Season 11 2018

NR

The indie rap denizen behind one of 2017's most inventive albums came to the nation's capital to represent all the Brick Body Kids who Still Daydream.

The LA band's signature sound is intimate and demonstrative, haunting yet uplifting, an old-fashioned rock beat under glimmering guitar and keys. And at the Tiny Desk, it was at ease.

One of the joys of listening to The Weather station is the tension and release in the group's enchanting music. It's what made the band's most recent album one of Bob Boilen's favorite of 2017.

Julien Baker's Turn Out The Lights brought her much-deserved critical acclaim and wider attention in 2017. Before its release we asked her to make a rare return to the Tiny Desk for something special.

Watch the young Russian musician, who The Times of London calls “the most astounding pianist of our age,” play a smart, Chopin-focused concert on a grand piano, precisely wedged behind the Tiny Desk.

More than a dozen artists gather behind the Tiny Desk to celebrate Memphis soul in a joyful, triumphant performance.

The Ontario-based singer has a gruff but sweet voice with openly honest words behind soulful tunes of hope.

Brothers Brian and Michael D'Addario seem like they beamed into the Tiny Desk from the year 1971, untouched by the 21st century.

The Malian musicians, who've been playing together for nearly 40 years, bring some of the most lyrical melodies and joyful sounds we've ever had at the Tiny Desk.

The singer performed at the Tiny Desk without a warmup or soundcheck, with just her acoustic guitar and un-amplified voice, letting the wordplay in her songs shine through.

George Clinton brought his family, both immediate and extended, to the Tiny Desk for a set of classic cosmic slop.

Eavesdrop on a beautiful recital of German songs from fin de siècle Vienna, when music was transitioning from the swells of romanticism to the uncharted waters of modernism.

In three songs celebrating black ancestry and self-love, Woods demonstrated just how adept she is at creating songs rich with philosophical meaning that also move and groove.

The beloved singer-songwriter premiered three new songs while turning NPR's headquarters into a Harlem speakeasy.

This under-the-radar singer from the Dominican Republic is starting to turn some heads. You'll see why in this Tiny Desk performance.

The music of Hurray For The Riff Raff builds bridges, unites people and forms communities. It's a spirit singer Alynda Segarra and the rest of the band bring to this memorable Tiny Desk performance.

Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz never fail to mesmerize. Watch the twin sisters perform a four-song set at the Tiny Desk.

The Crossrhodes showed up to the Tiny Desk with game faces on, bringing with it a locally cultivated, globally appreciated energy.

Marlon Williams has a heart-stopping voice, is in love with a good, traditional blues or country tune, and writes songs about vampires and horror films.

The music of Nick Hakim occupies a space and time that feels out of this world, with songs that explore the quietude of inner thoughts.

The Afro-Venezuelan collective brings the boisterous parranda sound to the Tiny Desk.

One of the greatest to ever bless the mic treated the Tiny Desk audience to an office block party.

August Greene, Common's new trio with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, brought some special guest vocalists to the Tiny Desk.

Laetitia Tamko, the artist known as Vagabon, is a 25-year-old, Cameroon-born musician with a big, tenor voice just bursting with new musical ideas.

The Nashville star brought some good old country music stories to the Tiny Desk.

Watch the 77-year-old jazz-funk icon perform “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” (and more) at the Tiny Desk.

Out of nearly 700 performances at the Tiny Desk over the past decade, this one by British composer Anna Meredith is one of the most exhilarating.

The Mississippi rapper paid homage to his grandmother and performed songs from his new album 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time.

Clare's songs ask listeners to probe their own emotions through the lens of life’s bigger pictures. His visit to Bob Boilen’s desk is the perfect setting to bask in the power of his voice.

Each year we get thousands of submissions for our annual Tiny Desk contest. Seattle's Kuinka was one of last year's entrants. While they didn't win, we loved them so much we invited them to come play.

For more than 45 years, the legendary John Prine has written some of the most powerful lyrics in the American music canon. He brings some of his best to this unforgettable Tiny Desk performance.

Raul Midón brought nothing but a guitar and his voice to an extended Tiny Desk set of dense, breathtaking jazz and soul textures.

Cornelius' Keigo Oyamada deconstructs and reassembles music like it's a neon cubist-pop sculpture. On a rare U.S. tour, the Japanese band brought its complex cool to the Tiny Desk.

The Swedish trio brought a 30-string sonic blast to the Tiny Desk, performing on 12-string guitar, viola and the nyckelharpa (a fiddle with keys — think 15th century keytar).

Sometimes frenetic, sometimes slow and luxurious, the grooves the band creates are the perfect cushion for Jenny Ball's impassioned singing and engaging stage presence.

Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins are bound by a love for bluegrass, chamber music, jazz, storytelling and singing.

The Juice Crew legend brought his biggest hit, "Born To Roll," and a heartfelt recollection of his personal journey to the Tiny Desk.

Hear the elusive avant-garde pianist debut a new piece, etched in shimmering chords and dark, lamenting octaves.

Bridgewater connects with her roots, her birthplace and the town she's loved all her life, with a set of songs from Memphis.

