NPR Tiny Desk Concerts – Season 2015
Episodes
Trey Anastasio
The Phish star was in town to put on a huge show, but the songs here feel more personal than that.
Daniel Lanois
The producer presides over an all-instrumental, free-form trio with Brian Blade and Jim Wilson.
Rubblebucket
Even without its confetti cannon, the band brings a fun mix of brass and brash to the NPR offices.
Bobby Bare Jr.
The Nashville singer writes with acidic wit in lines worthy of his old mentor, Shel Silverstein.
John Reilly & Friends
Reilly sings and plays guitar alongside Tom Brosseau and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark.
Mucca Pazza
With 23 members, the performance-art marching band is the biggest ever to play the Tiny Desk.
Until The Ribbon Breaks
The band strips down its electronic sound with the aid of a spaghetti strainer and a paint bucket.
Zola Jesus
With her huge voice and an assist on trombone, Nika Roza Danilova offers up a curious combination.
Dan Deacon
The Tiny Desk becomes a DJ booth for an office space dance party.
Phox
The Wisconsin band performs three of its warm, accessible songs in the NPR Music offices.
Aurelio
Aurelio weaves intricate layers of acoustic guitar to capture the feel of African and the Caribbean.
Fantastic Negrito
The singer beat out nearly 7,000 other submissions to win NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest.
Matt Haimovitz & Christopher O'Riley
The duo plays visionary Beethoven, heartbreaking Janáček and Glass that unfolds like a lullaby.
Punch Brothers
Before the wide-ranging band plays, the audience sings "Happy Birthday" to mandolinist Chris Thile.
Anonymous 4 With Bruce Molsky
The a cappella quartet, with banjo and fiddle, offers popular songs from the Civil War era.
Sylvan Esso
Performed softly in the light of day, these three songs feel fresh and lovable.
Death Cab For Cutie
In a beautifully stark performance, the band plays two songs from Kintsugi and two older favorites.
Beach Slang
James Snyder's euphoric punk anthems become raw and uplifting confessionals in this acoustic set.
Chadwick Stokes
Stokes' songs feel familiar; they're old friends before you're done hearing them for the first time.
Rosa Díaz
The singer's lyrics reflect deeply felt emotions in this performance with cellist Daniel de Jesus.
Jessie Ware
The young English singer brings warmth to electronic music and a swooning quality to her own pop.
DakhaBrakha
The Ukrainian acoustic quartet's music encompasses sounds and rhythms from around the world.
José González
This soft-spoken Swedish singer left an imprint at the Tiny Desk that was gentle and long lasting.
Diego El Cigala
The singer has been called "the Sinatra of flamenco." His expressive style draws on jazz.
Vijay Iyer Trio
Iyer's working band transforms selections from throughout the pianist's deep and varied catalog.
Eskmo
Found objects are percussion instruments in the hands of a man who's part musician, part magician.
Bellows
These are enchanting songs, with the power to drift in your head for days.
Camané
A star in his native Portugal, Camané evokes melancholy with a silky baritone and elegant phrasing.
Young Fathers
Intense, hip-hop-infused poetry is reduced to just the essentials in this two-song, four-minute set.
Jason Vieaux And Yolanda Kondonassis
Watch the Grammy-winning guitarist and acclaimed harpist play music influenced by Africa and Asia.
Madisen Ward And The Mama Bear
The mother-son duo's songs are memorable and singable even days after you hear them.
Frank Fairfield
A young man with an old musical soul has a spellbinding voice and fluid fiddle playing.
Genevieve
See a singer with a powerful voice and extremely encouraging message.
Anna & Elizabeth
If you've never thought your tastes would lean to mountain music, breathe deep and soak it all in.
The Prettiots
The clever trio shares its love of everything from Law & Order to old-school girl groups.
Strand Of Oaks
Timothy Showalter's music is filled with bite and sometimes regret, but also a good deal of warmth.
Hop Along
Frances Quinlan's raspy voice whispers one moment, then lets loose a gut-punching howl the next.
Oddisee
The charismatic Brooklyn-via-D.C.-area rapper creates just the right amount of space in his music.
And The Kids
The trio's music is full of life, with dissonant sounds that still feel suited for singalongs.
Christopher Paul Stelling
Best witnessed live, Stelling's music is steeped in tradition yet filled with vitality and soul.
