***EVERYTHING THAT BLOOMS WRECKS ME (2008) features these musicians:
dao (vocals, harmony vocals, guitars)
kevin fox (upright bass, electric guitar, harmony vocals)
billy brent malkus (dobro, electric guitar)
brian beken (violin, mandolin)
kullen fuchs (piano, accordion, rhodes)
joseph santori (cello)
jimmy way (drums)
darwin smith (guitars, ebow, harmony vocals, bells & keys)
aimee bobruk (harmony vocals)
~produced by the wonderful darwin smith.
***SEND ME HOME (2004/05) featured:
dao (vocals, guitar)
kevin fox (upright bass)
lew card (mando, guitar, banjo on "jesus")
billy brent malkus (dobro, pump organ, harmony vocals)
tony holmquist (banjo)
steven pile (percussion on "day that we met")
~produced and recorded live-to-analog-2-track by brian beattie.
Influences
good and gentle things. sadness. love. vietnam. exile stories and songs. rivers and mountains, trees and leaves. rain, snow.
Sounds Like
***here is what some reviewers have said.... NO DEPRESSION (Mar/Apr 2005 issue): "The songs that flesh out Send Me Home are redolent of stringband music filtered through the mind's eye, untainted by the retroactive sentimentality of memory."
3rd COAST MUSIC (Apr 2005 cover story): "Dao brings more than a clutch of subtle songs, infused with melancholy, lightened by dashes of humor and an undercurrent of hope, to the table...combining vintage sounds with modern awareness."
MAGNAPHONE MUSIC: "Pure and lovely music...rich with a tender melancholy and gentle darkness...Dao Strom is the real thing. Send Me Home is full of history, recalling grand traditions of country-western and Appalachian folk and steeped in mountain and gospel imagery..."
AUSTIN CHRONICLE: "Dao Strom sings a lonely song for the entire world to hear...her wanderlust makes for a beautiful album that endears you from the start, making you feel the pillow against her cheek, hear the freeway through her half-cracked windows. She's a storyteller, and a damn good one."
TWANGCAST.COM: "If you think only someone in a trailer park living on welfare can sing the true blues found in country music, think again... Despite her being foreign-born, one listen to Dao's vocal inflections and soul of her tone will convince you she has 'Americana' in her blood."
SKYSCRAPER MAGAZINE: "No weak song in sight..." ROOTSTOWN MUSIC (BELGIUM): "The music made by Dao and her friends is of a serene beauty... Take a listen and I'm sure you'll want more."
***MUSIC VIDEO for "caller of spirit" (shot in juneau by kyle macdonald):
with a spareness that is almost meditative & a fragility rooted in quiet strength, dao strom sings of the unspoken spaces of love, the elusive beauty of longing, darkness laced with grace, introspection to the gentlest degree.
a pure and earnest voice that traverses eras & cultures, dao was born in vietnam, raised in a small town in the sierra nevada foothills of northern california, steeped in the music of austin, texas, and lives at the moment in juneau, alaska & other points northwest.
she is also a critically acclaimed literary author of two books of fiction, grass roof, tin roof and the gentle order of girls & boys. her writing has been praised as "quietly beautiful...hip without being ironic" by the new yorker, and "an acute, often painful, exploration of identity, displacement and sexuality" by venus zine.
dao’s 2004 debut release, send me home, was a quiet and modest affair - recorded live in 3 days (on a 2-track analog tape machine) with dao and her bandmates loosely assembled in a room behind producer brian beattie’s house in austin, texas (producer credits--okkervil river, shearwater, daniel johnston). the vietnamese-born folk singer’s self-release garnered striking critical praise and radio attention nationally and internationally, curiously likening dao’s voice and style to “mountain music” neo-traditionalists such as gillian welch and freakwater. no depression magazine featured an artist profile of dao in march 2005, and 3rd coast music featured her as their cover story that same april. she performed at SXSW 2006 where she was a “critic’s pick” for several publications, including the austin chronicle and austin360.com.
the songs on dao's second release, everything that blooms wrecks me, were recorded in the hill country outside san marcos, texas, as pieces gathered bit by bit over a year-and-a-half's time, by sound engineer jimmy way. blooms was then mixed & additionally produced by darwin smith at austin's cacophony recorders.
although her musical roots appear to be based in appalachia-tinged americana, dao continues to travel further back - in both time & geography: she is currently at work on a narrative song-cycle having to do with vietnam, folk mythology, war & exodus, & migration stories.
dao performed at notSXSW and several other showcases during SXSW 2009. she will appear in july at the 12th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in okemah, oklahoma -- as well other dates in austin and surrounding areas.
