Val Merza

Hailing from Bergen County, New Jersey, avid singer-songwriter and musician Val Merza is a force to be reckoned with. Despite having just moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in June of 2022, Val has taken the Charlotte music scene by storm and now works as a full-time musician performing across the Carolinas and beyond. She has performed at some of the most prominent establishments in Charlotte, including The Milestone Club, The Evening Muse,  Skylark Social Club, and Petra's Bar.

Val has a passion for songwriting and connecting with others through powerful, illustrative storytelling that captures all facets of the human experience and highlights the ways in which we are far more similar than we are different. Val can engage any crowd effortlessly with emotionally-charged lyrics, catchy melodies, and captivating storylines.

Val, still then a high school student, left her family home on her eighteenth birthday to escape an abusive home environment. Despite enduring homelessness for several years, Val is a graduate from Ramapo College of New Jersey with a bachelor's degree in Social Science - a degree chosen out of her fascination with people and her desire to understand them. She then proceeded to get admitted to some of the most prestigious law programs in the country, but those options were ripped away by sudden health complications. After law school was eliminated as an option, Val worked in wealth management for some time before she realized that there was more to life than a nine-to-five desk job in northern New Jersey. 

Val has performed at several venues across the Carolinas, including but not limited to The Evening Muse, The Milestone Club, and Skylark Social Club. She has also traveled to perform in Nashville (TN), Wilmington (NC) and Atlanta (GA) and has performed at several festivals, including the Charlotte International Arts Festival and the Confluence Carolinas Festival in Charlotte. She was also named Artist of the Week by Music Everywhere CLT in May 2023 and has played Sofar Sounds shows in Charlotte and Raleigh with more shows scheduled in the future.

Playing guitar, ukulele, piano, and singing, Val also enjoys taking requests, interacting with the crowd, and tailoring her extensive setlist to the audience's preferences. Her repertoire consists of an acoustic variety including contemporary pop, folk and indie covers as well as her own original music, which draws  inspiration from artists like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Alec Benjamin.

Val's debut single "This Is My 23" was available for streaming on all platforms and has become a favorite among locals and beyond with over 14,000 streams within 6 months of its release before being taken down by Spotify. Her latest single "Hey, Stranger" is available for streaming on most platforms. She is currently on her second tour, "The Colors Tour" which she will finish off at Petra's Bar in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, May 11 with special guests the Lisa DeNovo Band and Zac Robins to celebrate her EP "Colors" which will be available on Friday, May 10!

For business and booking inquiries, please contact Val at: val@valmerza.com

Connect with Val on Facebook and Instagram @valmerzamusic