Thao Nguyen

Thao Nguyen
Born	Thao Nguyen 19 3, 1984
Birthplace	Virginia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Known for	Lead singer of Thao & the Get Down Stay Down

Thao Nguyen (born March 19, 1984), known professionally as Thao, is an American singer-songwriter originally from Virginia who is based in San Francisco. She is the former lead singer, songwriter, and figurehead of the band Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, a group that earned recognition across the indie folk, folk rock, and indie pop landscapes before disbanding. Nguyen's music draws from an eclectic range of influences including folk, country, and hip hop, resulting in a sound that is rhythmically percussive and melodically rooted in Americana traditions while remaining sonically adventurous. Over a career that began in 2005, she has released multiple albums on labels including Kill Rock Stars and Ribbon Music, and has collaborated with artists such as Joanna Newsom, Andrew Bird, Mirah, and Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. Beyond her recording career, Nguyen has engaged in community work, documentary filmmaking, and public conversations about heritage, art, and identity, including discussions of the Vietnamese-American experience.

Early Life

Thao Nguyen was born on March 19, 1984, in Virginia. She is of Vietnamese-American heritage, and her background and upbringing in Virginia informed much of her later artistic identity and songwriting. Details of her family's immigration history and her childhood in Virginia have been subjects she has addressed publicly, particularly in relation to themes of heritage, displacement, and connection that recur throughout her work.

Nguyen's relationship with her father was a significant personal matter that she later explored both in her music and in documentary form. In a 2016 interview with KQED, Nguyen discussed the process of sorting through what she described as a "troubled relationship" with her father, and how that experience shaped her songwriting and artistic output. This personal narrative became the basis for the documentary film Nobody Dies, in which Nguyen told her own story in what was described as an intimate exploration of family, identity, and reconciliation.

Growing up in Virginia, Nguyen developed musical interests that spanned multiple genres. Her eventual sound would reflect an upbringing that encompassed exposure to folk and country traditions alongside hip hop, influences she has cited in multiple interviews as central to her artistic development. She later relocated to San Francisco, which became her home base and a city that influenced her career and community engagement significantly.

Career

Early Career and Like the Linen (2005–2007)

Nguyen began her recording career in 2005. Her debut album, Like the Linen, was released in 2005 and established her as an emerging voice in the indie folk scene. The album was noted for its folk and country-influenced songwriting, delivered with Nguyen's distinctive vocal style and guitar work. She performed on guitar, banjo, and slide guitar, instruments that would remain central to her sound throughout her career.

We Brave Bee Stings and All (2008)

Nguyen's second album, We Brave Bee Stings and All, was released in 2008 and marked a significant step forward in both her profile and her musical ambitions. The album was released on Kill Rock Stars, an independent label with a strong reputation in the indie and punk communities. The record featured contributions from Joanna Newsom, with whom Nguyen collaborated on the album's arrangements and recordings. A 2009 review in The Washington Post covered Nguyen's rising profile, noting her abilities as a performer and songwriter.

During this period, Nguyen toured extensively and began performing with a full band configuration that would evolve into Thao & the Get Down Stay Down. A 2009 live review from a performance at the Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts, documented the energy of her live performances with the band.

Know Better Learn Faster (2009)

The third album, Know Better Learn Faster, was released in 2009, continuing Nguyen's association with Kill Rock Stars. The album saw Nguyen further refine the blend of folk, pop, and rhythmic influences that characterized her sound. In an interview with The A.V. Club, Nguyen discussed the experience of touring, the importance of taking time off, and her creative process during this period.

Collaboration with Mirah (2010–2011)

In 2010, Nguyen embarked on a notable collaborative project with Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, an indie singer-songwriter. The two announced plans to tour together and record a joint album. The resulting album, Thao & Mirah, was released in 2011 and was produced by Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. The record was reviewed by Pitchfork, which assessed the collaborative dynamic between the two singer-songwriters and the production contributions of Garbus. The collaboration represented an expansion of Nguyen's artistic network and underscored her interest in working across creative boundaries with other independent musicians.

We the Common (2013)

Nguyen's fourth studio album, We the Common, was released in February 2013 and represented a thematic and sonic evolution in her work. The album was credited to Thao & the Get Down Stay Down and was released on Ribbon Music. We the Common was notable for its engagement with social and political themes, a direction partly inspired by Nguyen's volunteer work at the San Francisco County Jail. In an interview with SF Weekly, Nguyen discussed how her visits to the jail and interactions with incarcerated women influenced the album's lyrics and her broader artistic perspective.

In a profile published by Interview magazine around the time of the album's release, Nguyen elaborated on the creative process behind We the Common and the personal and communal themes that animated the record. A feature in Hyphen magazine explored what was described as Nguyen's "uncommon life," examining her identity as a Vietnamese-American woman in the indie music scene and her engagement with questions of representation and community.

An extensive analysis published by PopMatters examined the album under the framework of "first person singular and plural," exploring how Nguyen navigated individual and collective consciousness in her songwriting.

A Man Alive and Documentary Work (2016–2017)

Nguyen's next album with the Get Down Stay Down, A Man Alive, was released in 2016. The album dealt explicitly with personal themes, particularly Nguyen's relationship with her father. In an interview with KQED, she discussed how the songwriting process for the album involved confronting and processing her complicated family history, describing the work of sorting through a "troubled relationship" that had shaped her life and art. The album was noted for its departure from some of the more communal and politically engaged themes of We the Common, instead turning inward toward autobiography and family narrative.

