NPR Tiny Desk Concerts - Season 8
Episode List
E1 - Trey Anastasio
Aired: January 05, 2015
The Phish star was in town to put on a huge show, but the songs here feel more personal than that.
E2 - Daniel Lanois
Aired: January 03, 2015
The producer presides over an all-instrumental, free-form trio with Brian Blade and Jim Wilson.
E3 - Rubblebucket
Aired: January 20, 2015
Even without its confetti cannon, the band brings a fun mix of brass and brash to the NPR offices.
E4 - Bobby Bare Jr.
Aired: January 27, 2015
The Nashville singer writes with acidic wit in lines worthy of his old mentor, Shel Silverstein.
E5 - John Reilly & Friends
Aired: February 03, 2015
Reilly sings and plays guitar alongside Tom Brosseau and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark.
E6 - Mucca Pazza
Aired: February 10, 2015
With 23 members, the performance-art marching band is the biggest ever to play the Tiny Desk.
E7 - Until The Ribbon Breaks
Aired: February 17, 2015
The band strips down its electronic sound with the aid of a spaghetti strainer and a paint bucket.
E8 - Zola Jesus
Aired: February 23, 2015
With her huge voice and an assist on trombone, Nika Roza Danilova offers up a curious combination.
E9 - Dan Deacon
Aired: February 25, 2015
The Tiny Desk becomes a DJ booth for an office space dance party.
E10 - Phox
Aired: March 02, 2015
The Wisconsin band performs three of its warm, accessible songs in the NPR Music offices.
E11 - Aurelio
Aired: March 07, 2015
Aurelio weaves intricate layers of acoustic guitar to capture the feel of African and the Caribbean.
E12 - Fantastic Negrito
Aired: March 09, 2015
The singer beat out nearly 7,000 other submissions to win NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest.
E13 - Matt Haimovitz & Christopher O'Riley
Aired: March 14, 2015
The duo plays visionary Beethoven, heartbreaking JanĂĄÄek and Glass that unfolds like a lullaby.
E14 - Punch Brothers
Aired: March 16, 2015
Before the wide-ranging band plays, the audience sings "Happy Birthday" to mandolinist Chris Thile.
E15 - Anonymous 4 With Bruce Molsky
Aired: March 28, 2015
The a cappella quartet, with banjo and fiddle, offers popular songs from the Civil War era.
E16 - Sylvan Esso
Aired: March 20, 2015
Performed softly in the light of day, these three songs feel fresh and lovable.
E17 - Death Cab For Cutie
Aired: April 06, 2015
In a beautifully stark performance, the band plays two songs from Kintsugi and two older favorites.
E18 - Beach Slang
Aired: April 10, 2015
James Snyder's euphoric punk anthems become raw and uplifting confessionals in this acoustic set.
E19 - Chadwick Stokes
Aired: April 13, 2015
Stokes' songs feel familiar; they're old friends before you're done hearing them for the first time.
E20 - Rosa DĂaz
Aired: April 17, 2015
The singer's lyrics reflect deeply felt emotions in this performance with cellist Daniel de Jesus.
E21 - Jessie Ware
Aired: April 20, 2015
The young English singer brings warmth to electronic music and a swooning quality to her own pop.
E22 - DakhaBrakha
Aired: April 25, 2015
The Ukrainian acoustic quartet's music encompasses sounds and rhythms from around the world.
E23 - José Gonzålez
Aired: April 29, 2015
This soft-spoken Swedish singer left an imprint at the Tiny Desk that was gentle and long lasting.
E24 - Diego El Cigala
Aired: May 01, 2015
The singer has been called "the Sinatra of flamenco." His expressive style draws on jazz.
E25 - Vijay Iyer Trio
Aired: May 04, 2015
Iyer's working band transforms selections from throughout the pianist's deep and varied catalog.
E26 - Eskmo
Aired: May 08, 2015
Found objects are percussion instruments in the hands of a man who's part musician, part magician.
