Biography
Thao Nguyen’s raspy, singular sing-speak steers the punchy rhythms and sharp dynamic shifts that mark Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, a project whose songs balance sonic playfulness against emotionally weighted writing. After launching the band with We Brave Bee Stings in 2008, Thao and her collaborators worked with noted indie producers including Tucker Martine, John Congleton, and Merrill Garbus; the group’s fifth album, Temple, arrived in 2020 as their first effort recorded under Nguyen and core member Adam Thompson’s own direction.
Nguyen grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, where she began playing guitar and writing songs before her teens, later joining a country-pop duo during high school. Her first solo release, the 2005 album Like the Linen, introduced her gravelly, punk-inflected voice and folky indie-pop approach. Soon afterward she teamed with Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs for a single issued under the name Merrillthaocracy, then formed Thao & the Get Down Stay Down in 2006 with Like the Linen producer Frank Stewart and fellow College of William and Mary students Adam Thompson and Willis Thompson. Tucker Martine produced the resulting We Brave Bee Stings, issued on Kill Rock Stars in 2008. That year also yielded The Thao & Justin Power Sessions, a collaboration with labelmates Portland Cello Project and Justin Power, followed in 2009 by the band’s second album, Know Better Learn Faster. The latter appeared without Stewart yet included contributions from Andrew Bird and Jenny Conlee of the Decemberists.
After moving to San Francisco, Nguyen issued the 2011 joint project Thao & Mirah with singer-songwriter Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, co-produced by Garbus. The band then shifted to Ribbon Music for We the Common, released in 2013 without Willis Thompson; John Congleton produced the set, which again featured guests such as Midlake’s Paul Alexander and McKenzie Smith. By the time of the muscular fourth album, A Man Alive in 2016, official membership had narrowed to Nguyen and Adam Thompson, with Garbus again at the helm. Following a hiatus during which Nguyen contemplated stepping away from recording and later married, the duo returned in 2020 with the introspective, self-produced Temple.
Nguyen grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, where she began playing guitar and writing songs before her teens, later joining a country-pop duo during high school. Her first solo release, the 2005 album Like the Linen, introduced her gravelly, punk-inflected voice and folky indie-pop approach. Soon afterward she teamed with Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs for a single issued under the name Merrillthaocracy, then formed Thao & the Get Down Stay Down in 2006 with Like the Linen producer Frank Stewart and fellow College of William and Mary students Adam Thompson and Willis Thompson. Tucker Martine produced the resulting We Brave Bee Stings, issued on Kill Rock Stars in 2008. That year also yielded The Thao & Justin Power Sessions, a collaboration with labelmates Portland Cello Project and Justin Power, followed in 2009 by the band’s second album, Know Better Learn Faster. The latter appeared without Stewart yet included contributions from Andrew Bird and Jenny Conlee of the Decemberists.
After moving to San Francisco, Nguyen issued the 2011 joint project Thao & Mirah with singer-songwriter Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, co-produced by Garbus. The band then shifted to Ribbon Music for We the Common, released in 2013 without Willis Thompson; John Congleton produced the set, which again featured guests such as Midlake’s Paul Alexander and McKenzie Smith. By the time of the muscular fourth album, A Man Alive in 2016, official membership had narrowed to Nguyen and Adam Thompson, with Garbus again at the helm. Following a hiatus during which Nguyen contemplated stepping away from recording and later married, the duo returned in 2020 with the introspective, self-produced Temple.
Albums
Singles