The guitarist and singer for The Black Keys and The Arcs brings his Easy Eye Sound Revue to the Tiny Desk, recalling a time and sound from the '60s when southern R&B, including Nashville, was a force.

See the band perform a rare evening Tiny Desk concert, illuminated by flickering lights

Flamenco, jazz and classical share the stage in this Tiny Desk from one of our favorite Spanish composers.

Tyler Childers writes songs about hard lives and hard love with direct heart and a soulful Kentucky drawl.

The Uruguayan singer-songwriter is one of the finest lyricists operating today. Watch his stunning performance behind the Tiny Desk.

The Breeders' dreamy scuzz sounds wiser and more frazzled at the Tiny Desk, featuring the same lineup behind the band's breakout, 1993 album Last Splash.

The veteran Brooklyn rapper was an underground star during hip-hop's golden era. At the Tiny Desk, O.C. made it clear that he hasn't lost his edge.

When you hear John Moreland's sweet voice, it's hard to believe he spent years singing in punk, metal-core and hardcore bands. He plays acoustic guitar now, but his songs are still full of passion.

Hear a triumphant fusion of jazz, rock and blues that moves with momentum and fresh anticipation. Logan Richardson plays with a lyrical intensity that is both focused and free.

The multinational band of theatrically fun and talented musicians in Superorganism mix melody and mischievous with almost Seussian folly.

ÌFÉ isn't playing anything new. In fact, the band takes on something quite old: ritual Afro-Caribbean music that takes a lifetime to absorb and master.

Bedouine is Azniv Korkejian, a singer and guitarist who echoes sounds from the 1960's North American folk songwriters, but with vocal inflections closer to Leonard Cohen than to Joni Mitchell.

Most rap fans would name RZA as the head of the Wu-Tang Clan. But Wu purists know that GZA, or The Genius, is the crew's unspoken elder statesman.

Even if the world came to an end, there's still beauty and hope in all of us and in song. That about sums up the wistful mystery that is the music of Darlingside.

In three songs from Reservoir, Gordi keeps her voice both unadorned and centered within warm, cool arrangements that include piano, guitar, pedal steel, a harmonium named Barbara, and more.

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn are two American musical treasures. This husband-and-wife banjo duo write original tunes steeped in the roots of folk music.

The winner of this year's Tiny Desk Contest makes his official debut behind the desk.

This trio from Houston, Texas makes trance-inducing music heavily inspired by 1960s and '70s funk and soul from, of all places, Thailand.

The dream of the '90s is alive in this Canadian rock band.

Tony Shalhoub, Katrina Lenk and the cast of the Tony-nominated play The Band's Visit marked the first Broadway performance at the Tiny Desk.

The Colombian pop star and Chilean rising star brought their duet tour to the Tiny Desk.

The Los Angeles rapper and Kendrick Lamar collaborator performed four songs from her excellent album, Heirloom.

Watch the Chicago-based ensemble conjure otherworldly sounds from steel pipes, tuned cowbells and a bowl that sings.

We squeezed 12 go-go musicians behind the Tiny Desk. Watch what ensued.

This 22-year-old Brit has soul for days.

Watch the R&B star-in-the-making perform three songs, including a guest appearance by H.E.R.

The 14-year-old singer who signed to Columbia after winning America's Got Talent, dazzles the Tiny Desk with her breathtaking voice.

The one-woman riot who made headlines during the inaugural Women's March On Washington visits the Tiny Desk.

Watch the rising U.K. star perform intimate renditions of "Blue Lights," "On My Mind" and "Teenage Fantasy" with a full band.

The D.C. rapper brought quite the crew to his Tiny Desk performance.

Come for one of Havana's most talented acts. Stay for García's incredible mohawk.

Watch the 20-year-old star perform acoustic versions of "Location," "Saved" and "Young Dumb & Broke."

The bassist and drummer from D.C.'s pioneering punk band Fugazi join guitarist Anthony Pirog for a set of thrilling, sometimes loud and frenetic instrumentals.

A handful of teenagers, and a 12-year-old violinist, from the radio show From the Top, give sparkling performances, proving there's a bright future for classical music.

Watch the New York rap icon perform "Paid In Full" and "Know The Ledge," as well as a new song for Marvel's Luke Cage, at the Tiny Desk.

The star sheds his band for a warm, winning, utterly game, happily overstuffed five-song performance of songs from across his long career.

Join the "Children of the Sun" - or sit back and enjoy the spectacle - in this Tiny Desk experience.

New Orleans' native son brought his musical Gumbo — and a 10-piece orchestra — to the Tiny Desk for some well-seasoned soul and a lesson in creative freedom.

Yonnet is a magician on the harmonica. You'll see why he's performed with Stevie Wonder, Prince and Ed Sheeran.

Rev. Sekou and the Seal Breakers gave one of the most rousing Tiny Desks we've ever had, opening with one question: "Do you want to get free?"

Occasionally a new voice emerges so rich in experience that the only way to describe it is old soul.

A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad and composer Adrian Younge brought their Luke Cage-inspired collaboration to the Tiny Desk.

