A Pandora success story

When I have the office to myself, I hop over to Pandora and let it pick some music for me based on artists I know I like. Over and over again, Vienna Teng comes up, and over and over I've loved what I heard. Her piano playing draws me in, her strong and beautiful voice steals my attention away from work and into her lyrics.

When I saw her on the Iron Horse schedule, I made plans with Patrick to see the show. That's where we were last night-- snuggled in to the Iron Horse with a couple hundred other people, sipping a pint of Steel Rail, mesmerized by the way Vienna played the piano. She built her set list out of requests shouted out by audience members, she told a story about each song, she poked fun at the uneven balance of slow songs over upbeat. Sitting inside that history-laden building surrounded by mellow and sweet music was the perfect way to spend an early December night.

Pandora led me (for free) to Vienna Teng's music. I spent money to see her live, and I will spend money to buy her albums. Artists who resist free access to their music should take note.

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photo by Gordon Lai. It's not from last night but she was wearing that shirt. I'll update later with a photo I took at last night's show, if any of them came out at all...