Photo Credit: Andrew Holtz

Photo Credit: Andrew Holtz

BIO

I'm a writer, singer-songwriter, and actor. For two decades, I've been releasing music that you can stream right now through your favorite platforms. I’ve had roles on Vinyl (HBO), 30 Rock (NBC), and Ugly Betty (ABC) and been featured in a bunch of commercials, although I don’t do much acting anymore. My book, Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel, was a New York Times bestseller based on the hit Broadway show. My debut novel, The Reminders, was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers selection. My latest novel Maybe We’re Electric was published in 2021. I live in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA.

My surname is pronounced with a hard “k” sound at the end. Like the city of Munich. I tell you all about it here.

Here are some of the nonprofit organizations whose causes I support:

PRESS 

STAR LEDGER
Prolific, endearing…one of New Jersey’s best-loved singer-songwriters for a decade.

NEW YORK TIMES
Val Emmich may not be the first rock singer-songwriter to see a major-label record deal go sour, but he’s one of the few who seems to be getting the last laugh….To start, there is his still-thriving music career….He has also just completed a novel….Last but probably not least, there is his day job [where] Emmich has been drawing a paycheck by smooching with the actresses Tina Fey and Lucy Liu on the sets of the TV shows “30 Rock” and “Cashmere Mafia”….[Emmich] has fully rediscovered himself artistically…. [It’s] shaping up to be a multiplatform reinvention.

VANITY FAIR
From the state that brought you Bruce Springsteen comes strong, emotional Val Emmich.

NEW YORK TIMES
Fans of the pugnacious early Joe Jackson should appreciate the blunt songs of Val Emmich, whose wounds and vindictive streak are barely contained by his terse rock tunes.

THE AQUARIAN
Emmich is a guy that would sound good writing country, blues, pop or Louisiana Cajun for that matter. The direction matters less at this point than the content he continues to deliver from within.

JERSEY BEAT
TV fans know him from ‘Ugly Betty’ or ‘30 Rock,’ or maybe one of his many TV commercials. But here in New Jersey, we know Val Emmich is a musician first and actor second. The singer/songwriter…started on an indie, went through the major label meatgrinder, and now he’s self-releasing himself digitally. Do yourself a favor and download.

STAR LEDGER
A warm, empathetic songwriter with an ear for hard-to-resist hooks.

OUTBURN
It isn’t often that an artist can capture the poppiness of such artists like the Foo Fighters and the Dave Matthews Band with the indie heart of Ben Kweller and Bright Eyes.

AMPLIFIER
You want naked emotion? This guy has it in spades.

STAR TRIBUNE
Val Emmich is a New Jersey kid with a whopping falsetto and restless soul that takes him into such random territory as indie disco numbers and angsty punk anthems.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Val Emmich is too smart to be either too emo or too sensitive. Think Joesph Arthur with Rufus Wainwright’s emotionalism and Pete Yorn’s pop instincts.

JERSEY BEAT
I’m happy that one of New Jersey’s most talented young artists has opted for personal fulfillment over jockeying to be the next American Idol. We need more Val Emmichs in this world.