Whoa, I'm a Grist 50 climate leader!
|
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 step further. She sees an “untapped opportunity” in the bond between artists and their fans. “These emotional connections can open up conversations and willingness to step forward into something,” she said. She now holds workshops after shows and monthly virtual climate action hangouts on Patreon. “I’ve sort of joked, ‘I would like to be your climate action concierge.’”
She’s found her fans are craving concrete advice about how to contribute, and she offers them personalized guidance on high-impact actions. When a retired engineer in Ohio asked how to electrify her house, Teng encouraged her to think bigger. Since then, the retiree stopped a solar ban in her town and is now leading an effort to bring solar panels to farms and apartment rooftops. Other fans have improved sustainability at their workplaces, started climate conversations with conservative relatives, and launched a climate book club for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
You all are mighty, in other words, and it's been a joy to help you tap into your awesomeness. If you need a dose of all-is-not-lost, good-people-are-doing-good-things-everywhere today, I heartily recommend wandering through the Grist 50. It's an honor to be listed alongside these folks, working across food + land, business + tech, science + energy, policy + advocacy, and of course arts + media. Next week I'll be speaking at the Grist 50 celebration at New York Climate Week, sharing my oddball journey to doing this stuff with you. Part of what I'll say: in the songs I’m writing now, I’m trying to reflect your efforts back to you. I’m trying to capture what it’s like to stumble through trying to make a difference - and the fine company you find yourself in when you do. Upcoming showsSpeaking of your awesomeness (and book clubs): come join us at this Saturday's climate action hangout! We'll be talking about Bill McKibben's new book, Here Comes The Sun, and how solar energy is now more like Costco than Whole Foods. Patreon is always pay-what-you-wish, cancel & rejoin as you like. Texas this past week was a blast - Lone Star State audiences are not shy, and I am here for it. Midwest is next, where I'll be reuniting with my dear Alex Wong - for shows, of course, but prepping for our ever-ambitious program for the Multitudes retreat in November too. (I'll be hosting a climate solutions "tasting party," complete with a brand-new suite of songs.) Then it's on to California for the grand adventure of a "gesamtkunstwerk" concert with the exquisite Viano Quartet, at Stanford's Bing Concert Hall on Sunday October 19. (We'll be performing the Two Truths version of "We've Got You" without a looper. Gonna be crazy.)
How are you doing?As always, I'd love to hear. A few days ago, I wrote this note to myself and some friends: They're precious, these technologies we've invented: protocols for alchemizing differences into agreements, cultures of extending love to our enemies, systems for trusting absolute strangers. What remarkable achievements for a species inclined to fear and kill one another. What wondrous things worth defending, practicing, carrying forward, in all their dumpster-fire-on-wheels glory, in all their troubling symbiosis with violence itself. I'm trying to be vigilant about the seeds I sow, and the seeds I allow to be sown in the earth of my own heart. What seeds are you trying to sow these days? What's growing in your garden? Love, |
Vienna Teng
Thanks for visiting! Browse past newsletters and subscribe here.
Hi Reader, I have an exciting update coming in a few weeks (teaser: I'll be a speaker in an awards event at Climate Week NYC!), but I want to share some more immediate news. My November 21 show at World Cafe Live in Philadephia is canceled - BUT we’ve moved it just a bit down Interstate 95 to The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware, a beautiful venue I’ve been wanting to play for a while. Tickets are on sale as of today! Also, in a mere two days - Saturday Aug 30 - I'll be playing an outdoor show...
Hi Reader... I write to you from a very messy living room, where I've been tinkering with gear and instruments outside my comfort zone. I'm working on three projects at once: recording an EP of beloved rarities like "Pencil Sketch"; an event concept blending new songs with a climate solutions "tasting party" (yes, I'm directly riffing off Alex Wong's amazing Permission Parties); and the first lurching, grasping sonic experiments for a new full-length album. Oh, plus tomorrow's Patreon...
Hi Reader, I know it's only been a few weeks since my last send, but some seasons the news comes quickly... Announcing Multitudes II: A Gathering For Multi-Faceted People, November 6-10, 2025! Alex Wong and I had a truly amazing time at the first-ever Multitudes last September. As we kept saying afterwards, "wow, everyone really understood the assignment." A power outage the first night just meant we kicked things off sitting in a circle on the living room floor, passing a giant stuffed...