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OK Reader, now I have tour dates to share with you! (In case you missed it, the last newsletter was a whole lot of updates about other stuff, like recording.) 2026 tour dates, Jul-Dec editionI'm headed for Michigan (for Blissfest), Texas (for Multitudes), the Northeast, and an end-of-year return to the Freight in California! I'm family- and new-music-focused right now, so many of these shows are driving distance from home, or combined with family visits. Other spots on the map are in the works for 2027. https://www.viennateng.com/tour
We're also planning community and climate activities at some of these upcoming tour stops - a youth choir collab here, a college ecology program visit there - all with the help of awesome local folks who reached out with the idea and offered to help coordinate. Got a notion for a tour stop add-on? Reply to this newsletter and let's chat! Of course, I'm still doing my monthly Live@Home shows from my living room, followed by Zoom hangouts where we talk about climate & civic solutions. This Saturday I'm playing an electronics-focused set, followed by request with an encore discussion of last month's topic: food! I'm almost halfway through fulfilling a whim of a 2026 New Year's resolution: being vegan by default, with omnivore exceptions for preventing food waste and honoring special occasions. Somewhat to my surprise, it's going great. I've been amazed at how much excellent vegan food is out there these days, in restaurants and grocery stores alike, how many friends know how to cook a great vegan recipe or several, and how much I've come to relish the adventure in my own kitchen. (Just this week, my first go at seitan gyros passed the picky-eater-lunchbox test. Not too shabby.) As always, my Patreon is pay-what-you-wish, and you can cancel and/or rejoin anytime (many do!). All members get access to the full archive, including playback of previous monthly livestreams.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in lifeNothing unites like a common adversary. I'm a block captain for DC's Itty Bitty Mosquito Population Committee, a new grassroots initiative to reduce mosquito populations one hyperlocal neighborhood at a time. It's been a fabulous way to meet my neighbors ("Hi, do you want any anti-mosquito stuff for your yard?" "OMG yes please! By the way I'm so-and-so"). I'm now equipped with more mosquito behavior, life cycle, and management info than anyone wants to hear about - though they don't mind how excited I am to check their yard for standing water. Arcadia is also getting a kick out of teaching grown-up strangers how to set up traps, and helping me log data for DC's Department of Health. Best of all: it's June, and I can hang out on our patio bite-free. Hallelujah. Finally, a PSA: If you're due for a screening colonoscopy, get it on the books! I had mine recently, during which my GI doc found and removed a sessile serrated lesion - a type of precancerous polyp. A colonoscopy is one of those rare two-for-one procedures, where they can detect and treat problems in the same visit. Plus you can request pills now if the liquid prep medication bothers you. Take good care, my friend, and drop a line if you have a moment to let me know how life is with you. I always love to hear. Love, |
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Hello hello Reader - I began this newsletter a few weeks ago, from a room with a lovely spring view. Jacob was on the couch working on a novel, Arcadia was under the table having a Chinese lesson, and I was feeling mighty grateful for trees, family, and Jordan Hamlin's MOXE Studio. For once, I'm not here to tell you about tour dates (though I'll be at Blissfest in July, and we have some fall/winter dates in the works). Instead, I've got: Multitudes III registration, and thoughts on what makes...
Well Reader... I meant to share some updates back in December, or at least January...or February. I never was good at getting holiday cards out on time, and apparently I'm no better with newsletters. Mea culpa. At least we got Lunar New Year cards out This past fall & winter were jam-packed and joyful, pulling me well beyond my comfort zone (a collaboration with Viano Quartet! hosting a 50-person climate solutions dinner party!), and into various long-overdue parts of the country (West...
Hi Reader... Well, what a sweet way to land back home from tour. Thanks to all of YOU who've joined a climate action workshop on tour, signed up for office hours, browsed the starter list of useful actions, joined the monthly Patreon hangouts, or worked with me one-on-one to figure out what you can do...I'm on this year's Grist 50 list of "climate leaders you should know"! From Grist's lovely writeup: While musicians have a rich history of raising awareness for social causes, Teng takes it a...