Tag: NPR

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Laurie Anderson: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Tom Huizenga | May 22, 2026 Laurie Anderson has a way of holding our lives up to a mirror, reintroducing us to ourselves, in all our ridiculousness and splendor. Now in her late 70s, the curious-minded visionary maintains her impish smile; her incantations — on everything from the American Dream to Amelia Earhart in this Tiny Desk set — seem more sage-like than ever. The idea of playing music behind an office desk struck Anderson as just another off-beat idea. She’s had hundreds of her own. No one can boast being NASA’s first artist in residence and performing a concert [See More…]

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RaiNao: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Anamaria Sayre | May 20, 2026 What will Caribbean waters and Puerto Rican percussion sound like in the years to come? Hija de la isla RaiNao’s Tiny Desk is here to show us. “Soy hija — especialmente, hija del Mar Caribe y de la hermosa tierra que me había nacer, Puerto Rico,” the artist explained, introducing herself: “I am a daughter — above all, a daughter of the Caribbean Sea and of the beautiful land where I was born, Puerto Rico.” In her recordings, RaiNao leans into reggaeton and electronic beats, sounds viewed widely as the backbone of the current [See More…]

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Vince Gill: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Lars Gotrich | May 18, 2026 Once you’re inside of a Vince Gill song, you enter an entire world. In power ballads and two-steppers, he crafts intimate songs about how we treat each other: a relationship that has weathered the decades, one that’s broken and another fighting to revive the spark. Some are silly, most are tearjerkers, but in these three-minute songs, you always come away with a full shape of humanity. For 50 years, that tender storytelling — paired with the voice of an angel and guitar licks that playfully dance on the fretboard — has taken Gill to [See More…]

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Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Felix Contreras | May 15, 2026 Is it possible to be ubiquitous and behind-the-scenes at the same time? That pretty much sums up Don Was and his long career in the music business. After co-leading the funky pop-rock band Was (Not Was) in the 1980s, Was went on to win an armful of Grammy awards as a producer. He’s worked with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Ringo Starr and Bob Weir, to name just a few. Since 2012, he has been president of the legendary Blue Note Records. Was is also a son of [See More…]

Music NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Foo Fighters: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Robin Hilton | May 13, 2026 Like a lot of artists who play the Tiny Desk, the guys in Foo Fighters carefully curated and worked through their set for weeks leading up to their appearance, even taping out the dimensions of the Desk in a practice space to puzzle-out the close quarters. But once they were in the office, they tossed most of those plans. “If you put instruments in our hands and there are people,” Dave Grohl jokes, “it’s fun to play!” For a better part of the last 30 years, Foo Fighters has worn the crown for stadium-sized [See More…]

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JADE: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Elle Mannion | May 11, 2026 JADE brings her creative vision to everything she does. The British pop star, a member of the girl group Little Mix, makes her Tiny Desk a “tiny version” of the theatrical stage production that she’s been touring for her debut solo album THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY! As a result, no props were spared: a cardboard proscenium arch and red curtain for the video’s introduction, roses for the Desk and angel wings as she performs next to photos of herself as a child. “Plastic Box,” which made NPR Music’s best songs of 2025, is a standout [See More…]

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KestheBand: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Nikki Birch | May 8, 2026 The island has come to Tiny Desk. “Representing for soca music, happy music, love music,” leader Kees “Kes” Dieffenthaller tells us, KestheBand opens with “Hello,” a warm, Caribbean welcome. Founded in Trinidad and Tobago, KestheBand is must-play-music in soca DJ sets and a staple at international carnival celebrations. These are the kind of songs that inspire you to whisper their double entendres to your sweetheart and shout them raucously on the road, grabbing onto the night (or a waist) with both hands. While “Rum & Coca-Cola” (co-written by Michael “Tano” Montano), “Jolene,” and “Cocoa [See More…]

NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Ragtime: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Mitra I. Arthur | May 6, 2026 Ragtime is a tale of history repeating itself. The musical centers on figures from three communities — Black Americans, immigrants and upper class whites — in New York at the dawn of the 20th century and what the American dream means to them as they intersect and, at times, clash. Company members from the Tony-nominated, Lincoln Center Theater revival stop by the Tiny Desk to share a bit of that American dream. The musical by Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty addresses the fraught topics of racial injustice, workers’ rights, immigration, women’s [See More…]

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Milo J: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Anamaria Sayre | April 30, 2026 Etched with Argentine folklore and fueled by the rap batallas of Buenos Aires, Milo J’s songs call upon the cumulative spirit of the centuries. “Sometimes words come to me that I haven’t heard before,” he told me afterward, as if to summon a life he’s never lived. In arenas and stadiums, the 19-year-old connects with his young peers about the passage of time with great energy and intensity. At the Tiny Desk, he takes a beat: Stripped back, yet deeply fortified, Milo J emerges with a new softness and depth. Behind the Desk, you’ll [See More…]

NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts

Infinity Song: Tiny Desk Concert 0 (0)

Bobby Carter | April 27, 2026 Infinity Song, a band of siblings, has been on the road to glory for many years. And I can’t think of a better proving ground for the Tiny Desk than busking on the streets and in the subways of New York City. I find it difficult to classify Infinity Song’s music. There’s definitely a rock influence, but with those sweet harmonies, there’s also a soul element that sets them apart from most “soft rock” bands. For this set, the group plays songs from Metamorphosis Complete, including the viral hit “Hater’s Anthem.” They also indicate [See More…]