Thao (of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down) Announces Spring North American Tour

January 22, 2022 12:58 pm

Thao (of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down) announced her upcoming spring North American Tour.

Videos by American Songwriter

The 25-date trek begins on March 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, making stops in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Atlanta before wrapping in San Francisco on May 7. Joining Thao (aka Thao Nguyen) on the road will be Black Belt Eagle Scout, Becca Mancari, Quinn Christopherson, and Why Bonnie on various dates.

Tickets go on sale starting on Friday, January 21 at 10 am local time. Check out the complete dates below.

In 2021, Nguyen released the deluxe edition of her acclaimed album Temple. American Songwriter spoke with Nguyen around the release who said she was feeling good after a tumultuous couple of years that saw her achieve great creative heights and face some personal challenges.

“Not to belabor the concept,” Nguyen told American Songwriter, “but light. I feel really light.”

Along with shortening her performance moniker, she said she is transitioning her sound as she moves forward in her career.

“I love a party,” Nguyen said. “And I want for people to come to a show and have a good time and for it to feel very energetic. But at some point, I found [that the band’s concerts] veered more toward a party atmosphere. Moving forward, I want shows to be more—for there to be more emotional bandwidth for art.

“When I was first starting,” she said, “I had a lot of apprehension and misgivings for how ethnic my name looked. I was afraid and it was a different time. People would dismiss it more and wouldn’t consider it further. A part of adding ‘& The Get Down Stay Down’ was adding a level of accessibility. But it’s always irked me a little, it never sat well with me.”

She added, “It’s been very clarifying, this period,” Nguyen says. “I’ve shed some weight and baggage and dissolved relationships that needed to be dissolved. Before the pandemic, I was in a tough spot with my career because I wasn’t happy with where I was and wasn’t happy with the work I was trying to do. I felt like I wasn’t productive and expansive in the ways that I wanted to be. I think I stood in my own path a lot. So now, I think the trick is to not regret and just keep pushing forward.”

Check out Nguyen’s upcoming tour dates below.