Vienna Teng April 24, 2009

Vienna Teng
April 24, 2009

Not so long ago, being a singer-songwriter was merely a hobby for Vienna Teng, a Stanford computer science grad who was on the fast track to a lucrative career, working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. But she gave all that up to pursue her musical passions - a risky career move, but one which has paid off. The 27-year-old has already released two critically acclaimed independent albums: 2002's Waking Hour and 2004's Warm Strangers, which landed on three Billboard album charts and reached #2 on Amazon's best-seller list. She's appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and toured widely, opening for such artists as Shawn Colvin, Joan Osborne, Patty Griffin, Joan Baez and the Indigo Girls.

"People used to ask what kind of music I played and I never knew how to answer that," says Teng. "I work a lot with classically trained musicians, but most of my influences are from 1970's-era folk music. So now I call it chamber folk." Produced by Larry Klein (Madeleine Peyroux, Joni Mitchell), the album is chockfull of memorable songs that together form a landmark achievement for this bold new talent.

The album opens with the moody reverie of "Blue Caravan," about an imaginary romance, and closes with the touching intimacy of "Recessional," which contains the album's title phrase in its observational lyrics. In between, the San Francisco-based singer-pianist serves up a veritable treasure trove of compositional gems, from the gypsy-like, café feel of "I Don't Feel So Well" to the breezy, country-tinged euphoria of "City Hall" and the sultry jazz of the autobiographical "Transcontinental, 1:30 a.m.," about a late-night misunderstanding with her boyfriend. "City Hall," one of several songs on the album, which was inspired by events in the news, came about after San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom announced in February 2004 that same-sex marriages would be recognized by the city. The deeply moving "Pontchartrain," meanwhile, arose from the tragic news of the flooding of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. The song's haunting effect is sealed by lush classical strings and a chilling choir sound created by Teng's voice recorded and multi-tracked 32 times.

Together, Teng and Klein assembled a stellar cast of musicians for Dreaming Through the Noise. Teng brought in two artists with whom she'd previously toured: cellist Marika Hughes and violinist/violist Dina Maccabee. From that association came Mark Orton, who provided string arrangements for the album, and violinist Carla Kihlstedt, both alumni of Tin Hat Trio. Teng and Klein agreed that they wanted drummer Jay Bellerose (Paula Cole, Suzanne Vega). Klein added David Piltch, a renowned bassist best known for his work with Holly Cole, Lizz Wright and Sophie B. Hawkins.

"Musically I really wanted to stretch myself," says Teng. "I figured, I'm taking off a whole year just to write, there's no excuse for coming up with the same old stuff. I listened to a lot of music I hadn't absorbed before, like hip-hop, avant-garde chamber music, bluegrass - anything to get out of that familiar headspace. It all filtered way, way down when it came to writing." She added: "But every song on this album has something that I haven't tried previously, whether it's using the piano or my voice in a different way, or changing up the chords and song structure. I wanted to experiment and surprise people, but also keep that emotional truth, not just be clever for cleverness' sake."

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