NPR Tiny Desk Concerts — Season 8

Aired 5 January 2015

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

Aired 3 January 2015

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

Aired 20 January 2015

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

Aired 27 January 2015

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

Aired 3 February 2015

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

Aired 10 February 2015

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

Aired 17 February 2015

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

Aired 23 February 2015

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

Aired 25 February 2015

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

Aired 2 March 2015

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

Aired 7 March 2015

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

Aired 9 March 2015

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

Aired 14 March 2015

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

Aired 16 March 2015

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

Aired 28 March 2015

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

Aired 20 March 2015

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

Aired 6 April 2015

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

Aired 10 April 2015

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

Aired 13 April 2015

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

Aired 17 April 2015

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

Aired 20 April 2015

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

Aired 25 April 2015

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

Aired 29 April 2015

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

Aired 1 May 2015

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

Aired 4 May 2015

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

Aired 8 May 2015

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

Aired 11 May 2015

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

Aired 15 May 2015

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

Aired 19 May 2015

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

Aired 22 May 2015

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

Aired 26 May 2015

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

Aired 29 May 2015

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

Aired 1 June 2015

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

Aired 8 June 2015

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

Aired 15 June 2015

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

Aired 19 June 2015

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

Aired 22 June 2015

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

Aired 26 June 2015

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

Aired 30 June 2015

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

Aired 6 July 2015

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

Aired 10 July 2015

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

Aired 17 July 2015

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

Aired 21 July 2015

A celebrated English playwright and rapper deploys storytelling and poetry.

Aired 28 July 2015

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

Aired 31 July 2015

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

Aired 3 August 2015

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

Aired 5 August 2015

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

Aired 10 August 2015

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

Aired 14 August 2015

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

Aired 17 August 2015

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

Aired 21 August 2015

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

Aired 24 August 2015

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

Aired 28 August 2015

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

Aired 31 August 2015

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

Aired 4 September 2015

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

Aired 8 September 2015

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

Aired 11 September 2015

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

Aired 18 September 2015

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

Aired 22 September 2015

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

Aired 25 September 2015

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

Aired 29 September 2015

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

Aired 2 October 2015

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

Aired 5 October 2015

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

Aired 9 October 2015

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

Aired 13 October 2015

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

Aired 16 October 2015

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

Aired 19 October 2015

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

Aired 23 October 2015

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

Aired 27 October 2015

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

Aired 2 November 2015

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

Aired 5 November 2015 • 15 min

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

Aired 6 November 2015

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

Aired 9 November 2015

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

Aired 13 November 2015

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

Aired 17 November 2015

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

Aired 20 November 2015

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

Aired 23 November 2015

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

Aired 30 November 2015

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

Aired 4 December 2015

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

Aired 8 December 2015

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

Aired 11 December 2015

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

Aired 14 December 2015

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

Aired 18 December 2015

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

Aired 21 December 2015

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