The Icelandic composer is joined by two "ghost" pianists, making mysterious and memorable music at the Tiny Desk.

The storied vocal ensemble brings close harmony singing to a diverse set list that includes a Beatles tune and a bawdy madrigal from the 1500s.

The veteran singer showcases her soaring powerfully expressive voice in a performance that bridges several generations of classic soul.

The precise serrations of Washington, D.C. band Flasher get softened for a visit to the Tiny Desk — their vocals, normally side-by-side rushing electric instruments, get the center stage treatment.

Del McCoury has been performing, and updating, his take on bluegrass for some 60 years. At the Tiny Desk, he brought three traveling songs and some good yarns to share from his ample time on the road.

One of our favorite new artists of 2018 visits the Tiny Desk.

Mac Miller reflects on his journey's peaks and valleys in a boisterous set of songs from Swimming, featuring special guest Thundercat on "What's the Use?"

DAWN has a breathless enthusiasm for shape-shifting pop music. She strips three songs to just the essentials, illuminating the impeccable songwriting behind her wild combination of sounds.

Even from its beginnings in late-'60s Oakland, the band has always stood out. Fifty years later, its devotion to classic horn-driven soul remains unmatched, its passion and precision unchanged.

The singer's performance at the Tiny Desk was an almost spiritual experience, leaving many at the NPR Music offices in awe.

Watch the 19-time Grammy winner return to his lifelong passion for J.S. Bach, playing music from the Cello Suites and offering advice on the art of incremental learning.

The Australian band uses tiny moments of introspection to illuminate life's bewildering, terrifying, isolating aspects — especially as they apply to women.

Backed for the first time ever by members of the Howard Gospel Choir, the Irish singer-songwriter shows off a voice built to fill stadiums in more ways than one.

In the fifteen years since he released Trap Muzik, Tip Harris has reinvented himself a thousand times over. But the stories he recounts from that era make his Tiny Desk a memorable one.

Two of Kansas City's finest — and indie hip-hop's trailblazers — deliver a dose of Strange Music.

Watch the young Harvard grad dispatch some of the most "knuckle-busting" piano repertoire with uncommon panache and precision.

The band makes life-affirming music that singer Kalmia Traver created over the past few years, filled with the triumph of being cancer free.

Jupiter Bokondji and his band Okwess play music that feels both African and American, with Jupiter's early musical tastes inspired by The Jackson 5, James Brown and the sounds of Motown.

While this Sacramento, Calif. band didn't win this year's Tiny Desk contest, their video entry, for the song "Peach Scones," was among the more memorable we've ever seen.

This trio has become a reference point of their own for new school instrumentalists, a coveted achievement for any jazz group, though their appeal stretches far outside the jazz ecosystem.

Brooklyn-bred hip-hop duo Smif-N-Wessun – consisting of partners in rhyme, Steele and Tek – illuminated the Tiny Desk with their signature, 80-proof poetry: straight, no chaser.

Julie Byrne's transporting music can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Watch the ambitious countertenor sing music that spans more than 250 years, connecting the dots between David Byrne, George Frideric Handel and Philip Glass.

The jazz singer, who used to be into radical feminist punk, now composes and sings beautiful jazz ballads.

Before embarking on a tour of Australia and Asia, the Chicago native brought the squad that helped make Care For Me one of 2018's best — along with a very special guest.

Henry and his band would have sounded right at home on Stax Records in the '70s — no small accomplishment. Watch them perform three funky, soulful jams.

The OutKast star performs "So Fresh, So Clean," "The Way You Move" and his solo single "All Night" with the help of singer Sleepy Brown and an eight-member backing band.

The pioneering Mexican band recreates the adventurous musical energy of their massive stadium shows behind Bob Boilen's desk.

"I'm sorry I'm shy," Florence Welch told the crowd of NPR family and friends gathered for her Tiny Desk performance. "If this was a big gig, I'd probably be climbing all over here and running around."

The Cuban pianist thrilled the NPR office with an intense performance that was as melodic as it was rhythmic.

The self-proclaimed "Funklordz" normally perform as a duo, but played with a live band for the first time at the Tiny Desk.

The charismatic singer and saxophonist brought a group of longtime friends to play a warm, thoughtful and chill set at the Tiny Desk.

A single voice can send a powerful message - and that's just what Jim James did at the Tiny Desk, with just his voice and an acoustic guitar.

Liniker e os Caramelows are from Brazil but steeped in the tradition of soul from here in the U.S. Watching this performance is to witness a spell being cast, note-by-note.

After back-to-back performances in South Africa, Argentina, Chile and New York, Payton hit the Tiny Desk, where he dazzled the audience, simultaneously playing his trumpet and a Fender Rhodes.

No matter how dark or disastrous, there's always been an undercurrent of grace to the music of David Bazan. He returns to his Pedro the Lion moniker for this memorable Tiny Desk performance.

The band's songs, stripped here to their essence, are particularly peaceful and calm — and sometimes chilling.

The story of Bernie and the Believers is the story of Bernie Dalton's diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's disease and compassionate friends making his dream come true and his songs come to life.