Going LIVE at 7pm pst TONIGHT with a Memorial Set of songs by influential artists who have passed away in the last 10 years. 

7pm PST on FACEBOOK at Joel Eckels Music 

THE VAN WAGENEN TRIFECTA - EVERY WEDNESDAY 

Before my set on Wednesdays, 

don't forget to check out my cousin, Erik Kjelland 

at 7pm cst/5pm pst at The Mascot Theory 

and then... 

my brother Shawn Eckels at 7pm mst/6pm pst

HOME is now available on all streaming platforms!! 

Check it out wherever you like to listen to music! 

HOW YOU CAN HELP: 

So, the more listens I have (especially this week), it helps the song get noticed and added to different promotion channels so it has a chance to circulate. 

Please share with anyone you know that you think might dig it! 

SPOTIFY: 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2Oof9iBdiZHncPsB8tUaTp 

iTUNES: 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/home-single/1514276698 

GOOGLE: 

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Joel_Eckels_Home?id=Bnzuo55drfq56ynmg7xwc2xofhu&hl=en_US 

...and a whole bunch more! 

Just search "Joel Eckels Home" wherever you like to stream music. Thanks! 

SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS: 

Special thanks to Tamir Barzilay for always being the best drummer to play my music. 

To Clay Blair for laying down some bass guitar and mastering the track. 

Special thanks to Wes Poland for putting in a lot of hours helping me get this song where it needed to be. I am very happy with how it turned out. Happy to finally be recording and mixing my own music! 

Extended thanks to Cathy Heller Reinstein for inspiring me to write this song a little while back. 

And last but not least, thanks to Logan Metz for helping my with the final draft of the artwork. It turned out great. 

Oh...and one more thing. 

That's my Grandpa and Nana Eckels on the front porch of the house that my dad grew up in. It's located in Mineral Point Wisconsin and is now currently inhabited by my cousin Chausti Weinbrenner from my mom's side of the family. Lots of memories across different generations of the Eckels clan. It was a perfect photo to use. 

Enjoy your Tuesday. 

Thanks for your support!

I'm happy to finally announce that "HOME" will be released on all streaming platforms next Tuesday, May 26th.

TONIGHT, I'll be back with another Quarantine Live Stream at 7pm pst!

TUNE IN:

www.facebook.com/joeleckelsmusic

It's WEDNESDAY and I'M BACK on the QUARANTINE LIVE STREAM TONIGHT at 7pm PST!

TUNE IN at www.facebook.com/joeleckelsmusic

Don't forget the FAMILY TRIFECTA!

My cousin, Erik Kjelland of The Mascot Theory is on at 7pm CST (5pm PST)

My brother Shawn Eckels is on at 7pm MST (6pm PST)

I'm on right after!

See you TONIGHT!

-Joel

PRE-RELEASE of "HOME" TODAY ONLY! 
I'm doing a special pre-release of my new single, "HOME" exclusively on Bandcamp!! 
Very excited to finally get this song to you! 

You can get it exclusively TODAY ONLY! 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 

It will be available on all of the other platforms soon, but today you can support me and my music by downloading it, since 100% of the money is going to the artists as a one day offer from the good people at Bandcamp. Every little bit helps right now! 

WAIT, THERE'S MORE... 

I will also be performing a special afternoon set TODAY at 3pm PST to help promote this exclusive release! 

TUNE IN on FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM 
FB: facebook.com/joeleckelsmusic 
IG: @joeleckels 

Take care everyone! 

-Joel

I'll be back online TONIGHT at 7pm PST for another hour of music from my home to yours.

Gonna pull out some new songs, ideas, old favorites and some of my favorite covers. 

JOIN ME

on

FACEBOOK

or

INSTAGRAM 

ALSO, DON'T FORGET:

My brother Shawn Eckels will be playing an hour before me at 6pm PST / 7pm MST if you'd like to tune in and let him rock your face off! 

My cousin Erik Kjelland will also be playing an hour before my brother at 5pm PST / 7pm CST to kick off the family rock block!

PLEASE JOIN MY MAILING LIST so I can keep you up to date with news and other online shows

Hey everyone! Hope you're all holding up okay out there.

Tomorrow night, I'll be back for another streaming show of my own...

THIS TIME, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

WED, APRIL 15TH

at 7pm PST

*Join me for a set of my favorite cover tunes and originals and who knows what else!

TUNE IN at www.facebook.com/joeleckelsmusic

WEDNESDAY NIGHT (April 8th), I'll be back online playing a bunch of BILL WITHERS tunes and various original tunes for ya. Hope you tune in!

Help me spread the word by starting a WATCH PARTY with your friends that you think will dig my set.

Don't forget that SHAWN ECKELS will be playing an hour before me and my cousin, ERIK KJELLAND will be an hour before that if you'd like to tune in!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8TH

LIVE FROM QUARANTINE

7pm CST - ERIK KJELLAND

7pm MST - SHAWN ECKELS

7pm PST - JOEL ECKELS

MORE things to click:

FACEBOOK: @joeleckelsmusic

INSTAGRAM: @joeleckels 

Tips/Donate: 
Venmo: @joel-eckels 
Paypal: joeleckels@gmail.com

MUSICARES COVID-19 RELIEF FUND

HOTEL CAFE EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

MUSIC GIVES TO ST JUDE KIDS

A department of ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL

I post this last Friday after receiving the news that Bill Withers had passed away.

I wanted to share it again with my fans in his honor...

FRIDAY, APRIL 3RD, 2020 

I've been at a loss for words all morning. I guess I found a bunch to make up for it this afternoon... 

Today, the world is mourning a legend and musical hero that blessed us with his talent and gift of song. 

