Chance, Happening
Chance Emerson ’18 navigates his identities as a college student, folk rocker — and role model for a new generation of musicians.
BY IAN ALDRICH
Last September, Chance Emerson ’18, a musician and third-year computer science and archeology student at Brown University, played a Thursday night show in New Haven, Connecticut, that wonderfully mashed together the two main parts of his life at the moment. The set put Emerson, a singer/songwriter and guitarist whose self-described “spicy flannel rock” sound is backed by a four-person band, before 1,200 people as the opening act for the Grammy Award-winning group Blues Traveler.
Not that he had any time to bask in the glory.
After playing his final chords of the night, Emerson rushed backstage and parked himself in front of his laptop to finish a software engineering project that was due the next day. “It’s happened to the other guys in the group, too,” he says. “We’re all STEM majors and sometimes after a show is the only time we have to finish some code or prepare for a midterm. Sometimes I just have to laugh. Who are we? This is not normal!”
That duality is unlikely to change as Emerson enters his final year of college. In May, Emerson released “Ginkgo,” a 10-track album that features his most robust collection of original material to date. If all goes according to plan, there will be an intense lineup of shows that will extend deep into the year. Which will mean more academic juggling as he continues to build on a music career that has already shown much promise.
But Emerson is up to the task. That’s because the cowboy-hat wearing, Taiwanese-born 23-year-old long ago learned the skill of merging different identities. The son of a Taiwanese mom and an American dad, Emerson split his early years between Taipei and Hong Kong before moving to the United States to attend St. Paul’s School as a Third Former.
Music was a defining force in his family’s home. His father constantly had something playing — the Beatles, Oasis, Norah Jones — while his mother compelled him to play an instrument. When the piano didn’t stick, an 11-year-old Emerson convinced his mom to let him try guitar. Emerson picked a heavy-metal-style Ibanez electric.
Emerson, who had an early love for 1970s rock, thrived at SPS in part because he was given the chance to delve deep into his music obsession. In particular, he credits the opportunity to play Eco-Fest the fall of his first year as a serious launching point. “I covered some Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and I just remember people started paying attention as I played,” he says. “Here I was at this new school, putting myself out there, and it really clicked with people.”
In the years since, SPS has continued to play a defining role in Emerson’s story. As a Fifth Former, he collaborated with Finn George ’17, who produced his first EP, “The Indigo Tapes.” SPS Director of Chapel Music Nick White and now-retired music teacher William Fletcher helped him develop his sense of music composition. The merchandise design for his tour season was created by Addie Dahl ’17, who also did the artwork for that first album. And at his shows, he often sees SPS alums in the crowd.
That kind of community support has been an inspiration, he says. And as he dedicates more of himself to his music, he is working to pay it forward by inspiring a new generation of musicians who look like him.
“I’ve been able to draw on this unique life experience I’ve had to make the music I do,” says Emerson, whose music has been streamed more than 5 million times. “And in a genre that isn’t particularly diverse, here comes this kid out of Taiwan and Hong Kong trying to make his mark. A few younger musicians have reached out to me online and said, ‘you’re the first person I’ve heard in this genre who looks like me. Until I heard your songs, I didn’t think there was room in the industry for me.’ I’ve had so much generosity and help shared with me in my career, and I know what that feels like. I feel so lucky that I can help somebody in that way.”