Rachel Eckroth


Rachel Eckroth is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist from Phoenix, Arizona. She is currently the keyboardist for singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright after being the keyboardist for jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, and The Meredith Vieira Show.

Biography

Rachel Eckroth was born into a musical family and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. As a high school student, she was already performing in the Phoenix jazz scene and had the mentorship of former Count Basie vocalist Dennis Rowland. She then went to study at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas receiving her BA in Jazz Performance. In 2001, Eckroth moved to New York City and studied under jazz pianist Stanley Cowell at Rutgers University before receiving her MFA in Jazz Piano.
In 2005 Eckroth released her debut album Mind with bassist Kevin Thomas and drummer Chris Benham. Later, Eckroth joined saxophonist Arun Luthra to release the album Louder Than Words in 2009.
In 2014, Eckroth released her album Let Go, which began her pursuit of singer-songwriter music. Later that year, she also released Makeover Volume 1, an EP featuring pop covers of her musical influences.
Eckroth was also the keyboardist for The Meredith Vieira Show house band from 2014 to 2016 before joining the backing band for singer-songwriter KT Tunstall in 2016. She then began her role as the keyboardist for Chris Botti in 2017.
In 2017 Eckroth also formed a fusion jazz group called Antelog, who released their self-titled debut album that same year. In addition, Eckroth served as the assistant music director for the 2017 Women's March in Washington DC.
Eckroth released her new album When It Falls in September 2018. The album features many guest musicians including bassist Tim Lefebvre, guitarist Doyle Bramhall II, Matt Chamberlain and guitarist Derek Trucks. In May 2018, she released her first single from the album titled "Dark Waters".
Eckroth is currently the keyboardist for singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and was also the supporting act for his All These Poses Anniversary Tour in 2018-2019. She released the single "I'll Try" with singer-songwriter Althea Grace in 2019, along with two singles "Dale Cooper" and "Laura Palmer" with Antelog. In 2020, she released another single "Get U Ready", and she was featured on saxophonist Donny McCaslin's single "Circling".

Discography

As Leader/Co-Leader

Rachel Eckroth