Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, San Francisco
April 30th at the Independent

Songwriter Thao Nguyen is just about the most charming musician in indie rock today, a pixie-sized cutie who wears short dresses and cowboy boots and plays quirky, guitar-driven tunes on an acoustic guitar that practically dwarves her slight size. Though formerly a native of Falls Church, Virginia, since relocating to San Francisco, Nguyen and her two-piece band (drummer Willis Thompson and bassist Adam Thompson), dubbed the Get Down Stay Down, have quickly risen to the ranks of one of the Bay’s more talked-about, emerging acts on the scene.

Though the show wasn’t sold out, it was certainly near capacity, and as she rolled through a set of alternative folk songs, driven by her mewling voice that at times recalls a more energized Cat Power with a distinctive folky funk reminiscent of Ani DiFranco, she popped and bounced with a vivaciousness that was supplemented by several guest musicians on a few songs to really round out their sound. Nguyen cites Lilith Fair as a great catalyst to her musical evolution, inspiring her to pick up a guitar at an impressionable age, and I dare say she could be seen as heralding a new, updated brand of feminism for our shifting generation. As the band is in the midst of a nationwide tour, expect to hear more buzz about the charismatic three-piece as they paint the nation in brightly colored hues by way of their amiable, warm spunk.

Watch: “Swimming Pools” [at youtube.com]