For me, BILL WITHERS was so much more. To me, he was a true friend, musical mentor and all around jedi master with deep wisdom and compassion. 

I first met Bill in 2008 after his daughter Kori and I became friends and started playing music together. I’ll never forget the day Kori said, “we’re going to rehearse at my dad’s house.” Just meeting Kori was surreal since her dad had been such major influence on my own music already. At that time, I was literally in the middle of a phase where I was constantly listening to and studying Bill Withers' albums. I always found a connection to him because he had the perfect balance of funk groove and acoustic songwriting. I was in the middle of a deep dive of inspiration when I met Kori. We became fast friends and it eventually lead to us playing together over our mutual love for her dad’s music. 

That first day at Bill’s house was mind-blowing. There was a film crew and a bunch of musicians looking to me for direction. I knew I had a choice as music director that day. I could be intimidated, or I could choose to trust my instincts. I chose to trust. Meeting Bill was incredible in itself. He sat with us as we went through the songs and, as Kori and I worked through the arrangements with the band, Bill would chime in as well. He quickly acknowledged my ideas and choices, and a mutual respect was immediately established. We had these great moments of riffing off of each other’s ideas that day that began one of the most amazing relationships of my life. 

When I got back to my apartment later that day, I remember walking in the door and saw that I had my vinyl records out with this picture of Bill’s big smiling face staring right back at me. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. It was like a dream. 

We continued to work together over the next couple years producing shows for Kori and getting to know each other. One day I asked Bill if I could get his help on an arrangement of a cover song I wanted to do and he invited me and my whole band over to work on it. I couldn’t believe it. So, Tamir Barzilay, Mark Corben and I went over to Bill’s and, instead of working on the cover arrangement, he asked me about my own songs. I was beside myself. That turned into us working on my music once a week at Bill’s house for the next 2 months. It was a time I’ll never forget as long as I live. The wisdom and mentorship we got from those sessions was an absolute dream come true. 

Bill and I remained friends and continued to stay in touch. Getting text messages from Bill Withers was always a trip. We had a lot of moments of connection, humor and, at times, tough love. One day, he gave me one of the biggest compliments of my life by telling me that I’m a great songwriter. He also asked me a hard question of whether I every considered having someone else sing my tunes because he wasn’t sure if my voice was the best to deliver the songs in a way that would get them the attention they deserve. I took it well, though it was tough to hear. The next day, he called me to apologize and tell me he didn’t want to pull me off of my game and that he’s just an old guy that doesn’t necessarily know anything about the modern music world. I was okay with it and understood where he was coming from and that it was partly a matter of taste as much as there was some truth in what he said. 

A year or so later, I invited him to go see the Alabama Shakes and Michael Kiwanuka at the Fonda Theater. To my surprise, he told me he would love to. I got us set up with VIP seating all to ourselves in the balcony and we ended up having the best time. Before the show, he brought up that tough conversation to let me know that what he meant was similar to Carole King and how it wasn’t until singers like Aretha Franklin brought attention to her songs that people started paying attention to who Carole King was an artist. I appreciated the compassion he showed me and that he genuinely wanted me to understand what he meant and not take it the wrong way. 

We watched the Alabama Shakes and Bill was in my ear the entire set talking about how much he loved Brittany Howard and how she and the band were the real deal. He was like a kid watching his new favorite band. We went backstage where he turned on the charm for a room full of admirers in awe of him. His larger than life presence even accidentally scared off Juliette Lewis, who was trying to come backstage and say hi in the middle of him telling stories. She ran off before he could tell her he was just messing with her. (I was able to clear that up later with her, don't worry…). I’ll never forget that night and my one-on-one hang with Bill. My friend, Andy Tennille caught some amazing photos from that night. 

About a month ago, Kori came over to see my new house in Laurel Canyon and catch up. She told me that her dad wanted me to come by and see him. I text him the next day and he invited me over. I spent a couple hours with him where we sat and watched Youtube videos about Elgin Baylor and listened to some demos he was working on with Kori. He was older and more scattered than usual, but he was Still Bill, the wise genius with a clever sarcastic sense of humor that will forever go unmatched. He expressed how much he appreciated me coming over and thanked me for visiting him. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see him.  

My heart goes out to his family. Kori and Todd love their dad so much and have lived every day to make him proud. Marcia, his incredible wife is one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. This is going to be a difficult loss for them and I send them all of the love I have to find peace with his passing. After speaking to Kori this morning, I found some peace of my own and was assured that they will get through this time with the love of the people close to them and all of the millions of people touched by his music and legacy. 

Thanks for letting me share a little about what Bill means to me.   
I’ll be listening to his music all day.  

Do yourself a favor and put on “Bill Withers - Live at Carnegie Hall”.   
It is one of the greatest live albums of all time and gives a great representation of who Bill Withers was as a person as well as a musical genius.   
If you want to go deeper, listen to his albums, find the STILL BILL DOCUMENTARY and all of the amazing interviews he did on Youtube.   
There’s so much to take in to inspire you and fill your soul.   
I'll be sharing some as the days go by I'm sure. 

His music will live on forever as some of the greatest songs ever written. 
I’m happy to know that the world will continue to be inspired by him and his words. 
I’m gonna miss my mentor and friend. 

RIP BILL WITHERS

I'll be back online TONIGHT at 7pm PST for another hour of music from my home to yours. Gonna pull out some new songs, ideas, old favorites and some of my favorite covers.

JOIN ME on FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM

My brother Shawn Eckels will be playing an hour before me at 6pm PST / 7pm MST if you'd like to tune in and let him rock your face off!

PLEASE JOIN MY MAILING LIST so I can keep you up to date with news and other online shows