Thao & Mirah & tUnE-yArDs

Thao (last name: Nguyen, but you will rarely hear the full name…. sort of like a Brazilian footballer) is best known for her work with her band, The Get Down, Stay Down.  The hyper-active guitarist and lead singer is originally from Falls Creek, VA, but is currently living and working out of San Francisco, CA.  Her style is sweet but strong and crazy energetic.  I saw her perform with The Get Down, Stay Down in San Francisco several years ago in support of her album We Brave Bee Stings And All, and the crowd was electric from the performance.  Probably the funniest comment/compliment I heard that night (and, maybe, at any show I have ever seen) was from a couple in front of me.  The girl leaned into her boyfriend, and said, “She’s awesome.  You can totally sleep with her.”  Only in San Francisco.  Her discography includes three albums and a daytrotter session for her acclaimed poppy, fun album We Brave Bee Stings And All.  A song from that album is below.

Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)
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Mirah (Yom Tov Zeitlyn…. see above about Brazilian footballers) is a highly acclaimed singer/songwriter with an impressive discography.  Originally from Philadelphia, Mirah currently lives in San Francisco, and continues to create music within the always, but even more so in the past couple of years, up and coming Bay Area music scene.  Below is a track from her 2001 album, Advisory Committee.

The Garden
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TuNe-yArDs is the musical project of Montreal’s Merrill Garbus (she recently relocated to Oakland, CA).  She is signed with 4AD records, and has released two full length albums (BiRd-BrAiNs and w h o k i l l).  Both records have received significant acclaim, and recognize Garbus for her masterful work as a solo artist with a multitrack recorder (she could have been included on our previous post about solo artists creating huge sounds with multitrack recorders).  When performing live, Garbus creates drum loops on the spot, and layers these with ukulele, voice, and electric bass.  Below is a track from her 2011 record w h o k i l l.

Gangsta
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So, why am I telling you about all of this?  Well, Thao has recently teamed up with Mirah, and they brought in TuNe-yArDs for some production help, and have, in essence, created a female, Bay Area, pop, supergroup.  Thao + Mirah (the group’s moniker) has a self-titled debut album out on Kill Rock Stars, AND they will be coming through Nashville to play the Mercy Lounge on June 14th.  This will be your only chance to see them in Nashville, because none of these musicians are slated to play at Bonnaroo (though TuNe-yArDs was recently added to Bonnaroo’s sister festival, Outside Lands, in San Francisco).

Check out an original track from Thao + Mirah below, plus their fun cover of Love Is A Battlefield.

Eleven
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Love Is A Battlefield