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NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

Season 2015 2015
NR

  • 2015-01-05T05:00:00Z on NPR
  • 14m
  • 19h 36m (84 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
Intimate musical performances, recorded live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

84 episodes

Season Premiere

2015-01-05T05:00:00Z

2015x01 Trey Anastasio

Season Premiere

2015x01 Trey Anastasio

  • 2015-01-05T05:00:00Z14m

The Phish star was in town to put on a huge show, but the songs here feel more personal than that.

2015-01-03T05:00:00Z

2015x02 Daniel Lanois

2015x02 Daniel Lanois

  • 2015-01-03T05:00:00Z14m

The producer presides over an all-instrumental, free-form trio with Brian Blade and Jim Wilson.

2015-01-20T05:00:00Z

2015x03 Rubblebucket

2015x03 Rubblebucket

  • 2015-01-20T05:00:00Z14m

Even without its confetti cannon, the band brings a fun mix of brass and brash to the NPR offices.

2015-01-27T05:00:00Z

2015x04 Bobby Bare Jr.

2015x04 Bobby Bare Jr.

  • 2015-01-27T05:00:00Z14m

The Nashville singer writes with acidic wit in lines worthy of his old mentor, Shel Silverstein.

2015-02-03T05:00:00Z

2015x05 John Reilly & Friends

2015x05 John Reilly & Friends

  • 2015-02-03T05:00:00Z14m

Reilly sings and plays guitar alongside Tom Brosseau and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark.

2015-02-10T05:00:00Z

2015x06 Mucca Pazza

2015x06 Mucca Pazza

  • 2015-02-10T05:00:00Z14m

With 23 members, the performance-art marching band is the biggest ever to play the Tiny Desk.

2015x07 Until The Ribbon Breaks

  • 2015-02-17T05:00:00Z14m

The band strips down its electronic sound with the aid of a spaghetti strainer and a paint bucket.

2015-02-23T05:00:00Z

2015x08 Zola Jesus

2015x08 Zola Jesus

  • 2015-02-23T05:00:00Z14m

With her huge voice and an assist on trombone, Nika Roza Danilova offers up a curious combination.

2015-02-25T05:00:00Z

2015x09 Dan Deacon

2015x09 Dan Deacon

  • 2015-02-25T05:00:00Z14m

The Tiny Desk becomes a DJ booth for an office space dance party.

2015-03-02T05:00:00Z

2015x10 Phox

2015x10 Phox

  • 2015-03-02T05:00:00Z14m

The Wisconsin band performs three of its warm, accessible songs in the NPR Music offices.

2015-03-07T05:00:00Z

2015x11 Aurelio

2015x11 Aurelio

  • 2015-03-07T05:00:00Z14m

Aurelio weaves intricate layers of acoustic guitar to capture the feel of African and the Caribbean.

2015-03-09T04:00:00Z

2015x12 Fantastic Negrito

2015x12 Fantastic Negrito

  • 2015-03-09T04:00:00Z14m

The singer beat out nearly 7,000 other submissions to win NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest.

The duo plays visionary Beethoven, heartbreaking Janáček and Glass that unfolds like a lullaby.

2015-03-16T04:00:00Z

2015x14 Punch Brothers

2015x14 Punch Brothers

  • 2015-03-16T04:00:00Z14m

Before the wide-ranging band plays, the audience sings "Happy Birthday" to mandolinist Chris Thile.

The a cappella quartet, with banjo and fiddle, offers popular songs from the Civil War era.

2015-03-20T04:00:00Z

2015x16 Sylvan Esso

2015x16 Sylvan Esso

  • 2015-03-20T04:00:00Z14m

Performed softly in the light of day, these three songs feel fresh and lovable.

2015-04-06T04:00:00Z

2015x17 Death Cab For Cutie

2015x17 Death Cab For Cutie

  • 2015-04-06T04:00:00Z14m

In a beautifully stark performance, the band plays two songs from Kintsugi and two older favorites.

2015-04-10T04:00:00Z

2015x18 Beach Slang

2015x18 Beach Slang

  • 2015-04-10T04:00:00Z14m

James Snyder's euphoric punk anthems become raw and uplifting confessionals in this acoustic set.

2015-04-13T04:00:00Z

2015x19 Chadwick Stokes

2015x19 Chadwick Stokes

  • 2015-04-13T04:00:00Z14m

Stokes' songs feel familiar; they're old friends before you're done hearing them for the first time.

2015-04-17T04:00:00Z

2015x20 Rosa Díaz

2015x20 Rosa Díaz

  • 2015-04-17T04:00:00Z14m

The singer's lyrics reflect deeply felt emotions in this performance with cellist Daniel de Jesus.

