Ashley Pointer | December 20, 2024
When I greeted Sabrina Carpenter at NPR HQ for her Tiny Desk debut, her charm was immediately disarming. Bubbling with excitement, she extended her hand, introduced herself and complimented my outfit with genuine warmth. You’d think this was one of her first “big time” gigs, not a regular performance for a pop veteran, having sold out arenas across the country touring her now six time Grammy-nominated sixth album, Short n’ Sweet. That humility made me love her even more.

But Carpenter delivers far more than just charm in this performance. Backed by her band, complimented with pedal steel and a string quartet, she reimagines her biggest hits from Short n’ Sweet, while sharing the stories in between songs of how these tracks came to life. Opening with “Taste,” strings serve up some playful pizzicato, before Carpenter and her band move into a lush, soulful version “Bed Chem.” Then everyone swaps their electric instruments for acoustic to perform “Please Please Please” and “Slim Pickins.” Finally, Carpenter closes with the viral favorite “Juno,” cheekily asking the audience, “Have you ever tried this one?” before sweeping her rear end across the windchimes, earning a laugh from the room.

“When I first started [writing songs] it was kinda in a room like this — a room with very dry walls and there’s no reverb,” Carpenter reflects at the top of her performance. “But there’s something so real and special.” That authenticity set the tone for a memorable session with one of 2024’s biggest breakout superstars.

SET LIST
“Taste”
“Bed Chem”
“Please Please Please”
“Slim Pickins”
“Espresso”
“Juno”

MUSICIANS
Sabrina Carpenter: vocals
Haeun “hani” You: piano, keyboards
Caleb Nelson: guitar
Matt Park: pedal steel guitar
Chris Johnson: drums
Alexandra Simpson: viola
Sarena Hsu: violin
Yasmeen “YAS” Al-Mazeedi: violin
Bobby Wooten III: bass
Marza Merophi Wilks: cello
Christine Noel Smit: background vocals
MIA MOR: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producers: Ashley Pointer, Bobby Carter
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel, Wendy Li
Audio Engineer: David Greenburg
Production Assistant: Elle Mannion
Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#tinydesk #sabrinacarpenter #espresso

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