Chris Koza

Composer / Performer Chris Koza is an internationally-recognized Americana artist. Chris has toured the US extensively, sharing the stage with Gordon Lightfoot, Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, Andrew Bird, Stephen Kellogg, and many others. His music appears regularly on ABC’s General Hospital, 60 Minutes, and Good Morning America. His song (Rogue Valley) The Wolves and the Ravens was featured in Ben Stiller’s film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Chris embraces classic Americana with a contemporary feel and utilizes a wide range of textures in creating music rooted in folk and pop, with an emphasis on storytelling. Subtle synthesizers, rich harmonies and pop-music sensibilities interweave with acoustic and electric guitars, earthy pianos, and familiar rhythms. For every song that sounds like it could be strummed from a boxcar clacking slowly across a grassy midwestern plain, there's a tune sailing from a city rooftop, echoing across a valley of streets and traffic, or a melody twisting and shimmering like a dim frequency deep into the starry night. Longtime friend and guitarist Peter Sieve joins Chris for a stretch of duo dates this Spring, throughout the Midwest and Colorado. The pair have been playing and performing music together since meeting over acoustic guitars in the dorms as Freshmen years ago at St. Olaf College. They’ve been at various festivals including SXSW, Iceland Airwaves and CMJ, and have covered long stretches of highway; storytellers in pursuit of a stage. Solo, with Rogue Valley, and his moniker Nobody Kid, Chris has self-produced, written, and released sixteen albums and EP's. In 2023, Rogue Valley released their 6th album Shell Game. Currently, Chris is rediscovering old sessions and reimagining forgotten material for a collection called Graveyard Shift, which revives songs spanning the last twenty years.