2015-04-20T04:00:00Z

2015x21 Jessie Ware

2015x21 Jessie Ware

  • 2015-04-20T04:00:00Z14m

The young English singer brings warmth to electronic music and a swooning quality to her own pop.

2015-04-25T04:00:00Z

2015x22 DakhaBrakha

2015x22 DakhaBrakha

  • 2015-04-25T04:00:00Z14m

The Ukrainian acoustic quartet's music encompasses sounds and rhythms from around the world.

2015-04-29T04:00:00Z

2015x23 José González

2015x23 José González

  • 2015-04-29T04:00:00Z14m

This soft-spoken Swedish singer left an imprint at the Tiny Desk that was gentle and long lasting.

2015-05-01T04:00:00Z

2015x24 Diego El Cigala

2015x24 Diego El Cigala

  • 2015-05-01T04:00:00Z14m

The singer has been called "the Sinatra of flamenco." His expressive style draws on jazz.

2015-05-04T04:00:00Z

2015x25 Vijay Iyer Trio

2015x25 Vijay Iyer Trio

  • 2015-05-04T04:00:00Z14m

Iyer's working band transforms selections from throughout the pianist's deep and varied catalog.

2015-05-08T04:00:00Z

2015x26 Eskmo

2015x26 Eskmo

  • 2015-05-08T04:00:00Z14m

Found objects are percussion instruments in the hands of a man who's part musician, part magician.

2015-05-11T04:00:00Z

2015x27 Bellows

2015x27 Bellows

  • 2015-05-11T04:00:00Z14m

These are enchanting songs, with the power to drift in your head for days.

2015-05-15T04:00:00Z

2015x28 Camané

2015x28 Camané

  • 2015-05-15T04:00:00Z14m

A star in his native Portugal, Camané evokes melancholy with a silky baritone and elegant phrasing.

2015-05-19T04:00:00Z

2015x29 Young Fathers

2015x29 Young Fathers

  • 2015-05-19T04:00:00Z14m

Intense, hip-hop-infused poetry is reduced to just the essentials in this two-song, four-minute set.

Watch the Grammy-winning guitarist and acclaimed harpist play music influenced by Africa and Asia.

The mother-son duo's songs are memorable and singable even days after you hear them.

2015-05-29T04:00:00Z

2015x32 Frank Fairfield

2015x32 Frank Fairfield

  • 2015-05-29T04:00:00Z14m

A young man with an old musical soul has a spellbinding voice and fluid fiddle playing.

2015-06-01T04:00:00Z

2015x33 Genevieve

2015x33 Genevieve

  • 2015-06-01T04:00:00Z14m

See a singer with a powerful voice and extremely encouraging message.

2015-06-08T04:00:00Z

2015x34 Anna & Elizabeth

2015x34 Anna & Elizabeth

  • 2015-06-08T04:00:00Z14m

If you've never thought your tastes would lean to mountain music, breathe deep and soak it all in.

2015-06-15T04:00:00Z

2015x35 The Prettiots

2015x35 The Prettiots

  • 2015-06-15T04:00:00Z14m

The clever trio shares its love of everything from Law & Order to old-school girl groups.

2015-06-19T04:00:00Z

2015x36 Strand Of Oaks

2015x36 Strand Of Oaks

  • 2015-06-19T04:00:00Z14m

Timothy Showalter's music is filled with bite and sometimes regret, but also a good deal of warmth.

2015-06-22T04:00:00Z

2015x37 Hop Along

2015x37 Hop Along

  • 2015-06-22T04:00:00Z14m

Frances Quinlan's raspy voice whispers one moment, then lets loose a gut-punching howl the next.

2015-06-26T04:00:00Z

2015x38 Oddisee

2015x38 Oddisee

  • 2015-06-26T04:00:00Z14m

The charismatic Brooklyn-via-D.C.-area rapper creates just the right amount of space in his music.

2015-06-30T04:00:00Z

2015x39 And The Kids

2015x39 And The Kids

  • 2015-06-30T04:00:00Z14m

The trio's music is full of life, with dissonant sounds that still feel suited for singalongs.

2015x40 Christopher Paul Stelling

  • 2015-07-06T04:00:00Z14m

Best witnessed live, Stelling's music is steeped in tradition yet filled with vitality and soul.

2015-07-10T04:00:00Z

2015x41 Girlpool

2015x41 Girlpool

  • 2015-07-10T04:00:00Z14m

The charming duo performs three of the simple, direct songs from Before The World Was Big.

