Nick Black / Emilio Gonzalez

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Event Dates
Red Room at Cafe 939
939 Boylston Street
Boston
Massachusetts
02115
United States

Nick Black is a fun, optimistic, and authentic artist from Memphis, Tennessee. Influenced by the feel-good music of Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars, and the musicality of legacy acts such as Al Green and Sting, Black's music is modern and unique yet familiar and nostalgic.

Black's stage presence as an entertainer is quite something to behold. He pulls the audience in and doesn’t let them go, creating an experience that he wants everyone to be part of. He grew up between two worlds: his family’s deep ties to church and his hometown of Memphis, where soul, R&B, rock ’n’ roll, and blues legends made names for themselves. Black’s sound is an organically grown phenomenon, honed at open mic nights, in church, at hundreds of club gigs, and now on larger stages across the United States.

Since his first album in 2012, The Soul Diaries, his authenticity and passion have been the foundation of his identity, both as a person and as an artist. In March and April 2020, with touring being shut down, Black embarked on writing 30 songs in 30 days—called “Nick Black’s $ongs from $cratch” on his Twitch channel—creating songs in real time from samples, riffs, and lyric lines sent in by viewers. He has since written over 100 songs in front of a quickly growing livestreaming audience, 12 of which landed on his brand new Twitch no. 1 album, which has over 100,000 plays on Spotify.

Emilio Gonzalez is a singer-songwriter from Tampa, Florida. In 2008, he found himself inspired by the musical stylings of the Rat Pack, Billie Holiday, and Frank Sinatra, all of which were introduced to him via the video game Fallout 3. During his high-school career, Gonzalez performed in his school jazz band and participated in solo and ensemble competitions. Entering his college years, he found a love for writing music, inspired by singer-songwriters Lucy Rose, Andy Shauf, Julia Jacklin, and more. After performing at various open mics, restaurants, and bars, he was integrated into the Florida folk scene. This catalyzed a collaboration with artist/producer Liam Bauman, who assisted in the production and recording of Gonzalez’s most recent EP, Hazy. Gonzalez now studies at Berklee, where he continues to write songs through a creative mix of jazz and folk storytelling.