Singer / Songwriter Priscilla Ahn on Tonight Show

[Hu's on First] I just caught another Asian American artist I never heard of (I wondered Ahn, that sounds Asian) at the end of the Tonight Show I captured on my laptop TV Windows Media center and USB tuner.

Here she is on Hulu for the next 2 weeks, goto 42:24 after the commercial opener

Here’s what wikipedia has to say about her background. I’d say Anh would be a better stage name than Hartranft, though there are many Asian kids tired of their wierd Asian names. (not that Hu ever gave me any childhood problems…)

Ahn was born as Priscilla Natalie Hartranft in Fort Stewart, Georgia to Kay (née Ahn) and Harry Hartranft and spent her childhood living in the USA and South Korea. She lived in Berks County, Pennsylvania for several years and attended Tulpehocken Area High School. Her college music professor was impressed with her songwriting talents and after graduation she moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music. For her career, Ahn adopted her Korean mother’s maiden name. She has toured with Joshua Radin, Amos Lee, and Ray Lamontagne and contributed vocals to the albums Supply and Demand and Kaleidoscope. She performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno May 2011 and in June 2008 was the Artist of the Week for Paste magazine.

It also mentions her songs have made numerous TV soundtracks, so YouTube seems to be a sideshow for her as she’s already operating in the “mainstream” hollywood media, though not the most recognizable face/name yet. .

This is on her own channel, but a fan repost racked up 4 million hits:

This one is a story music video

And Youtube has compiled a playlist page for her:
http://www.youtube.com/artist?a=GxdCwVVULXfhho9DbL61epFaDcivdXL6&feature=bottomfeedr

Needless to say, she’s very good, she has a soft sound, and she seems to be part of a pattern of new Asian artists, particularly Korean or Korean heritage who are at the edge breaking the “American’s don’t/won’t buy popiular music by Asians no matter how talented they are” curse when Asians haven’t been in the top 40 since the 1960s. I’ll be doing more on Asian youtube stars later, particularly Clara Chung “ClaraC” who had a terrific concert in Seattle with New Heights, another band popular with Asian college students who invited them both to the University of Washington Korean Student Association before.

Commenter Marvin says Priscilla Ahn will also be headlining Kollaboration Acoustic 5, taking place June 17, 2011 at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. Check out http://www.kollaboration.org for more info! (If I’m not mistaken, that’s the same Kollaboration organized by Asian Americans that turned ClaraC into a YouTube star, but nothing wrong with TV show soundtrack credits or the Tonight Show in the “real” media)

I talked to a non-Asian (ok “American”) nurse who says her daughter watches cute Asian guy singers on Youtube all the time. I check profiles of people who don’t seem to be Asian at all with an Asian youtube star or two, though the users who subscribe and favorite ALL AZN ALL THE TIME are pretty obvious too.

Other Korean Wins / Not-so-Wins

For that matter, it looks like Korea’s gold medal skater “Queen Yun Na” for all her worldwide fans has been pretty much a bust in terms of US commercial endorsements. That’s too bad considering how supportive Americans have been of East German and Russian skating stars, and how well Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan have cashed in. It’s easier to start in Canada, where she trained, that’s where Korea’s Hyundai started. Now Consumer Reports rated the Kia Optima better than the Honda Accord, and geez what a stylish car for something even Korean Ams used to shy away from if they could afford better. The Hyundai accent is just amazing looking even if the reviews don’t top the leading brands yet

Priscilla Ahn May 5 2011