Saturday,

September 11, 2021

The Caravan du Nord is a traveling showcase of Minnesota music, bringing top regional acts, emerging bands and music industry professionals to towns across Greater Minnesota for a weekend of workshops, networking and performances. This annual fall tour has presented more than 200 artists to audiences totaling more than 10,000. The Caravan du Nord is an ongoing project of the Minnesota Music Coalition.

Workshops and networking event are free to attend.
Please register for workshops and networking here.

Workshop | 3:00 pm - 3:50 pm
Songwriting w/ Chris Koza
Theatre L'Homme Dieu
1875 County Road 120, Alexandria

Workshop | 4:00 pm - 4:50 pm
Public relations and marketing for independent musicians
Theatre L'Homme Dieu
1875 County Road 120, Alexandria

Industry Social Hour | 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Theatre L'Homme Dieu
1875 County Road 120, Alexandria

Concert | 7:30 pm
Brianna Kocka, Jillian Rae, Chris Koza
Theatre L'Homme Dieu
1875 County Road 120, Alexandria

Brianna Kočka

Brianna Kočka is a singer-songwriter and producer from Minneapolis, MN. She has shared the stage with Marc Cohn, The Cult, and has had her music featured on General Hospital, 20/20, Betrayed, Siesta Keys and many other television shows. Evoking the instrumentation of Joni Mitchell, the intimacy of Nick Drake and mournful harmonies of Americana pioneer Gillian Welch, Kočka’s songs are both autobiographical and fantasy, documents of facing phantoms, and fleeing them.

In 2021 Brianna will release her fourth solo album, Let It Stay, her most masterful and challenging work to date. Let It Stay takes you on a sonic journey from chaos to calm, depicting the juxtaposition of closeness and longing both through lyric and sound. It will be available on all platforms May 14, 2021.

Previous releases include: Three Songs (2019), an autobiographical look at love, loss, and grief; Dreamlife (2018); and Write by Night (2010). Brianna also wrote, sang and played in the psychedelic/trip hop band Sun Gods to Gamma Rays between 2012-2015, who released two albums. She has also released one album of indie-rock songs (The Black EP) under an alter-ego, CAETANI, in 2011.

SOCIALS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannakocka/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briannakockamusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/briannakocka

Website: https://www.briannakocka.com

Jillian Rae

Lauded as a “triple threat on vocals, fiddle and composition” (Star Tribune), Jillian Rae is a fiercely unique spirit who cares more about making authentic music than about fitting into a tidy box. The Minneapolis-based, classically trained violinist turned country fiddler has become a commanding international presence--writing powerful genre-bending songs, heading up her own critically acclaimed rock/pop band and backing up Grammy-winning acts like The Okee Dokee Brothers.

Although she got her start playing with folk and country bands, Rae’s latest album I Can’t Be the One You Want Me to Be (2019) took a decided turn into pop and rock with unflinching, hard-hitting songs. It also showcased her orchestration abilities with layered violin tracks saturated in heavy grooves and moody arrangements. The album’s final track “Wayward One” was featured prominently in the hit Chinese film The White Storm 2 and has catapulted her into near stardom in China. Rae is also an in-demand producer and session player, known for her soaring pop orchestrations. She is currently working on a new album.

SOCIALS

instagram.com/jraemusic

facebook.com/jraemusic

youtube.com/jillianraeviolin

jillianraemusic.com

Chris Koza

Chris Koza is a composer and performer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both solo and with his band Rogue Valley, he has supported and shared the stage with artists such as Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, The Jayhawks, Neko Case, Kathleen Edwards, Dan Wilson, Stephen Kellogg, This is the Kit, and Tift Merrit, among others. His music appears regularly on ABCʼs General Hospital and 60 Minutes, and his song “Be Wild” will be featured as the soundtrack to an upcoming State of Minnesota tourism campaign. His song (Rogue Valley) “The Wolves and the Ravens” was featured in Ben Stillerʼs film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Sleepwalkers Part 1 is Chrisʼs seventh solo release, following Exit Pesce (2004), Patterns (2006), A Friend of a Friend EP (2006), The Dark Delirious Morning (2008), In Real Time (2014), and Beyond the Divide: A Film Soundtrack (2014). Additionally, Chris has alsoreleased 5 albums with his band Rogue Valley and 2017ʼs electro-pop collection Off The Screen under the moniker Nobody Kid.

In addition to releasing and producing his own music, Chris is also involved with other projects including performing with Minnesota-based artists The New Standards and Little Fevers. Chris also records and produces other artists, most recently 2 EPs for buzzworthy rockers Early Eyes.

The music Chris produces is rooted in Americana but heeds its own spirit. Born out of folk, country, storytelling and rock ʼn roll, Chris both honors and builds on Americana traditions by incorporating a unique pop-music sensibility, subtle synthesizers, rich harmonies, and imaginative production choices. But despite late-night deep dives in the studio, Chris never strays from the core of the song itself and isnʼt afraid to let a raw vocal and woodsy acoustic guitar deliver the story. Chris performs solo, as a duo, and with a band of almost any other configuration.

Genre: Indie-folk rock