In the most urgent and direct sense of the term, Chance Emerson is a true singer-songwriter mining his unique experiences of having grown up in both Hong Kong and Maine to weave universal truth and emotion into his compelling brand of melodic, modern folk-rock.
Chance’s background is as diverse as his interests. A descendant of the essayist and transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, Chance is also son to a Taiwanese mother and American father. When he decided to move across the world to Providence, Rhode Island to pursue a degree in Astrophysics, it didn’t take long before a growing passion for singing and writing his own songs overtook his original trajectory. Chance began performing his songs up and down the Northeast corridor and filling clubs with fervent followers. He started supporting established artists including Johnnyswim, Brett Dennen, Eli Young Band, Lawrence, Ripe, Blues Traveler, and Nancy Wilson's Heart.
Having switched majors to Archaeology and Computer Science, Chance began creating and coding while, at the same time, amplifying his focus on writing and recording his music. Chance had already released his first EP, “The Indigo Tapes,” which climbed to #1 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart. He had subsequently issued his self-produced “The Raspberry Men” album which received airplay from NPR-affiliate station WICN as well as rave reviews from respected publications such as American Songwriter, The Providence Journal, The South China Morning Post and Atwood Magazine. Earmilk named “The Raspberry Men” one of its best indie/alternative albums of 2020.
The onset of 2023 saw Chance writing, recording and releasing his second full-length album entitled “Ginkgo.”
“I was living things and writing about them almost simultaneously,” recounts Chance. “I traced the cyclical nature of a love in real time to the point where first and third person perspectives began to blur.” Chance’s disarmingly immediate and intimate writing style combined with his increasingly robust and resonant voice on “Ginkgo” began to quickly accumulate an audience.
As a songwriter, Chance doesn’t observe and report. He lives and responds. The album’s first single “House We Share,” for instance, was recorded in the house where the actual events of the song took place.
“I had just moved into a little wooden cabin in Maine with my romantic partner,” explains Chance, “and I noticed that I was acting differently; I was stacking the firewood neatly and doting over our houseplants with a kind of joyful, honeymoon-type of energy. But as the relationship began to erode, so did my devotion to the meticulous.”
Chance continues: “I felt compelled to go back and record the song in that very cabin so that I could capture its ambience and acoustics. I wanted to hear every last detail, from the creak of the floorboards to the rustling of the pines outside.”
This raw and honest approach to Chance’s songwriting has resonated powerfully with listeners: “House We Share” has already surpassed 1,500,000 streams and been featured in Spotify’s prominent ‘Dinner With Friends’ and ‘Next Gen Singer-Songwriter’ playlists.
Having successfully launched his music career and finished his studies, Chance’s next steps are nothing short of extremely promising. After receiving the prestigious John Lennon Songwriter’s Award from BMI, Chance recently performed a much talked-about solo set at the renowned Newport Folk Festival. Chance has also signed on with Martin Kierszenbaum at the Cherrytree Music Company for management and Ira Goldenring at the Wasserman Music Agency for concert booking.
There’s no limit to what the future holds for this modern troubadour as he lives and writes contemporaneously and in emotive lock-step.