~RECENT REVIEWS of everything that blooms wrecks me:
“Her voice...is a sharp but carefully modulated brush placed amid various acoustic layers, and surprisingly pretty (though her words can be wonderfully disconcerting)... lyrics...so private as to invite solitary exploration within the comfort of headphones and winter tea... I tend to suspect she is only at the beginning of a long creative road, and that her work in ten or twenty years will be extroardinary.” -- Grant Alden, NO DEPRESSION
“Her beautifully crafted songs are like leaves blowing in the gentle evening breeze over a spartan landscape.” -- MILES OF MUSIC
“...distinctive and subtle songs that combine an old musical soul with a thoroughly modern sensibility...marvelously intelligent and moving songs.” -- John Conquest, 3rd COAST MUSIC
"...Rippling guitars, warm cello, accordion, violins, mandolins and dobro soak into the fibre of the album giving it a sepia toned sonic palette which is invigorating and comforting at the same time.” -- AMERICANA UK
Speaking of Oklahoma maybe you all can pull off a sludgy yet twangy yet reverent version of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top". Have a great show and drive carefully, surrey or no surrey..
oh lord yes i finally got a dose of xavier. mighty odd his mod pod of efervescent mondo bizarro in quad on the ipod. those guys are just on something. also very different from your music, how did you become friends!? linclons animation is awesome by the way. i grew up on legos and still have mine. hope your very well and did very much enjoy seeing you.
Just heading out for Spring Break...from lessons...with Lauren.
Funny. I texted you on your B-day but it bounced back...that AK # must be an actual, um, what'd we used to call em, land line. How was your Austin trip?
Thank you so much for finding our music and for the request. We really appreciate it, and we are glad that you are enjoying the songs. Your kind words and compliment are much appreciated. You might also like the mellow indie-folk of Samuel’s other band called “Of The Isles” [myspace. com/oftheisles]. A beautiful day to you in Juneau.
dao, you certainly know what lonesome sounds like! a rare and wonderful thing, of course. hank williams did too. kudos to you and darwin. the video speaks the same lanquage. hey! perhaps you could title my record? brian and I just finished it. the dog days are here and I'm struggling. 'everything that blooms wrecks me' is strong! If you'd like to take a stab at it, I'm using the painting that goes with 'mosquito' on my page. I'm quite serious! best, --lee
hey Dao, sorry it took me so long to respond...i'm just now getting to my Myspace inbox after being on the road for most of May. Any friend of Annie's is a friend of mine! It's a pleasure to meet you and to listen to your songs. All the best, Layah
Hey Dao. Your cd packaging is superb. Nice job. I'm about to work with a fellow Michener fellow on a project. She's Jenny Gillespie, a songwriter out of Chicago.
Howdy Dao! I can't tell you much I'm enjoying your new cd. It is SO pretty. Truly a work of art. Even the cover! Wow! Thanks so much. From Chicago, Van
I see a ghostlike white blur every now and then. I think it might be Sandslash. actually. I just saw him from my window. Looks healthy. Yes. Africa tix are purchased, Feb. 8-Mar. 28th. w/ 5 days in Madrid on the way. FUCK YA!!!! very stoked. Condo's gonna be out this way for January...some shows are in store, and Shanksy's out over christmas. Glad you're loving juneau. Every one I know from there is cool.
Grass Roots Record Co. Summer Revue tour! Tonight in Portland! Seatle and Olympia upcoming Hope to see you there! Thanks for the support, see you soon.
June 22nd - Marilyn's Sacramento, CA June 23rd - The Echo Los Angeles, CA June 24th - Steynberg Gallery Slo, CA June 25th - The Attic, Santa Cruz, CA June 26th - The Hemlock San Francisco, CA June 27th - Holocene, Portland, OR June 28th - The Triple Door, Seattle, WA June 30th and July 1st - What You got? Festival Olympia, WA
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