A profile in 7x7 magazine covered the album's release and an accompanying performance at The Fillmore in San Francisco, noting the significance of the venue and the city to Nguyen's career.

In 2017, Nguyen expanded her artistic practice into documentary filmmaking with Nobody Dies, a film described as an intimate personal documentary. The film allowed Nguyen to tell her own story through a visual medium, exploring themes of family, memory, and the Vietnamese-American experience that had long permeated her music. The documentary represented a broadening of Nguyen's creative output beyond the recording studio and concert stage.

Later Work and Continued Activity (2020s)

Nguyen continued to be active as a musician and public figure into the 2020s. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down eventually disbanded, and Nguyen pursued work under her own name.

In December 2025, Nguyen appeared on the seventh season of the SongWriter podcast alongside Việt Thanh Nguyễn, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The episode, which premiered exclusively through Paste magazine, paired the two Vietnamese-American artists in a conversation about the intersections of music, literature, and cultural identity.

Also in December 2025, Nguyen was featured in a conversation for USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency's American partner, in an episode of the Not Really Strangers series. In the episode, she sat down with USA for UNHCR Executive Director and CEO Suzanne Ehlers to discuss heritage, art, and connection, reflecting on the experiences of displacement and belonging that have informed her work.

Nguyen has also been involved with Radiolab, contributing to the series In the Dark.

Personal Life

Nguyen is based in San Francisco, a city that has been central to her career and community engagement since she relocated there from Virginia. Her Vietnamese-American heritage has been a recurring subject in her public life, and she has spoken openly about the complexities of identity, family, and belonging in the Vietnamese diaspora.

Nguyen's relationship with her father has been a subject she has explored publicly, both through her music—particularly the 2016 album A Man Alive—and through the 2017 documentary Nobody Dies. In interviews, she has described the relationship as "troubled" and has discussed the emotional and creative process of confronting that history through art.

Her volunteer work at the San Francisco County Jail, where she spent time with incarcerated women, was a formative experience that influenced the direction of her 2013 album We the Common and reflected her broader engagement with social issues and community work in San Francisco.

Artistry and Musical Style

Nguyen's music has been categorized within the genres of folk rock, indie folk, and indie pop, though her sound incorporates elements that extend beyond those classifications. She has cited folk, country, and hip hop as primary influences on her music, and this eclecticism is reflected in the rhythmic complexity and melodic variety of her recordings. She is a multi-instrumentalist who performs on guitar, banjo, and slide guitar.

Her songwriting has been noted for its movement between personal and communal perspectives. The PopMatters analysis of We the Common examined how Nguyen navigated between first-person singular and first-person plural modes in her lyrics, creating a body of work that addressed both individual experience and collective consciousness. Interview magazine explored similar themes in its profile of Nguyen, noting the ways in which her songwriting synthesized personal narrative with broader social observation.

Her collaborative work has been a significant aspect of her career. The album with Mirah, produced by Merrill Garbus, represented a merging of distinct artistic voices within the indie folk and indie pop communities. Her collaboration with Joanna Newsom on We Brave Bee Stings and All further underscored her connections within the independent music world.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Like the Linen (2005)
• We Brave Bee Stings and All (2008, Kill Rock Stars)
• Know Better Learn Faster (2009, Kill Rock Stars)
• Thao & Mirah (2011, with Mirah; produced by Merrill Garbus)
• We the Common (2013, Ribbon Music)
• A Man Alive (2016)

Recognition

Nguyen has received critical attention throughout her career from publications including Pitchfork, The Washington Post, Interview magazine, The A.V. Club, and PopMatters. Her albums have been reviewed and catalogued by AllMusic, which has documented her career trajectory from her debut through her work with the Get Down Stay Down.

Her profile in Hyphen magazine highlighted her significance as a Vietnamese-American artist within the indie music scene, examining questions of representation and cultural identity in her work and public persona. The 2025 Not Really Strangers conversation with USA for UNHCR's Suzanne Ehlers further positioned Nguyen as a voice in broader cultural discussions about heritage, displacement, and artistic expression within the Vietnamese-American community.

Nguyen's pairing with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Việt Thanh Nguyễn on the SongWriter podcast in 2025 reflected her standing as a figure whose artistic and cultural contributions extend beyond the boundaries of the music industry.

Her documentary Nobody Dies (2017) received attention from KQED Arts, which described the film as an intimate personal narrative that expanded her creative practice into new territory.

Legacy

Nguyen's career, spanning from 2005 to the present, has encompassed multiple albums, cross-genre collaborations, documentary filmmaking, community engagement, and public discourse on identity and heritage. Her work with Thao & the Get Down Stay Down helped define a strand of indie folk and indie pop that was rhythmically adventurous and lyrically engaged with both personal and political themes.

Her willingness to address the Vietnamese-American experience in her music and public life, as explored in Hyphen magazine and in her 2025 conversations with USA for UNHCR and on the SongWriter podcast, has contributed to broader visibility for Vietnamese-American artists in independent music. Her collaboration with incarcerated women at the San Francisco County Jail and the subsequent influence of that experience on We the Common demonstrated an approach to songwriting that was grounded in direct community engagement rather than abstraction.

As a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and performer who has worked with artists including Joanna Newsom, Andrew Bird, Mirah, and Merrill Garbus, Nguyen has occupied a distinctive position within the American independent music landscape, bridging folk, country, pop, and hip hop influences across a body of work that has evolved consistently over two decades.