Girlpool
The charming duo performs three of the simple, direct songs from Before The World Was Big.
Songhoy Blues
See a Malian band that fuses African music with Western rock.
Kate Tempest
A celebrated English playwright and rapper deploys storytelling and poetry.
Paul Weller
See the beloved Britpop veteran perform songs from his new album, Saturns Pattern.
Shamir
The singer's disco-infused funk and soul gets stripped down to a lone voice with a guitar.
SOAK
Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson makes the most of a single voice and an acoustic guitar.
Terence Blanchard Feat. The E-Collective
The New Orleans trumpeter's funky new band creates dance music to ward off despair.
Torres
Mackenzie Scott's music channels Patti Smith and PJ Harvey while hinting at further growth.
Restorations
The Philly rock band's big-hearted songs are stripped down to a few guitars and a MiniKorg.
Kacey Musgraves
The country singer plays four songs from Pageant Material, plus the set-closing "Follow Your Arrow."
Son Lux
The trio blows up its sound by adding off-duty, civilian horn players from the U.S. Marine Band.
Caroline Rose
Rose plays music as if she's just met her new best friend: It's fresh, fun and enthusiastic.
Eskimeaux
There's lighthearted, almost childlike beauty in the way Gabrielle Smith puts words to song.
Mitski
Mitski's music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through.
Happyness
If you're a fan of dark, incredibly dry, wry humor, you've just found Happyness.
Leon Bridges
Bridges is easy to love and hard to resist, with purity in his voice that's untouched by modern pop.
Sam Lee
The singer found his voice by finding and preserving old British, Irish and Scottish folk songs.
Watkins Family Hour
With help from Fiona Apple, two Nickel Creek alums gather a band to perform old and new songs.
Gina Chavez
The Austin singer-songwriter performs with intense openness, directness and warmth.
Joan Shelley
As technology rules the day, here's a reminder that a single voice can carry deep emotion.
The Internet
The R&B band might just be the oddest thing to come from the hip-hop collective Odd Future.
Lianne La Havas
The singer is soulful yet playful, raw and vulnerable in a commanding kind of way.
Deqn Sue
She came so close to winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest, we just had to see her play.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
The trumpeter presents his emotionally charged, jazz-hybridized "stretch music" in performance.
Andra Day
Day's songs feel candid and vulnerable, but not understated.
Oh Pep!
The band's clever, thoughtful music fits in everywhere from Nashville to its hometown of Melbourne.
Paolo Angeli
The Sardinian guitarist has a whole toy shop aboard his instrument.
Beauty Pill
In Beauty Pill, life whirs with plunderphonic glee and riffs are funky from the inside out.
The Suffers
The 10-piece band can barely fit all its horns, guitars, percussion and energy behind one desk.
Diane Coffee
Conjuring David Bowie, Diane Coffee's Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.
Chris Stapleton
With his wife Morgane, the country singer-songwriter sings patient, detailed songs of devotion.
My bubba
My bubba is a duo of women whose quirky, delicate, sweetly sung folk songs are a delight.
Aurora
At 19 and on the cusp of her first album, the Norwegian singer performs with a sense of discovery.
Rahim AlHaj
The oud player's wordless music tells powerful stories about life's blessedness and fragility.
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
At the Tiny Desk, Rateliff's body-shaking Southern-style soul takes on a more laid-back sound.
The Wild Reeds
Great singers aren't easy to come by, so finding three in one band is something special.
Youth Lagoon
Trevor Powers' new songs are expansive and self-assured, a transition reflected in this performance.
Teddy Abrams
Hear a young conductor, composer and pianist play Beethoven and his own jazzy pieces.
Protomartyr
The Detroit band's loud, screeching, grousing rock can be profound, poetic and bewildering.
The Oh Hellos
The nine-piece band bursts with anthemic joy, even as its songs convey darkness and loneliness.
Land Lines
The Denver band's mysteriously swirling music is singular, new and adventurous.
Shakey Graves
When the singer breaks out his guitar and suitcase drum, a rush of adrenaline hits the room.
Son Little
A modernistic bluesman with a taste for electronics appears with just his acoustic guitar.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Watch the soul star perform "Silent Night" and two originals — one for Christmas, one for Hanukkah.