Vienna Teng

[sent June 15 to the Vienna Teng mailing list:

[sent June 15 to the Vienna Teng mailing list: http://viennateng.fanbridge.com/ ]

I write to you from a tiny apartment in East Village. The bathroom is in the kitchen; a clothesline hung on the bedroom wall is the closet. Manhattanites clearly use the city itself for most of their living space.

This isn't my new home, merely home of the week, as I've become a genuine nomad this year. Read on to find out why...

CD RELEASE TOUR - THANK YOU

A huge THANK YOU for making these past few months a tremendously successful CD release tour! All throughout Europe and the U.S. we were amazed by the turnout at the shows--given the global recession and the fact that we'd taken a chance on playing larger venues, we weren't expecting the sold-out dates and packed houses that we played to night after night.

Not only did we get to see you, you brought your roommates, old friends visiting from halfway across the world, your metalhead boyfriends and punk-rock girlfriends, business partners, life partners, your parents with Joni Mitchell records and your kids just starting piano lessons. You filled up beautiful old theaters, legendary jazz clubs and the occasional converted barn (here's looking at you, northern Virginia and Oklahoma City). We don't take your support lightly. It means the world to us. Thank you.

Much gratitude to Alex Wong and Ward Williams, Ben Sollee, Amber Rubarth and Adam Christgau of The Paper Raincoat, Katie Herzig and Jordan Hamlin and Claire Indie, and tour manager/sound engineers Gert Rickmann-Wunderlich and Tom Dube, for being fantastic musicians and even better travel companions. They are rare creatures. I'm glad to know them.

UPCOMING SHOWS

I'm playing solo throughout the summer, beginning in New York on Friday, June 19 at Housing Works. This great organization runs thrift stores and a bookstore-cafe to fund its HIV/AIDS support and housing programs, and all proceeds from the evening benefit Housing Works.

Then it's off to Largo on June 22, the renowned listening room in L.A. To be honest, I'm a bit intimidated to be playing a venue where people like Aimee Mann, Gillian Welch and Fiona Apple like to hang out. Come out, Angelenos, and tell me it's gonna be OK...

I'll probably be more relaxed by June 29 at Hotel Cafe. I'll probably have recruited some guest appearances from various talented L.A. friends as well.

July and August bring dates with excellent songwriter friends like Katie Herzig and Ari Hest, plus a special concert August 14 at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, featuring songs from musical-in-progress Sid Arthur.

And when does the trio play again, you ask? I reunite with the fabulous Alex Wong and Ward Williams in Westhampton Beach on July 17, and at New York's Highline Ballroom on August 20!

Full details at http://www.viennateng.com/tour

- SOLO -
6/19 NEW YORK, NY - Housing Works Bookstore Cafe (with Diane Birch and Coralie Clement)
6/22 LOS ANGELES, CA - Largo at the Coronet
6/29 LOS ANGELES, CA - Hotel Cafe
7/08 FALL RIVER, MA - Narrows Center for the Arts (with Katie Herzig)
7/09 NORFOLK, CT - Infinity Hall (with Seth Adam)
7/10 NEWBURYPORT, MA - Historic Firehouse (WXRV Riverfront Festival)
7/11 OGUNQUIT, ME - Jonathan's Restaurant (with Katie Herzig)
7/14 HURFFVILLE, NJ - Gloucester County Summer Concerts (with Marc Silver)
7/15 LARCHMONT, NY - Watercolor Cafe (with Katie Herzig)
7/17 * trio show - see below
7/19 PAWLING, NY - Towne Crier Cafe (with Ari Hest)
8/09 LAKE OSWEGO, OR - Moonlight and Music Concert Series
8/14 PALO ALTO, CA - TheatreWorks New Works Festival
featuring in-progress works from "Sid Arthur" (with vocal ensemble)

- TRIO feat. Alex Wong and Ward Williams -
7/17 WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY - Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (with Ari Hest)
8/20 NEW YORK, NY - Highline Ballroom

http://www.viennateng.com/tour

REVIEWS OF INLAND TERRITORY

It may be "like dancing about architecture," as the saying goes, but we're happy to see music writers getting excited (and eloquent) about the album we worked so hard to create. Here are a few if you're interested:

Blurt Online (formerly Harp Magazine)
"there's no denying the sheer effervescent beauty she's capable of welding so flawlessly, an ability that allows Inland Territory to demand repeated exploration"

American Songwriter
"lush strings, doleful horns, plaintive woodwinds and sweeping choral arrangements pad the brilliant, introspective diary of an album"

Slant Magazine
"an adventurous sonic palette and songs that draw inspiration from both personal and topical sources...stands as her most satisfying and mature album to date"

Performing Songwriter
"flush with songs too clever for radio--four-minute tales of love, war, reincarnation and the plight of illegal immigrants. 'Antebellum'...is a genuine Broadway-worthy showstopper"

Stereo Subversion
"This isn't music for passive listening...For those seeking meaning in music, [Inland Territory] should not be missed by any means"

MEDIA APPEARANCES

Back in December a nice camera crew from KQED's Spark followed me around for two days. If you ever wanted to see me hang out with my brother, rehearse with the quartet or talk about my (lack of) fashion sense, now's your chance.

NPR's All Songs Considered featured "The Last Snowfall" back in April. Along with Jack White and Radiohead, at that. Wow.

On the live-for-broadcast side of things, Alex and I recently got to perform on these great radio shows:

WNYC Soundcheck

E-Town (airs June 24-30)

You can still check out our Mountain Stage appearance from last year too.


It's been an amazing year, and it's only half over! We look forward to sharing Inland Territory with ever-wider audiences in the coming months.

Thanks for reading, for listening, and for being here.

Much love,
VT