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

F$%# Howard Fridays

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We’re sending Howard Schultz a message:

Don’t you dare run for President!

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Billionaire Starbucks founder Howard Schultz wants to run for President, but we don’t need yet another vanity campaign from a rich guy with no government experience.

That’s why we’re skipping Starbucks on Fridays until Schultz calls off this stupidity.

On Friday, instead of going to Starbucks, snap a selfie with a latte from an indie coffee shop (or a homemade cup of tea) and post it to social media with the hashtag #FHowardFridays.

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FAQ:

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A: We don’t anticipate that we’ll be able to bring all traffic in Starbucks to a standstill every Friday. What we’re aiming for is an observable decrease in Friday sales that convinces corporate leaders that Schultz’s campaign is bad for business.

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A: Changing an entire routine is inconvenient – especially when it’s part of your workday. It’s easier to avoid Starbucks one day a week than swearing it off altogether.

If sales fall flat overall, Starbucks could blame it on the economy; but if sales decline only on Fridays, it will send our message more clearly.

Most importantly, Starbucks baristas and cashiers are hardworking people who rely on tips for their livelihood. If we called for an outright boycott, it would be potentially catastrophic for them.

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A: We ask that every participating Starbucks customer tip their baristas extra generously whenever they visit Starbucks on days other than Friday. Food service workers can barely make ends meet thanks to the policies that allow billionaires like Schultz to hoard so much money. We do not want this boycott to harm them.

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A: If you order coffee at Starbucks – on Friday or any other day – give your name as “Don’t Run, Howard,” and tell the cashier that you’re hard of hearing so the barista will have to yell it loud.

If you can, film it and post it with the #FHowardFridays hashtag.

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A: We are well aware that Schultz has moved on from Starbucks; but he is still the single largest shareholder of Starbucks stock.

Perhaps more impactfully, Schultz’s legacy is tied to the success of Starbucks. His image and legacy would be forever tarnished if the company he built suffered because of his vanity bid for the White House.

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A: My name is Tae Phoenix and I’m a community organizer. I’m deeply concerned about the power of the super-wealthy and I want to help everyday people push back.

If you really want to know more about me, here’s my bio.

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News & Tweets:

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“The polling still found that Schultz’s dismal percentage of support was nonetheless enough to swing the election to Donald Trump against most possible Democratic opponents. So it is simultaneously true that almost nobody likes Schultz and that he could pull enough votes to reelect Trump.”

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[/et_pb_divider][et_pb_blurb title=”Top Progressive Firm Tells Dems to Leave Starbucks Alone” url=”https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-firm-to-democrats-go-after-howard-schultz-but-leave-starbucks-alone” url_new_window=”on” image=”https://taephoenix.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SBUX.jpg” _builder_version=”3.19.9″ link_option_url=”https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-firm-to-democrats-go-after-howard-schultz-but-leave-starbucks-alone” link_option_url_new_window=”on”]

Officials at SKDKnickerbocker, a progressive public affairs and consulting firm, have been reaching out to Democratic operatives in the last week expressing fear the animus directed at Schultz over his proposed independent presidential bid was having a spillover effect on the coffee conglomerate he used to lead.

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