2015-07-17T04:00:00Z

2015x42 Songhoy Blues

2015x42 Songhoy Blues

  • 2015-07-17T04:00:00Z14m

See a Malian band that fuses African music with Western rock.

2015-07-21T04:00:00Z

2015x43 Kate Tempest

2015x43 Kate Tempest

  • 2015-07-21T04:00:00Z14m

A celebrated English playwright and rapper deploys storytelling and poetry.

2015-07-28T04:00:00Z

2015x44 Paul Weller

2015x44 Paul Weller

  • 2015-07-28T04:00:00Z14m

See the beloved Britpop veteran perform songs from his new album, Saturns Pattern.

2015-07-31T04:00:00Z

2015x45 Shamir

2015x45 Shamir

  • 2015-07-31T04:00:00Z14m

The singer's disco-infused funk and soul gets stripped down to a lone voice with a guitar.

2015-08-03T04:00:00Z

2015x46 SOAK

2015x46 SOAK

  • 2015-08-03T04:00:00Z14m

Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson makes the most of a single voice and an acoustic guitar.

The New Orleans trumpeter's funky new band creates dance music to ward off despair.

2015-08-10T04:00:00Z

2015x48 Torres

2015x48 Torres

  • 2015-08-10T04:00:00Z14m

Mackenzie Scott's music channels Patti Smith and PJ Harvey while hinting at further growth.

2015-08-14T04:00:00Z

2015x49 Restorations

2015x49 Restorations

  • 2015-08-14T04:00:00Z14m

The Philly rock band's big-hearted songs are stripped down to a few guitars and a MiniKorg.

2015-08-17T04:00:00Z

2015x50 Kacey Musgraves

2015x50 Kacey Musgraves

  • 2015-08-17T04:00:00Z14m

The country singer plays four songs from Pageant Material, plus the set-closing "Follow Your Arrow."

2015-08-21T04:00:00Z

2015x51 Son Lux

2015x51 Son Lux

  • 2015-08-21T04:00:00Z14m

The trio blows up its sound by adding off-duty, civilian horn players from the U.S. Marine Band.

2015-08-24T04:00:00Z

2015x52 Caroline Rose

2015x52 Caroline Rose

  • 2015-08-24T04:00:00Z14m

Rose plays music as if she's just met her new best friend: It's fresh, fun and enthusiastic.

2015-08-28T04:00:00Z

2015x53 Eskimeaux

2015x53 Eskimeaux

  • 2015-08-28T04:00:00Z14m

There's lighthearted, almost childlike beauty in the way Gabrielle Smith puts words to song.

2015-08-31T04:00:00Z

2015x54 Mitski

2015x54 Mitski

  • 2015-08-31T04:00:00Z14m

Mitski's music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through.

2015-09-04T04:00:00Z

2015x55 Happyness

2015x55 Happyness

  • 2015-09-04T04:00:00Z14m

If you're a fan of dark, incredibly dry, wry humor, you've just found Happyness.

2015-09-08T04:00:00Z

2015x56 Leon Bridges

2015x56 Leon Bridges

  • 2015-09-08T04:00:00Z14m

Bridges is easy to love and hard to resist, with purity in his voice that's untouched by modern pop.

2015-09-11T04:00:00Z

2015x57 Sam Lee

2015x57 Sam Lee

  • 2015-09-11T04:00:00Z14m

The singer found his voice by finding and preserving old British, Irish and Scottish folk songs.

2015-09-18T04:00:00Z

2015x58 Watkins Family Hour

2015x58 Watkins Family Hour

  • 2015-09-18T04:00:00Z14m

With help from Fiona Apple, two Nickel Creek alums gather a band to perform old and new songs.

2015-09-22T04:00:00Z

2015x59 Gina Chavez

2015x59 Gina Chavez

  • 2015-09-22T04:00:00Z14m

The Austin singer-songwriter performs with intense openness, directness and warmth.

2015-09-25T04:00:00Z

2015x60 Joan Shelley

2015x60 Joan Shelley

  • 2015-09-25T04:00:00Z14m

As technology rules the day, here's a reminder that a single voice can carry deep emotion.

2015-09-29T04:00:00Z

2015x61 The Internet

2015x61 The Internet

  • 2015-09-29T04:00:00Z14m

The R&B band might just be the oddest thing to come from the hip-hop collective Odd Future.

2015-10-02T04:00:00Z

2015x62 Lianne La Havas

2015x62 Lianne La Havas

  • 2015-10-02T04:00:00Z14m

The singer is soulful yet playful, raw and vulnerable in a commanding kind of way.

