Americana band Rogue Valley will visit Austin for a week of school residencies staring Feb. 5 followed by a performance featuring local students at the Paramount on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Ensembles from Riverland Community College, Austin High School and MacPhail will be featured on stage during the show.

Rogue Valley, a Minneapolis-based band named after a region in southern Oregon, plays music rich in tone and texture inspired by that landscape and navigating the terrain of love, loss, and wanderlust. Rogue Valley has toured regionally and nationally and shared the stage with The Jayhawks and Spoon.

Ben Stiller's 2014 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty featured their song The Wolves and The Ravens. Rogue Valley’s Minnesota tour is supported by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Currently, the band is comprised of songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Chris Koza, drummer Luke Anderson, keyboardist/vocalist Linnea Mohn, guitarist/vocalist Peter Sieve and bassist/vocalist Paul Engels.

Koza, a native of Portland, first came to Minnesota to attend St. Olaf College where
he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Studio Art (oil painting) and Philosophy. Koza has been writing and recording material as a solo artist and in Rogue Valley since 2004. In 2013, Koza was artist-in-residence with the Hopkins High School Orchestra and in Koochiching County schools. in 2014, Koza toured
nationally with indie pop singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson.

Koza will lead residency experiences for students at Riverland Community College, Austin High School, Ellis Middle School, Gerard Academy and MacPhail. The public is welcome to attend a Song Writing Workshop lead by Koza at the Austin Public Library on Monday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $15 advance/$20 day of and student $10 advance/$15 day of and are available on austinareaart.org or at the ArtWorks Center, 300 N Main St, Tue-Fri 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by phone during business hours at 507-434-0934.

The Austin Area Commission for the Arts presents Rogue Valley school residencies and Paramount performance as part of their mission to harness the power of arts to improve lives and the community through quality arts experiences.