MoMA Nights with Thao (from The Get Down Stay Down)
Tonight's Musical Performance: Thao (from The Get Down Stay Down)
Thao Nguyen, solo guitar and voice
While growing up in Falls Church, Virginia, Thao Nguyen picked up a guitar at the age of 12 and began performing in a pop-country duo in high school. She spent most of her twenties working and touring with a laundry list of vaunted artists, including Andrew Bird, Mirah, Laura Viers, and the producer Tucker Martine. She also toured the United States with the syndicated NPR program Radiolab. A little over a year ago, Nguyen finally settled in San Francisco: "I wanted to try to actually be a real live person, rather than just singing songs about them." Life off the road has meant time to think about things besides music and to engage in community activism, such as advocating for incarcerated Californians. When Nguyen stepped into the studio with her band The Get Down Stay Down and producer John Congleton, the result was We the Common. The album's 12 songs are raw and rollicking, homemade and reckless, revealing this musician's punk soul and folk heart.