2015-10-05T04:00:00Z

2015x63 Deqn Sue

2015x63 Deqn Sue

  • 2015-10-05T04:00:00Z14m

She came so close to winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest, we just had to see her play.

The trumpeter presents his emotionally charged, jazz-hybridized "stretch music" in performance.

2015-10-13T04:00:00Z

2015x65 Andra Day

2015x65 Andra Day

  • 2015-10-13T04:00:00Z14m

Day's songs feel candid and vulnerable, but not understated.

2015-10-16T04:00:00Z

2015x66 Oh Pep!

2015x66 Oh Pep!

  • 2015-10-16T04:00:00Z14m

The band's clever, thoughtful music fits in everywhere from Nashville to its hometown of Melbourne.

2015-10-19T04:00:00Z

2015x67 Paolo Angeli

2015x67 Paolo Angeli

  • 2015-10-19T04:00:00Z14m

The Sardinian guitarist has a whole toy shop aboard his instrument.

2015-10-23T04:00:00Z

2015x68 Beauty Pill

2015x68 Beauty Pill

  • 2015-10-23T04:00:00Z14m

In Beauty Pill, life whirs with plunderphonic glee and riffs are funky from the inside out.

2015-10-27T04:00:00Z

2015x69 The Suffers

2015x69 The Suffers

  • 2015-10-27T04:00:00Z14m

The 10-piece band can barely fit all its horns, guitars, percussion and energy behind one desk.

2015-11-02T05:00:00Z

2015x70 Diane Coffee

2015x70 Diane Coffee

  • 2015-11-02T05:00:00Z14m

Conjuring David Bowie, Diane Coffee's Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.

2015-11-05T05:00:00Z

2015x71 Chris Stapleton

2015x71 Chris Stapleton

  • 2015-11-05T05:00:00Z14m

With his wife Morgane, the country singer-songwriter sings patient, detailed songs of devotion.

2015-11-06T05:00:00Z

2015x72 My bubba

2015x72 My bubba

  • 2015-11-06T05:00:00Z14m

My bubba is a duo of women whose quirky, delicate, sweetly sung folk songs are a delight.

2015-11-09T05:00:00Z

2015x73 Aurora

2015x73 Aurora

  • 2015-11-09T05:00:00Z14m

At 19 and on the cusp of her first album, the Norwegian singer performs with a sense of discovery.

2015-11-13T05:00:00Z

2015x74 Rahim AlHaj

2015x74 Rahim AlHaj

  • 2015-11-13T05:00:00Z14m

The oud player's wordless music tells powerful stories about life's blessedness and fragility.

At the Tiny Desk, Rateliff's body-shaking Southern-style soul takes on a more laid-back sound.

2015-11-20T05:00:00Z

2015x76 The Wild Reeds

2015x76 The Wild Reeds

  • 2015-11-20T05:00:00Z14m

Great singers aren't easy to come by, so finding three in one band is something special.

2015-11-23T05:00:00Z

2015x77 Youth Lagoon

2015x77 Youth Lagoon

  • 2015-11-23T05:00:00Z14m

Trevor Powers' new songs are expansive and self-assured, a transition reflected in this performance.

2015-11-30T05:00:00Z

2015x78 Teddy Abrams

2015x78 Teddy Abrams

  • 2015-11-30T05:00:00Z14m

Hear a young conductor, composer and pianist play Beethoven and his own jazzy pieces.

2015-12-04T05:00:00Z

2015x79 Protomartyr

2015x79 Protomartyr

  • 2015-12-04T05:00:00Z14m

The Detroit band's loud, screeching, grousing rock can be profound, poetic and bewildering.

2015-12-08T05:00:00Z

2015x80 The Oh Hellos

2015x80 The Oh Hellos

  • 2015-12-08T05:00:00Z14m

The nine-piece band bursts with anthemic joy, even as its songs convey darkness and loneliness.

2015-12-11T05:00:00Z

2015x81 Land Lines

2015x81 Land Lines

  • 2015-12-11T05:00:00Z14m

The Denver band's mysteriously swirling music is singular, new and adventurous.

2015-12-14T05:00:00Z

2015x82 Shakey Graves

2015x82 Shakey Graves

  • 2015-12-14T05:00:00Z14m

When the singer breaks out his guitar and suitcase drum, a rush of adrenaline hits the room.

2015-12-18T05:00:00Z

2015x83 Son Little

2015x83 Son Little

  • 2015-12-18T05:00:00Z14m

A modernistic bluesman with a taste for electronics appears with just his acoustic guitar.

Watch the soul star perform "Silent Night" and two originals — one for Christmas, one for Hanukkah.

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