Bio
“You give me more joy than I ever knew there was”
Ben Echard (pronounced “Eckerd”) is a singer-songwriter/worship leader out of a small city outside of Atlanta, Georgia. He’s been playing, singing, and writing since his dad gave him his first guitar, one of those cheap starter guitars that turns most people off instantly. Instead, Ben was hooked.
Nine jobs and four colleges later, Ben settled in his small city with his beautiful wife and baby girl, leading music at a local church. And as he’s sifted through a lot of worship music over the years, he’s come to a few conclusions: worship music should be some of the best music there is; there’s a lot of good worship music out there, but also A LOT of bad worship music; and there can never be enough GREAT worship music, because we have an infinitely great God.
Ben’s current project, Joy, is his first attempt at making some great worship music. The name of the project comes partly from one of the tracks, “More Joy,” but even more from something he’s been told many times – and only half of those by his parents. He’s been told one of the things he brings to the table in the context of worship leading is joy, a very visible expression that there are few things in this world (if any) sweeter to him than singing songs of worship to His Savior. And he hopes that comes across in all of the songs he writes.
Ben’s got a lot of influences, but many of them aren’t musical. He loves John Steinbeck and Flannery O’Connor, two authors who understand deeply something about the human condition. Musically, his inspirations include John Mayer for his guitar-playing, Jack Johnson for his vibe, and Jon Foreman for his redemptive storytelling.
Currently, Ben leads worship at a local church based in Buford, Georgia, named Grace Community Church. Being on staff there has been one of the sweetest and hardest opportunities of his life, and if you ever asked, he’d happily explain why he sees so much value in the local church.
And in songwriting.