ochsongs.com

Michael Hunter Ochs has quietly established himself as one of the more versatile songwriters in America today. His music has been recorded in genres including pop, country, rock, classical-crossover, contemporary Christian and Safro Jazz. His song “On My Knees” was awarded Song Of The Year honors from both the Gospel Music Association (Dove Award) and the Nashville Songwriters International Association and spent 14 weeks at #1. His music has been featured in numerous major motion picures including The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, The Terminal and My Super Ex-Girlfriend and can also be heard on many television soundtracks such as The Simpsons, X Factor, True Blood and The New Adventures Of Old Christine. Major label cuts include Josh Groban, Jaci Velasquez, Kimberly Caldwell, Teitur, Cece Winans and Nathan Pacheco. Michael is also co-writing internationally with numerous cuts and singles in Europe such as Max Buskohl, Indica and A1.

In addition to his success in contemporary popular music, Ochs is universally recognized as a breakthrough composer in Hebrew/Jewish worship music. On any given Friday evening his music can be heard in synagogues around the world. He has been honored with performances at some of the most respected Jewish Institutions including The Jewish Museum of Berlin (for the 70th Commemoration of Kristallnacht) and London's Leo Baeck Rabbinical College.

Though Michael's first paying gig in music was at the age of 12, it was just recently that he truly experienced and understood the transformative power of a song. As a founding member of the band, My Favorite Enemy, Michael has been writing and performing in the Middle East (10 visits to the region and counting) and Europe with a group talented and courageous Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian and Norwegian songwriters and recording artists. “For some,” explains Ochs, “simply being a member of this unlikely collaboration poses enormous risk.” However, that has not deterred the group from bringing their message of change and hope to a part of the world that has experienced more than its fair share of conflict. “I've seen these songs and this band bring the most stoic of ambassadors to tears. I've witnessed people who had considered themselves eternal enemies, break down in each others arms. It was very humbling...and, I finally realized in my bones why I write songs.”