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CLICK HERE to donate to Alice’s West Coast tour!

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BAY AREA SINGER SONGWRITER ALICE TONG MERGES ETHNOMUSICOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK INTO SOULFUL NEW INDIE FOLK ROCK ALBUM
Hotel Utah, 5/29/2010, CD Release Party — As a social worker, Alice Tong has provided therapy to survivors of domestic violence, rape, shootings, and stabbings.  This intense direct service work has informed her development as a musician, and can be heard both in the depth of her lyrics and the sincerity of her performances. Receiving her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University, and her Bachelors of Arts in Ethnomusicology (World Music) from UCLA, Alice has used her strengths in both disciplines to co-produce an all-original indie folk rock album with Los Angeles producer/engineer Glenn Suravech. Mr. Suravech has worked with artists such as Ben Harper, Bob Dylan, and Brett Dennen. On this new album, Alice performs as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist on each song, and is backed by a host of extremely talented LA and Bay Area musicians. Entitled Please Be Brave Before the Lions They Come, the new album is set to be released Sat. May 29, 9pm at San Francisco’s premiere singer-songwriter venue, Hotel Utah.

Opening acts will include local talent Gyasi Ross (www.gyasiross.com), who combines hip-hop, folk, and jazz; along with L.A. favorites Andrew Figueroa Chiang and the Blazing Rays of the Sun, whose set includes soul-driven R&B and folk sounds. Official CD release party and tour sponsors include Hyphen Magazine (www.hyphenmagazine.com), Taiwaneseamerican.org (www.taiwaneseamerican.org), Blacklava (www.blacklava.com), and Tuesday Night Project (www.tuesdaynightproject.org). Appropriate to Memorial Day weekend and Alice’s social worker roots, her CD release party will also be raising funds for Paws for Purple Hearts (http://www.berginu.org/academics/PPH.html), an innovative Bay Area non-profit program that pairs veterans who have post-war trauma symptoms (PTSD, Depression, Anxiety) with service dogs in-training, to decrease these symptoms and increase functioning, self-esteem, and parenting skills. A Paws for Purple Hearts service dog will also be attending the CD release party!

“Alice’s voice and music represent a long-time coming for Asian Americans—something we have never heard before,” says video music producer Karen Lin who has produced for The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear and Whitney Houston. Indeed, not only is Alice notable for her professional and academic pursuits, the sheer quality of this huge soulful voice coming from her petite Asian frame continues to take audiences by surprise, enabling her to hit emotional heights that both Asian American and Indie Folk Rock communities have rarely seen. Alice’s piano, guitar, ukulele, and harmonica playing on the album are influenced by folk, rock, jazz, and alt country, while her rich vocals are inspired by blues and soul. Her breadth of exposure to world music through Ethnomusicology is also evident in the genre-crossing nature of songs throughout the album, with each song topping the next and competing to be your favorite.

Alice also has a kickstarter page dedicated to gaining support for embarking on a West Coast tour. Every song on this new album was recorded live in L.A. with her band, thus they would like to continue sharing this LIVE sound with audiences and beginning the tour after the CD release party. Visit the kickstarter page and watch the video for more info: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alicetongmusic/alice-tong-west-coast-tour-it-takes-a-village

For more on Alice’s music, please go to www.alicetongmusic.com. Readers can also join her facebook page at: www.facebook.com/alicetongmusic. For press interviews and appearances please contact: alicepress@alicetongmusic.com.

(video music- “Now” by Alice Tong; album artwork- courtesy of jeana sohn and taylor de cordoba; photos of Alice- by Anna Wu)

Just added! Upcoming show on Thursday 4/15/10, 9pm, at 111 Minna!

I’ll be performing a set with members of my talented SF band- Stephanie Lai on cello, Shaun Lowecki on drums, Drew Brown on guitar, and Mei-Ling Murray on backup vox!

In the U.S. 7.8 of the population have diabetes. Help us find new ways to detect, treat and cure diabetes. All Proceeds will be donated to the American Diabetes Association.
$10 minimum donation.

RSVP and more info at:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104763039559562&ref=mf

NEW MUSIC! just posted 3 new album pre-release songs! check them out here.

I was honored to have all the songs on this new album audio mastered by JJ Golden- mastering engineer for albums by Vetiver, Calexico, Devendra Banhart, the New Pornographers, etc.

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