Singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitarist Kris Roche hails from Kyoto, Japan. Born to an American father and Japanese mother, Kris's multicultural background plays an important part in his compositional process. His songs are philosophical, romantic, sometimes with an activist or political bent, but all are influenced by his experience as a musician between cultures.
As a fourth semester student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Roche has found ample opportunities to perform at various venues around the city, including All Asia in Cambridge, Harper's Ferry in Boston and a show at Punch's Alley at Wellesley College.
Sometimes he is listed as a solo acoustic performer and other times he plays with his band Kris Roche & Friends.
At Berklee, Roche's principal instrument is drums. It was not until last summer that he began to experiment with writing music for acoustic guitar. After getting a couple of Berklee friends together to play, Roche found he had sufficient material to get the group out and start playing gigs. Kris Roche & Friends consists of Ayumi Ueda on backup vocals, Sanson on guitar, Yasuaki Ogata on bass, Noriko Terada on percussion, and Jon Wood on drums. Roche's main influences are Sister Hazel, Jason Mraz, and The Beatles and most of his songs have a similar laid-back, reflective or folksy quality; yet in performance Kris Roche & Friends play a surprising variety, including a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and original compositions such as the wistful "Cheap Wine," the light and catchy "Both of Us," and "Zero," which rocks out a little harder than the rest of the repertoire.
This summer the band is scheduled to play a number in a concert at Carnegie Hall. In the meantime, Roche intends to keep playing gigs around the Boston area as he widens his audience base and continues to reach out and communicate with his listeners.
"My music has always been about conveying simple truths to people," Roche says. "Whether it's how we behave when we're in love, misunderstood, or rejected, emotion is what connects us all."
Kris Roche & Friends will be performing at All Asia in Cambridge on Friday, April 4 at 8pm. For more information or to listen to Roche's music, visit www.myspace.com/krisroche.