LETTING IT ALL HANG OUT

"Just wait till I start crying, you're going to feel really awkward," Thao Nguyen relays with a laugh. Via phone from her mother's home in Virginia, she's recounting the inspiration of her new, second album, We Brave Bee Strings and All, another autobiographical affair. "A lot of the songs are about taking responsibility for the ways that I might have mistreated or treated people. I wouldn't say any of the songs are incredibly happy, but there's not defeat in it." And that's dead on: Despite the lyrical inspiration, Nguyen's acoustic-guitar-based songs sort of swing. There's a looseness to them, and the way in which the 24-year-old Nguyen (who now lives in San Francisco) sings, which fills her recorded and live performances with a feeling of joyful release. And all the above is pretty easy to love from the first note. "I didn't have that many friends growing up, so I had a lot of time to hang out and learn the guitar," she laughs. Lucky us. www.thaomusic.com

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