Vienna Teng Twitter Q & A

Calling all Vienna Teng fans - now's your chance to hang out and ask some questions via Twiiter this Saturday from 6:00 - 9:00 PM PDT.

The Bulletin

ONLINE Q&A THIS WEEKEND

It's that time again! Bring your queries, silly or serious, and I'll do my best to answer.

To make up for last year's radio silence, I offer you not one but two flavors:

+ FAST: This Saturday evening I'll be on Twitter, using '@' a lot and aiming for snappy 140-character responses to your questions. Likely will be a big messy free-for-all multi-way conversation, in a good way.

Saturday, August 15, 2009
6:00-9:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time
https://twitter.com/viennateng
hashtag: #vtqna

+ SLOW: Want a more thought-out answer? Post your question in one of the following places:

http://viennateng.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=20851
http://www.facebook.com/ViennaTeng

I'll be posting journal entries here:

http://viennateng.com/scrapbook/

all weekend and over the next few weeks, responding to as many as I can. They'll also show up in the forum, Facebook and MySpace.

See you online!

Vienna Teng And Housing Works

If you're looking for some good music that also helps out a great cause check out the Vienna Teng, Diane Birch, and Coralie Clément concert at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe this Friday at 7:00 PM where all of the proceeds will go back to the Housing Works organization for their HIV/AIDS support and housing programs.

Tickets are just $15.

Interview: Vienna Teng And Not Being A Liability

I was reading this article on Vienna Teng down at Mochi Magazine and one of the quotes that stuck out me was this:

Describing the mainstream response to her music as "overwhelmingly positive," she said being Asian American "has never ever been a liability."

"I was surprised because there’s nothing particularly Asian American about my music," she said. "I don’t talk about Asian American issues or cultural heritage, but mainstream readiness to see minorities is here. And within the Asian American community there are enough pioneers for it to be legitimate to go into the arts. It’s something that has got enough visibility where you can tell your parents about it."

Isn't that a great quote? As Asian Americans we still have a long way to go in my opinion towards universal acceptance by mainstream society, but at the same time, it's just refreshing to hear from an artist like Vienna Teng that for her, being Asian American has never been a liablity - because at some point we have to start recognizing where we are as opposed to where we've been - and I don't mean that in a "why can't we just get past things" type of comment (which should be obvious just because of what I blog about) but I do think sometimes, myself included - we don't always focus on those situations from individuals when they haven't experienced many barriers in regard to race (or where race has been a liability), and when they've felt they've had a great foundation to build on and move forward.

Music: Shanghai Restoration Project and Vienna Teng

David Liang

Some random and cool music touring notes for ya'll:

Shanghai Restoration Project

Live in NY and LA: The Shanghai Restoration Project

In celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT will be performing two shows in early August:

LOS ANGELES
Tuesday, August 5th @ THE VIPER ROOM
7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00PM)
8852 Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069

NEW YORK
Wednesday, August 13th @ THE CANAL ROOM
8:00 pm (doors open at 7:30PM)
285 W. Broadway
New York, NY 10013

Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Click to buy for LA and NY.

The evening will feature SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT producer Dave Liang ..board accompanied by vocalists Amos Winbush, Di Johnston, Heath Brandon, Natural Fact, and Shayna Steele.

Select tracks will be synchronized to video footage of historical and modern day Shanghai. Shot in high-definition format, the clips were produced by Mark E. Lee Productions and filmed by Aasulv Wolf Austad, whose most recent collaboration, Jennifer Phang's "Half Life," was an official Sundance selection and received favorable reviews in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

Made possible by Warner Music Independent Label Group.
Special thanks to IODA, Rhino Independent, and Warner Chappell.

Vienna Teng

Tour Dates In August

8/2 Manchester MI - Riverfolk Festival
8/5 Milwaukee WI - Miramar Theatre
8/6 Chicago IL - Schubas Tavern
8/8 Pittsburgh PA - Club Cafe
8/9 Akron OH - Lock 3 Live ** opening for Arlo Guthrie! **
8/10 Charleston WV - Mountain Stage ** w/Mike Gordon, Crooked Still, Carrie Rodriguez & The Rescues **
8/24 San Francisco CA - OUTSIDE LANDS FESTIVAL