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See Thao & the Get Down Stay Down Strum ‘Kindness Be Conceived’ in the California Light

Thao Get Down Stay Down Kindness Be Conceived Acoustic Video

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down’s latest album, We the Common, reveals the San Francisco artist to be as adept an arranger as she is a songwriter. But to see the mastermind Thao Nguyen sans bells and whistles is to realize what an incredible player she is as well. SPIN recently had a chance to witness her work at San Francisco’s Outside Lands (we also interviewed her for our ongoing festival podcast) and some of her set’s best moments were the barest. Above you’ll find Nguyen alone and at home, playing her Joanna Newsom team-up, “Kindness Be Conceived” on a seasoned old hollow-body. She blows on her hands before starting and fakes a sizzle sound as she touches the mike, but it might as well be real. Hit play above and watch a master do her thing, literally “in the California light.”

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down tour dates:

August 20 – Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe at Old National Centre
August 21 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Café
August 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre
August 23 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
August 24 – Columbus, OH @ CD 102.5 Summerfest
August 31 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival
September 6 – Eugene, OR @ Sam Bond’s Garage
September 7 – Portland, OR @ Pioneer Courthouse Sq.*
September 13 – St. Augustine, FL @ Gentlemen of the Road Stopover†
September 21 – Canton, MA @ Life is Good Music Festival
October 4 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
October 6 – Santa Monica, CA @ Way Over Yonder
October 11 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
October 21 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel*
October 25 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre*
October 26-27 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
October 28 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theatre*
October 29 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre*
October 31 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall*
November 4 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
November 5 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5*
November 6 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall*
November 8-9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer*
November 10 – Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz Theatre*
November 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre*
November 13 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s*
November 14 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live*
November 17 – Paris, France @ Zenith‡
November 18 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Heineken Music Hall‡
November 21 – Dublin, Ireland @ O2 Arena‡
November 28 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Le Guess Who?
December 1 – Brussels, Belgium @ Cirque Royal‡
December 2 – Winterthur, Switzerland @ Eishalle Deutweg‡
December 3 – Bologna, Italy @ Estragon‡
December 6 – Munich, Germany @ Zenith‡
December 7 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbiahalle‡
December 8 – Cologne, Germany @ Palladium‡
December 10 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega‡
December 11 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene‡
December 12 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Annexet‡

* with The Head And The Heart
† with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, The Walkmen and Willy Mason
‡ with The Lumineers