E27 - Bellows
Aired: May 11, 2015
These are enchanting songs, with the power to drift in your head for days.
E28 - Camané
Aired: May 15, 2015
A star in his native Portugal, Camané evokes melancholy with a silky baritone and elegant phrasing.
E29 - Young Fathers
Aired: May 19, 2015
Intense, hip-hop-infused poetry is reduced to just the essentials in this two-song, four-minute set.
E30 - Jason Vieaux And Yolanda Kondonassis
Aired: May 22, 2015
Watch the Grammy-winning guitarist and acclaimed harpist play music influenced by Africa and Asia.
E31 - Madisen Ward And The Mama Bear
Aired: May 26, 2015
The mother-son duo's songs are memorable and singable even days after you hear them.
E32 - Frank Fairfield
Aired: May 29, 2015
A young man with an old musical soul has a spellbinding voice and fluid fiddle playing.
E33 - Genevieve
Aired: June 01, 2015
See a singer with a powerful voice and extremely encouraging message.
E34 - Anna & Elizabeth
Aired: June 08, 2015
If you've never thought your tastes would lean to mountain music, breathe deep and soak it all in.
E35 - The Prettiots
Aired: June 15, 2015
The clever trio shares its love of everything from Law & Order to old-school girl groups.
E36 - Strand Of Oaks
Aired: June 19, 2015
Timothy Showalter's music is filled with bite and sometimes regret, but also a good deal of warmth.
E37 - Hop Along
Aired: June 22, 2015
Frances Quinlan's raspy voice whispers one moment, then lets loose a gut-punching howl the next.
E38 - Oddisee
Aired: June 26, 2015
The charismatic Brooklyn-via-D.C.-area rapper creates just the right amount of space in his music.
E39 - And The Kids
Aired: June 30, 2015
The trio's music is full of life, with dissonant sounds that still feel suited for singalongs.
E40 - Christopher Paul Stelling
Aired: July 06, 2015
Best witnessed live, Stelling's music is steeped in tradition yet filled with vitality and soul.
E41 - Girlpool
Aired: July 10, 2015
The charming duo performs three of the simple, direct songs from Before The World Was Big.
E42 - Songhoy Blues
Aired: July 17, 2015
See a Malian band that fuses African music with Western rock.
E43 - Kate Tempest
Aired: July 21, 2015
A celebrated English playwright and rapper deploys storytelling and poetry.
E44 - Paul Weller
Aired: July 28, 2015
See the beloved Britpop veteran perform songs from his new album, Saturns Pattern.
E45 - Shamir
Aired: July 31, 2015
The singer's disco-infused funk and soul gets stripped down to a lone voice with a guitar.
E46 - SOAK
Aired: August 03, 2015
Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson makes the most of a single voice and an acoustic guitar.
E47 - Terence Blanchard Feat. The E-Collective
Aired: August 05, 2015
The New Orleans trumpeter's funky new band creates dance music to ward off despair.
E48 - Torres
Aired: August 10, 2015
Mackenzie Scott's music channels Patti Smith and PJ Harvey while hinting at further growth.
E49 - Restorations
Aired: August 14, 2015
The Philly rock band's big-hearted songs are stripped down to a few guitars and a MiniKorg.
E50 - Kacey Musgraves
Aired: August 17, 2015
The country singer plays four songs from Pageant Material, plus the set-closing "Follow Your Arrow."
E51 - Son Lux
Aired: August 21, 2015
The trio blows up its sound by adding off-duty, civilian horn players from the U.S. Marine Band.
E52 - Caroline Rose
Aired: August 24, 2015
Rose plays music as if she's just met her new best friend: It's fresh, fun and enthusiastic.
E53 - Eskimeaux
Aired: August 28, 2015
There's lighthearted, almost childlike beauty in the way Gabrielle Smith puts words to song.
E54 - Mitski
Aired: August 31, 2015
Mitski's music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through.
E55 - Happyness
Aired: September 04, 2015
If you're a fan of dark, incredibly dry, wry humor, you've just found Happyness.
