everything that blooms wrecks me (cd, 2008) is dao strom’s second musical release of all original songs.

with a spareness that is almost meditative and a fragility rooted in quiet strength, she sings of the unspoken spaces of love, the elusive beauty of longing, darkness laced with grace, introspection to the gentlest degree.

from the haunting appalachian-tinged acapella mythos of “traveler’s ode,” to the spare, rhythmic, finger-plucked electric guitar accompanied by cello and delicate piano of the album’s title track, these are songs that have their roots soulfully anchored in traditional american folk music yet also reach uniquely beyond tradition.

dao has been a traveler in her life and her music reflects this. she infuses into the traditional roots format the sometimes wrenching, sometimes subversive, always compassionate, insights of a modern cultural nomad.

her song-stories are emotional and subtly mystical ones. love, temples, snow, rivers, fires and seeds, seas and memories. stars dying across the sky. paper lanterns and wine coolers. they shed light on the inbetween moments and feelings that are hard to describe yet press upon our senses ever so gently and mysteriously. softly distorted electric guitars weave through a musical landscape of otherwise sparse acoustic arrangements that include cello, accordion, dobro, violin, sweet female harmonies, and laidback acoustic rhythms.

in this music you will find a notable gentleness of perception; an authentic sweetness; an intelligent vulnerability.

everything that blooms wrecks me was recorded in austin, texas, produced by darwin smith at his east austin studio cacophony recorders, and features musicians from noted bands such as future clouds and radar, the texas sapphires, south austin jug band, and aimee bobruk.