Subscribe to Gritty Birds on iTunes!
The shade-providing architecture of Mar Ricketts' GuildWorks and Pickathon's Sky Crew: Photo by Miri Stebivka"Maintain gratitude. Don’t take any bullshit." Those are solid words of advice from Thao Nguyen, the powerhouse vocalist and lyricist behind Thao & The Get Down Stay Down.
In part two of Gritty Birds' Pickathon series, we talk with Nguyen before heading into the sky with GuildWorks and the Sky Crew who are responsible for the stretch fabrics that provide the festival's shade.
A singer, songwriter and activist, her end-of-the-fest Galaxy Barn set stands as one of the most powerful shows I saw this year at Pickathon. As I watched her performance, I sang with her: "I take my body back." For many women, this is not necessarily an easy statement, myself included.
Take a listen to the interview above to hear us talk about songwriting and Nguyen's process working with Merrill Garbus, from fellow San Francisco band Tune-Yards.
This episode was mastered by Gene Forte of Blue Heron Recording Studio.
