After two years spent wielding a backpack and guitar through Asia and Europe for her Global Studies degree, Kora Feder ("fee-der") moved back to the U.S. with a uniquely keen eye for capturing the details and feelings of a place and time. Known for carefully crafted songs that often contain a novel's worth of words without feeling overcrowded, Kora has landed songwriting praise for her wordsmithery and impassioned delivery. After comparing her to Anais Mitchell, Rich Warren (of Folkstage & FAI) called Kora "the most talented new singer-songwriter I've heard in the past decade”.
Originally from Davis, California where she was (and occasionally still is) a touring member of her mother (Rita Hosking)’s country folk band, Kora has performed her solo work on stages across the world; from a weekend special on Thai PBS in Bangkok, to town halls in Canada, to folk festivals and house shows across the United States. After playing Northern California’s beloved Strawberry Music Festival in 2018 alongside acts like Greg Brown and Del McCoury, Feder’s main stage solo set was described as “brilliant and life changing” by music veteran Joe Craven.
Kora’s 2019 full length album ‘In Sevens’ was produced by Rich Brotherton (of Robert Earle Keen, Patty Griffin) in Austin, TX. The album drew comparisons to Pete Seeger’s writing (Roots Music Report) and Iris Dement’s voice (Americana Highways, Minor 7th). "This plush and emotionally valiant collection of tunes has an ability to scratch out borders and barriers, aerating life into a singular boundless space, if only for a few stirring moments,” wrote The Sacramento Bee. In Sevens spent four months on US Folk Radio charts. I’d Be a Maria, a von Trapp inspired song on the record, has surpassed a million streams on Spotify.
As people across the world started hunkering down for quarantine in 2020, Kora described her own experience with a new song: In a Young Person’s Body. “It strikes me as the first great folk song to be written during/about the pandemic” (Peter Blackstock of the Austin-American Statesman). Andy Langer of Austin City Limits agreed with Blackstock, and Eliza Gilkyson shared it, saying she has “yet to hear anyone reach this deep to find it and sing it.” NPR's All Songs Considered featured the Tiny Desk entry video, saying that "Feder's lyrics eloquently illustrate the full range of emotions many people are feeling in the era of the coronavirus pandemic." Shortly after, it was picked up by the Washington Post, in a piece about how the pandemic is aging us all.
After taking a break from touring during Covid, in 2023 Kora started working on her next record and booking tour dates again. She is now based in Detroit, MI.
To see and read more about her discography, click here.
Songwriters Serenade in Texas, Photo by Olive & West
On the Thai-Burmese border, leading a workshop on songwriting and how to gain Thai citizenship as a Burmese Refugee.
Sometimes people pay me to write songs for them. Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, just because....
It's a thoughtful gift to someone you love, an organization you love, or yourself!
Email korafeder.booking@gmail.com and we'll chat about your idea.
I wrote and played music for the podcast American Wasteland, this ad for El Cambio Trading Company, and parts of the children's story app Hiro Stories.
I spent a year as the lead producer of From Day One, a podcast exploring the stories of Brooklyn based entrepreneurs.
I'm also a UX and product designer!
Hiro Stories Staff Pic