Fely Tchaco

Leye Felicite Martin -- known to her fans as Fely Tchaco -- is an Ivorian-American singer-songwriter and performer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born Felicite Leye Tchaco in the town of Yamoussoukro in the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire, Fely began singing and dancing at a tender age - first entertaining her parents and their friends with impromptu house concerts, before moving on to bigger venues. At the age of 15, Fely began sneaking out to sing with local bands in her hometown, eventually joining the house band at the Hotel President in Yamoussoukro. Soon after she began singing in the piano bars of the coastal resort town of San Pedro, where she began adding covers of Edith Piaff, Nana Mouskouri, Mirielle Mathieux, and other French chanson stars into her act.