional responsibilities. Ross is the only band member who’s retired, and as such, he says, he “can spend as much time on this as I want. Nobody else has that luxury.”

By prioritizing performing at community-based events, rather than paid gigs, band members say they hope to keep their schedules manageable.

“At this point, I think we want to add songs and really expand our repertoire,” Ross says. “We wouldn’t turn down a paid gig, but it’s not going to be the focus of our definition of success as a band.”

Above all, the bandmates agree that they would like to keep playing music, even if it’s just for fun. “It’s just been a wonderful experience,” Barnes says, “and it’s nothing that I’d have thought I would have done.”

Catch Ronona J at the Natick Farmers Market, intersection of Rt. 27 & Rt. 135 in downtown Natick, on Saturday, June 28, from 9 am to noon. 

Are you a BU singer-songwriter or part of a BU band and would like to be considered for an upcoming BU Soundcheck story? Email Eden Mor at edmor@bu.edu.