Val Merza

Val Merza is a songwriter whose work begins with language.

Her music is built around lyrical clarity, emotional precision, and point of view. She writes songs that are meant to be listened to closely, not skimmed. Rather than chasing polish or trends, she focuses on intention: what is being said, why it matters, and how it lands.

Originally from Bergen County, New Jersey, Val is now based in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she writes and performs music shaped by observation, restraint, and honesty. Her songs often explore identity, self-perception, power dynamics, grief, and the quiet moments where people realize something has shifted.

Val’s relationship to music has always been personal rather than performative. After leaving an abusive home environment at eighteen and navigating years of instability, songwriting became a way to make sense of experience rather than escape it. That thoughtful, grounded, and unsentimental lens continues to guide her work.

She holds a degree in Social Science from Ramapo College of New Jersey, a background that informs her interest in how people understand themselves and each other. Before committing fully to music, she worked in wealth management, an experience that clarified what she didn’t want her life to become.

As a performer, Val has played across the Carolinas and beyond, including venues such as The Milestone Club, Petra’s Bar, and The Visulite Theatre, as well as festivals like the Charlotte International Arts Festival and Confluence Carolinas. She has also performed in Nashville (TN), Wilmington (NC), and Atlanta (GA).

In 2023, she was named Artist of the Week by Music Everywhere CLT, and in 2024 received Critic’s Choice for Best Potential Breakthrough Artist from Queen City Nerve.

Val writes and performs music that values clarity over spectacle and intention over excess. Her work is for listeners who care about words, meaning, and perspective, and who are willing to sit with a song long enough for it to say what it’s actually saying.