E56 - Leon Bridges
Aired: September 08, 2015
Bridges is easy to love and hard to resist, with purity in his voice that's untouched by modern pop.
E57 - Sam Lee
Aired: September 11, 2015
The singer found his voice by finding and preserving old British, Irish and Scottish folk songs.
E58 - Watkins Family Hour
Aired: September 18, 2015
With help from Fiona Apple, two Nickel Creek alums gather a band to perform old and new songs.
E59 - Gina Chavez
Aired: September 22, 2015
The Austin singer-songwriter performs with intense openness, directness and warmth.
E60 - Joan Shelley
Aired: September 25, 2015
As technology rules the day, here's a reminder that a single voice can carry deep emotion.
E61 - The Internet
Aired: September 29, 2015
The R&B band might just be the oddest thing to come from the hip-hop collective Odd Future.
E62 - Lianne La Havas
Aired: October 02, 2015
The singer is soulful yet playful, raw and vulnerable in a commanding kind of way.
E63 - Deqn Sue
Aired: October 05, 2015
She came so close to winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest, we just had to see her play.
E64 - Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Aired: October 09, 2015
The trumpeter presents his emotionally charged, jazz-hybridized "stretch music" in performance.
E65 - Andra Day
Aired: October 13, 2015
Day's songs feel candid and vulnerable, but not understated.
E66 - Oh Pep!
Aired: October 16, 2015
The band's clever, thoughtful music fits in everywhere from Nashville to its hometown of Melbourne.
E67 - Paolo Angeli
Aired: October 19, 2015
The Sardinian guitarist has a whole toy shop aboard his instrument.
E68 - Beauty Pill
Aired: October 23, 2015
In Beauty Pill, life whirs with plunderphonic glee and riffs are funky from the inside out.
E69 - The Suffers
Aired: October 27, 2015
The 10-piece band can barely fit all its horns, guitars, percussion and energy behind one desk.
E70 - Diane Coffee
Aired: November 02, 2015
Conjuring David Bowie, Diane Coffee's Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.
E71 - Chris Stapleton
Aired: November 05, 2015
With his wife Morgane, the country singer-songwriter sings patient, detailed songs of devotion.
E72 - My bubba
Aired: November 06, 2015
My bubba is a duo of women whose quirky, delicate, sweetly sung folk songs are a delight.
E73 - Aurora
Aired: November 09, 2015
At 19 and on the cusp of her first album, the Norwegian singer performs with a sense of discovery.
E74 - Rahim AlHaj
Aired: November 13, 2015
The oud player's wordless music tells powerful stories about life's blessedness and fragility.
E75 - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Aired: November 17, 2015
At the Tiny Desk, Rateliff's body-shaking Southern-style soul takes on a more laid-back sound.
E76 - The Wild Reeds
Aired: November 20, 2015
Great singers aren't easy to come by, so finding three in one band is something special.
E77 - Youth Lagoon
Aired: November 23, 2015
Trevor Powers' new songs are expansive and self-assured, a transition reflected in this performance.
E78 - Teddy Abrams
Aired: November 30, 2015
Hear a young conductor, composer and pianist play Beethoven and his own jazzy pieces.
E79 - Protomartyr
Aired: December 04, 2015
The Detroit band's loud, screeching, grousing rock can be profound, poetic and bewildering.
E80 - The Oh Hellos
Aired: December 08, 2015
The nine-piece band bursts with anthemic joy, even as its songs convey darkness and loneliness.
E81 - Land Lines
Aired: December 11, 2015
The Denver band's mysteriously swirling music is singular, new and adventurous.
E82 - Shakey Graves
Aired: December 14, 2015
When the singer breaks out his guitar and suitcase drum, a rush of adrenaline hits the room.
E83 - Son Little
Aired: December 18, 2015
A modernistic bluesman with a taste for electronics appears with just his acoustic guitar.
E84 - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Aired: December 21, 2015
Watch the soul star perform "Silent Night" and two originals â one for Christmas, one for Hanukkah.