Fantastic Negrito

Fantastic Negrito is the incarnation of a musician who is reborn after going through a lot of awful shit. In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative on this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy. Fantastic Negrito is the story of a man who struggled to “make it”, who “got it”, who lost it all, and somehow managed to find his way back. Returning to music in 2014 by playing on the streets of Oakland, Fantastic Negrito won the inaugural NPR Tiny Desk contest. In 2016 he released his debut full length album, The Last Days of Oakland, which went on to win a Grammy in 2017 for Best Contemporary Blues Album. And this year he won his second Grammy in the same category, for his critically acclaimed new release Please Don't Be Dead. His third album Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? will be released in the summer of 2020.

As a songwriter, Chance Emerson doesn’t observe and report. He lives and responds, mining his unique experiences growing up between Hong Kong and Maine to forge his compelling brand of melodic folk-rock.
A relative of the essayist and transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, Chance is the son of a Taiwanese mother and American father. When he decided to move across the world to Providence, Rhode Island to pursue his studies, it didn’t take long before a growing passion for singing and writing his own songs overtook his original trajectory. He began performing up and down the Northeast corridor, headlining clubs to fervent followers and supporting established acts such as Johnnyswim, Brett Dennen, Eli Young Band, Lawrence, Ripe, Blues Traveler, and Nancy Wilson's Heart.
Chance’s raw and honest approach to songwriting has resonated powerfully with listeners: His 2023 album, “Ginkgo,” with lead single “House We Share,” has already surpassed 2,000,000 streams and landed features on Spotify’s prominent ‘Dinner With Friends’ and ‘Next Gen Singer-Songwriter’ playlists.
After receiving the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Award from BMI, Chance
recently performed at the renowned Newport Folk Festival and Lollapalooza. 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.