Sep 25, 2026 · 35 min · 9 segments
**THAO** returns with Show Me, her first album in six years, and it’s a record about what happens when you stop trying to keep parts of yourself at a safe distance. We talk about divorce, desire…
Certainly.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
It's sweet to get to look back.
And I should make it more of a point too.
But I remember very vividly growing up working at my mom's laundromat.
And that's where I started to play guitar when I was around 12 and teaching myself guitar there.
And then sometimes customers coming in and... showing me you know as they picked up their stuff or I would I would make change at the counter and then this one guy was like do you know how to bend a string you know so he showed me how to bend bend a note and um that into going performing in open mic nights all throughout high school and which is where I think I cut my teeth as a performer and I'm figured out how to, you know, there's nothing more unforgiving than an open mic stage, I think.
And so that helped a lot.
And I was able to start touring as soon as I graduated college.
I had a deal.
And so the week after graduation, I went on tour and have essentially been able to tour and be an artist since then.
And I'm very grateful to get to still do it, to still be here.
Yeah.
And what was the process of finding your voice in those early open mic sessions? I mean, I totally feel your stress in mic sessions.
you're going up in front of strangers and like kind of revealing parts of you, you know, and we know that music oftentimes connect to some tough moments or really beautiful moments.
Like it seems to be an extreme when we're writing these songs.
How did, how did, what was your process for finding how you wanted your voice to sound? And cause it's, it's, I mean, you have such a beautiful voice and you really play with it a lot.
I noticed too on show me in particular, like you're really starting to try other things and experimenting with, you know, throwing, um, you know, some lines with your voice inside the, the ooze ooze and the do's do's.
And, um, can you talk to us a little bit about like, like what that was like kind of figuring out what you wanted your sound to be?
Yeah.
In the beginning, my preoccupation and priority was how to, um, capture and keep attention on stage because I knew, I knew I was a young girl with an acoustic guitar showing up and I, and an Asian American girl at that, you know, and I knew what I looked like and I knew what people probably would.
I didn't, I didn't want to be dismissed.
And so my main goal was to play guitar well and to accompany myself and, both rhythmically and melodically.
Certainly.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
It's sweet to get to look back.
And I should make it more of a point too.
But I remember very vividly growing up working at my mom's laundromat.
And that's where I started to play guitar when I was around 12 and teaching myself guitar there.
And then sometimes customers coming in and... showing me you know as they picked up their stuff or I would I would make change at the counter and then this one guy was like do you know how to bend a string you know so he showed me how to bend bend a note and um that into going performing in open mic nights all throughout high school and which is where I think I cut my teeth as a performer and I'm figured out how to, you know, there's nothing more unforgiving than an open mic stage, I think.
And so that helped a lot.
And I was able to start touring as soon as I graduated college.
I had a deal.
And so the week after graduation, I went on tour and have essentially been able to tour and be an artist since then.
And I'm very grateful to get to still do it, to still be here.
Yeah.
And what was the process of finding your voice in those early open mic sessions? I mean, I totally feel your stress in mic sessions.
you're going up in front of strangers and like kind of revealing parts of you, you know, and we know that music oftentimes connect to some tough moments or really beautiful moments.
Like it seems to be an extreme when we're writing these songs.
How did, how did, what was your process for finding how you wanted your voice to sound? And cause it's, it's, I mean, you have such a beautiful voice and you really play with it a lot.
I noticed too on show me in particular, like you're really starting to try other things and experimenting with, you know, throwing, um, you know, some lines with your voice inside the, the ooze ooze and the do's do's.
And, um, can you talk to us a little bit about like, like what that was like kind of figuring out what you wanted your sound to be?
Yeah.
In the beginning, my preoccupation and priority was how to, um, capture and keep attention on stage because I knew, I knew I was a young girl with an acoustic guitar showing up and I, and an Asian American girl at that, you know, and I knew what I looked like and I knew what people probably would.
I didn't, I didn't want to be dismissed.
And so my main goal was to play guitar well and to accompany myself and, both rhythmically and melodically.
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