TAE PHOENIX

Singer-Songwriter • Activist • Writer

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A natural-born storyteller with the polish of an accomplished actress and the authentic edge of a seasoned blues musician.

Seattle Weekly

Music

Featured Track: “I wanna see you be brave.”

Music is the art form we turn to when we need to build bridges and make ourselves plainly understood.

In January 2020, the United States was in crisis. The president was holding vital defense support to Ukraine hostage as a means of coercing their government into investigating the son of a political rival.

My civil disobedience action inside the Senate’s Russell Rotunda – performing Sara Bareilles’ “Brave” in an area where protest is strictly forbidden – was a call on Republican Senators to join Democrats in voting to remove that corrupt president from office.

More Music

Everyone You’ll Be EP • Studio Album Release Date: Feb 2024
Home demos…

Tae Phoenix · The Girls You'll Be Demos
Deep Cuts

Tour Dates

CityDateTimeVenue
Boston8/7/23TBABerklee Performance Center*
Boston8/8/233:30pmCafe 939
New York8/14/236pmRockwood Music Hall
Washington, DC8/17/232-4pmWOWD Radio
Reston, VA8/18/236pmLake Anne Plaza
* I am a backup singer as part of a larger ensemble.

Bio / Artist Statement

My name is Tae Phoenix and my favorite party game is “two truths and a lie.” See if you can guess which is which:

The answer is in the footer of the website.

My work is about themes that everyone can relate to on some level: rejecting conformity, embracing authenticity, and finding the connections between healing ourselves and building the world we want.

Sometimes, when I’m stuck on where a musical idea belongs, I’ll write lyrics from the perspective of a fictional character and see where that takes me. I love this approach because I tend to obsess over stories: telling them, absorbing them, analyzing them. It doesn’t really matter as long as I’m immersed. I’ve written songs that started out as screenplays and the beginnings of musicals that I originally thought were novels. It all makes me ridiculously happy.

My favorite thing about using music as a storytelling vehicle is that a well-timed and well-written song can convey a tremendous amount of information just with the placement of a quarter note rest. I learned this the first time I performed in a Sondheim show. (“Into the Woods.”) I looked at the score, thought, “wow! It’s turtles all the way down, “and never looked back.

The performing arts world is a wonderful place for many reasons, but it’s also not an easy space for me to enter. As an Autistic, I get easily overwhelmed by loud, chaotic environments like music clubs. In a people-oriented business, missing a social cue, facial expression, or change in tone of voice can have implications that aren’t always obvious in the moment. One of my goals as I work in this space is to build more inclusive and accessible spaces for “neuro-spicy” artists and our supporters.

Videos

Live

Music & Lyric Videos

Help Stop Drunken, Entitled Creeps

The vast majority of men I meet at shows are lovely. They’re respectful, kind, thoughtful and genuinely fun to sing for. When I have a crowd of men and women who are like that, I feel free to have fun with them. I smile. I flirt. I dance and have a great time with my band. And when the band is having a great time, the audience can feel it. And that helps them have a good time, too. That’s what we’re there for after all: a fun night of live music.

That’s why I truly wish that a few drunken, entitled creeps (DEC’s) wouldn’t try to ruin the experience for the rest of us.

At a recent gig, a very drunk man repeatedly approached the bandstand and grabbed his genital area directly in front of me. When I ignored him, he grew belligerent and started yelling. He would leave, only to come back five minutes later for an encore of his nasty, disrespectful antics.

In addition, he approached other women at the venue, grabbing them and grinding on them much to their discomfort and chagrin. This happened for almost two hours before someone finally said something (I couldn’t, I was in the middle of a show) and he was sent packing.

This is different from mere heckling (which I can handle without assistance). The kind of behavior I’m talking about is threatening, sexual violence-charged, and scary. It makes me feel unsafe – like I have to watch my back if I step outside or go to the bathroom on a break. And when it happens during a show, I smile and flirt less and retreat more into the music. I interact with the rest of the audience as best I can, but that can be hard when the DEC puts himself right between me and the rest of the crowd.

Live performance requires tremendous vulnerability. As a singer, I have to bring down my walls and engage with my audience. When there’s a DEC in my face, I can’t do that nearly as well. I have to self-protect and attempt to shut the guy down. If I don’t, the situation can go from uncomfortable to truly dangerous very, very fast. That’s the antithesis of putting on a good show.

So folks, the next time you’re out and someone is harassing the performers (especially a guy harassing a female performer), please don’t let them get away with it. You’ve payed good money to see a live show and the DEC is ruining it for you by diminishing the quality of that performance.

You have a right to see a show that doesn’t involve DEC’s. Please stand up for that right by taking five minutes to tell someone – a bouncer, a manager, a bartender – what you saw and point out the DEC. You will make the show and the night better for yourself and everyone around you. And if you do it at my show, you will have my gratitude and respect.

To the person who finally got the DEC ejected from my recent gig: thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are a real fan and I love you! Hugs forever, Tae

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