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It's not easy being green
By Joe Nguyen
nguyejos@mscd.edu

Photo courtesy by Rounder Records Vienna Teng proves that environmentalists are not all dirty hippies.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley once said, “The only thing that will stop you from following your dreams is you.”

In 2002, Cynthia Shih abandoned her cushy job as a Cisco Systems software engineer to pursue her dream and enter the unstable world of music. Although her departure was a loss for the computer industry, folk rock fans rejoiced.

Today the 28-year-old singer-songwriter, who is better known to her fans as Vienna Teng, has three albums under her belt. She is identified by her trademark sweet, lucid vocals accompanied by her intricate piano arrangements.

In March, Teng embarked on her “Green Caravan Tour,” a two-month national trip, for which she and her four-piece band have teamed up with Habitat For Humanity. The name is a play off of her song, “Blue Caravan,” from her latest album, Dreaming Through the Noise.

“It was just something I thought up and ran by the band,” she said. “We had always wanted to get involved with the community of any given town we’re playing in. It’s usually very difficult to do when you’re a traveling musician.”

According to Teng, the band scheduled days off during the tour where they volunteer with Habitat For Humanity. In addition, a part of their CD sales is donated to the local affiliate in each city on the tour. She encourages her fans to also volunteer by offering incentives.

“The thing that we’re doing that people are taking advantage of is if you get your volunteering done ahead of time … you can get free tickets to the show,” Teng said. “And we were saying there’s a limited number, but it turns out that we actually have plenty for every show.”

In addition to free tickets, fans that volunteer can also get $10 off merchandise and hang out backstage with the band.

“We just wanted to figure out a good way to thank people for getting out and volunteering,” she said.

Initially Teng wanted to drive from city to city in an environmentally friendly biodiesel van or hybrid vehicle. Unfortunately these options weren’t available at the time of the tour.

“Hopefully next time we go out we’ll be able to do, like, a biodiesel van,” she said.

Despite her busy schedule, Teng said the tour has been a success.

“It’s going really well,” she said. “I’ve been feeling kind of hectic. There’s a lot of people to meet, a lot of people to play for, (and) a lot of extracurricular activity.”