Dear music family,
Wow ok looks like my last email to y’all was on 3/5/20… uh, what you been up to since then?
For real I hope you’re all doing alright, that you’re safe and healthy, and growing and feeling your way through these wild times.
Personally I’ve felt a call to dig deeper into what part I play as an Asian American in this country and to address some uncomfortable truths that exist in our communities. When the conversation of racism comes up in the US, I’ve often focused on what is happening “to” Asian Americans, and less on what roles Asian Americans may have played in perpetuating racist behavior toward other groups. It’s been tough to look at because it’s been pushing up against a lot of cultural baggage I hardly knew I carried, like the lasting damage of the “model minority” myth, my training to be culturally “white adjacent,” and our conditioning to keep our head down and not make waves. Been icky and uncomfortable at times but feels like necessary work right now.
Since you’re part of this community I KNOW you are intelligent, insightful, open-minded people (with fantastic taste in music). I’d love to hear what you’ve been watching, reading, learning and thinking about during this time! Please feel free to respond with thoughts and recommendations.
OK now that I’ve started off this email in the heaviest way possible, let’s get to some fun stuff! I’m really excited to share this news with you.
NEW DOUBLE EP WITH STRING QUARTET In PROGRESS
So aside from whittling my iPhone email inbox from 8856 to 0 (a true OCD nightmare) and occasionally lying on the floor in fetal position, I’ve been spending quarantine working on a new record! It will be a double EP of acoustic recordings featuring the brilliant La Vie String Quartet. The tentative title for the first EP is “Alone” and the second EP is “Together.” Some of the tracks are re-imaginings of songs from past albums, and some will be brand new releases!
It will be released exclusively on Bandcamp and Patreon. It will be $10 on Bandcamp, but it will be FREE for active patrons! Patrons will also get access to instrumental versions so you can sing along in the car or sing yourself to sleep. During a time when the music industry is going through yet another upheaval and all touring / production work has been paused indefinitely, Patreon has been absolutely essential to my survival over the last few months. I am such a fan of this model and plan to release much more exclusive content here. If you’ve been considering becoming a patron, now is the time!
MINI-DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE ON FACEBOOK 6/21
When I released my new album The Elephant and the Seahorse last February (which now feels like 27 years ago), I created a 9-course tasting menu pairing each track with a dish that shared some emotional connection to the songs. I’d planned several events in different cities throughout Spring and Summer to promote the album. Obviously COVID had other plans, but luckily my talented cousin Tim Wong shot a bunch of footage at the first (and only) dinner we were able to have. We created two short movies about the dinners which I will premiere on my FB artist page THIS SUNDAY AT 11:11AM PDT. I’ll be on hand to chat and field questions/comments about the event. Just go to my Facebook Artist page to tune in! This was such a special project to me… I can’t wait to share it with you.
ALL JUNE MUSIC SALES DONATED TO CAMPAIGN ZERO
I want to make sure you all know that for the month of June, I am donating 100% of my music sales on Bandcamp, including my brand new album (ahem Father’s Day *cough), to Campaign Zero, an organization that is working to end police violence through data driven policy.
Hey, thank you for being here with me, and thank you for reading all the way down to the end. I want you to know that I appreciate your support so much, especially during these crazy times. Keep thriving out there.
Much love,
A