Amanda Palmer Helps Launch Berklee Student Tristan Allen

She decided to take a picture of three teens who were hugging on a bench. They obliged, and as she walked away, one of the teens, Allen, ran up after her, having been told "she plays cabaret piano music." When Palmer informed him she was in the Dresden Dolls, Allen was shocked -- he had been a fan of the band for ages -- and asked if she'd be interested in hearing his original piano music.

With no practice spaces available, Palmer said, "My house is six blocks away. I have a piano. Let's go there." So they did. Allen performed, and his music so impressed Palmer that she asked him if she could webcast to her fans on the spot. For the next hour, he played original compositions and improvisations for Palmer's online fanbase (over 450,000 Twitter followers), insuring that many would witness the event.

The response was ecstatic and demand for Allen's music was such that Palmer invited him to a studio a few weeks later to record a five-song EP. It was funded directly from her fanbase using Kickstarter, generating over $8,000 in 48 hours. The EP, recorded in September in Boston with engineer Owen Curtin and produced by Amanda Palmer, includes four of Allen's compositions and one four-handed piano duet, "J�nos vs. Wonderland," that Palmer and Allen wrote together and recorded exclusively for the album.

The CD release concert, An Evening with Amanda Palmer and Tristan Allen, will take place Sunday, December 12 at 7 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center (BPC). The concert will be streamed live via Ustream. Ticket proceeds will fund a Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance Program scholarship. The album will be available in physical and digital format on KickStarter!


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