biography
Bill Ekhoff’s country stylings are not rooted in trends or bubblegum catchiness whose glory only fades. Rather Ekhoff roots his music in solid songwriting, grounding his songs in strength of character and lasting artistic quality. Even his influences come more from those who create the songs than those who perform them. “I am influenced by writers more than performers,” he says. “My favorite writers are not performers.” His melodies unfailingly strike the right emotional chord. A Bill Ekhoff song has real heart for real country music.
Make Your Escape and Turn Their Heads
Ekhoff is out to create country music that grabs your attention, keeps it and makes you want to walk into the music. Ekhoff’s creative process is more than a method for making music. Music is his route to peace. “Music puts me in a good mood,” he says. “I make my escape in music.” His songwriting is powerful enough to create flesh-and-blood stories with three dimensions – the kind of places in which the listener can find escape as well. And Ekhoff’s ear-grabbing music has no problem drawing musical pilgrims into his world of country tunes. He is a conscientious songwriter and is always seeking ways to catch the listener with the right hook and keep him with the strength of the material. “I want to write and perform songs that will make people turn their heads. I want them to say, "Did you hear that?”
The Artist at Work
Ekhoff opened last summer for Lee Brice, who achieved fame with 2007’s No. 1 country hit “More Than a Memory,” performed by Garth Brooks, and Brice’s own Top 40 “She Ain’t Right.” Ekhoff has deals with four different music publishers, encompassing 14 of his songs. The Seventh Annual Great American Song Contest named him a winner while he ranked as a semi-finalist in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition. He’s also nabbed awards from VH1 and Billboard. Ekhoff is at work on new material; he’s already gotten stellar feedback for his newest soon to be recorded song “Battlefield of Love." The end of August found Ekhoff wrapping up his first recording project at Bayou Recording Studio in Nashville. Since it's release Ekhoff has enjoyed radio promotion from Kim's World of Talent, WALW 98.3 Moulton Alabama, and Triplestrand Production's "Country Legends in the Making" syndicated world-wide on am and fm stations. Due to this promotion Ekhoff's songs are being played in Australia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Norway and Japan to name a few. Norway's National top 40 ranked "The Code" at #16 and "What I Didn't Want To Know" at #27 for the week of February 8, 2008. Ekhoff's song "What I Didn't Want To Know" a couple weeks later reached #13 in Spain, 2 clicks behind Alan Jackson's "Small Town Southern Man." The project is now available at iTunes Stores in the U.S., Australia/N.Z., Canada, UK/European Union, Japan, and on Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, GroupieTunes and Amazon MP3.
Critiques at www.garageband.com have praised his work, declaring him an artist “destined for success” and saying of one of his tunes, “This song is well-written, with excellent lyrics that paint the picture with your first love.” One reviewer asked this question; “Can you say perfection?” Ekhoff is currently working with A&R Select, the world’s leading independent artist development firm, based out of Los Angeles, CA.
“Bill Ekhoff’s country music is for people and about people; he writes with passion and understanding.” – A&R Select
