The only newspaper dedicated to the St. Louis Chinese community.
                                                                         Issue: 718   Date: 05/27/2004

ACCLAIMED SINGER/SONGWRITER VIENNA TENG TO CELEBRATE RELEASE OF STUNNING SOPHOMORE ALBUM, "WARM STRANGERS," WITH PERFORMANCE IN ST. LOUIS ON JUNE 4

After her unprecedented ascension from writing code as a full-time software engineer in Silicon Valley to features on the Late Show with David Letterman, NPR, and CNN, all in less than a year and without the help of a major label, acclaimed San Francisco-based singer/songwriter and pianist Vienna Teng returns with her striking sophomore effort, Warm Strangers. The album arrived in stores everywhere, via Virt Records, on February 24. 

Vienna's cd release tour comes to St. Louis for a performance at Blueberry Hill on June 4. The St. Louis show is part of an extensive national tour to support the release of Warm Strangers, which included several dates opening for the legendary Joan Baez. Vienna has previously opened for such artists as Joan Osborne and Shawn Colvin.

"Vienna Teng is one of the most engaging and unique talents to come along in some time," said Rob Reinhart, host/producer of the highly regarded nationally syndicated radio program Acoustic Caf.

The release of Warm Strangers has been accompanied by a significant amount of national media attention, including performances on the CBS Early Show and The Wayne Brady Show, a 17-minute feature on NPR Weekend Edition, and an album review in Entertainment Weekly. The album and lead single, "Harbor," have quickly been embraced by AAA radio stations throughout the country.

Warm Strangers has experienced brisk sales and debuted on both the Billboard Top Internet Albums Chart (at #17) and the Billboard Top Independent Albums Chart (rose to #26). The album has also charted among the Top 35 Albums in Vienna's home market of San Francisco and among the best-selling titles in 5 other markets, while also rising as high as #2 on Amazon.com's Best-Seller List.

Warm Strangers was produced by David Henry (REM, Josh Rouse) and mixed by Roger Moutenot (Guster, Joseph Arthur). All 11 tracks were written by Vienna (including one co-write), who plays piano, keyboards, and guitar on the album.

Blueberry Hill is located at 6504 Delmar in St. Louis. The June 4 show begins at 9:00 with Vienna, followed by Mason Jennings. Tickets are $10 advance/$12 door. For further information, contact (314) 727-0880.