What It Is Is "Charlie Music"

That, in a nutshell, is how C.R. Ecker’s wife refers to the words and music her husband has been composing since he joined what was then The Los Angeles Songwriters .

But because there is a pianist named Charlie Ecker who got out of the gate before him, Mrs. Charles Ecker suggested her husband form up as The C.R. Ecker Band.  “Charles Ecker  just sounded way too formal,” noted Linda Ecker.  And going by ‘C.R.’ seemed plenty country to me.”

Coming up on four years since its Summer 2011 launch , The C.R. Ecker Band has racked up an impressive list of wins and nominations – 21 to be exact, backed by power producers Michael Stanton in Los Angeles and Stacy Hogan in Nashville.  Stanton and Gigi Worth are lead vocalists in L.A. with Amber Rose and Mike Lusk behind the mike in Music City.

Among the awards earned —  top honors at both the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and L.A. Music Awards, big Indie music competitions, five awards in five different categories at The Akademia Music Awards, a Hall of Fame citation at Starliner’s Europe, Indie Country Band of the Year at Real Country Radio, Japan, and a close second (3%) at the Independent Country Music Association for “Band of the Year,” in the same year  it earned the country crown at The Independent Music Network.

The group also was named among the ten charter inductees at Nashville’s “official “country Internet radio station, Renegade Radio Nashville, and has been played, at last count, on over 1,200 AM-FM and Internet stations world-wide for the past three and one-half years.

Over 50 critics have been quick to praise what one described as “country with a touch of lush” in C.R. and Company’s music, all written by the band’s leader (with four lyric co-writes.)

Noted Dixie McCorkell, Program Director, TripleStrand Music, “The  C.R. Ecker Band is different than either traditional country or the Nashville cookie cutter music–it’s like it’s taken the best of a couple of genres and blended them together.  They might be onto a new movement.  It’s definitely their OWN sound–a standout ‘apart from the crowd’ sound.  Something we need in this business. ”

Adds Gary Swind, of AXS Entertainment, “The C.R. Ecker Band is a good example of what’s good with country music. The band’s sound is pop enough to appeal to a broad audience, but not so pop that it sounds like a lot of the bands coming out of Nashville. The themes of the songs are familiar, but this band presents them so they don’t seem tired. In other words, the band sounds familiar, but still refreshing. If you’ve been looking for some new country artists, The C.R. Ecker Band is a great place to start.”

So for ‘Charlie Music,” what it is is very impressive!

What It Is Is "Charlie Music"