Mon, Jun 3, 2024 at 2:36:11 pm
COME SEE US ON TOUR! - woooong.com check out my music here → woooong.com learn guitar from me → woooong.com buy charts of my music → woooong.com Archetype Cory Wong GUITAR PLUGIN → woooong.com Cory Wong Signature Fender Stratocaster → fender.com The Wong Compressor → wamplerpedals.com The Optimist Overdrive Pedal → woooong.com BAND: Cory Wong - guitar Vincen ...

Thu, May 30, 2024 at 11:04:41 am
While each Tiny Desk concert is special in its own way, we only publish one annually from a Tiny Desk Contest winner. This year, that winner is The Philharmonik — an up-and-coming multi-genre artist from Sacramento, Calif. — whose entry rose to the top of nearly 7,000 entries ...

Mon, May 27, 2024 at 11:36:36 am
Bob James' Tiny Desk concert is a manifestation of freedom and collaboration. "I have youth represented here," he says before introducing his band. "I don't have that myself, but I can hire it." The joke is tinged with a certain degree of truth. Still, curiosity and openness fuel his ...

Sat, May 25, 2024 at 11:05:14 am
BAND: Cory Wong - guitar Vincen Garcia - bass Kevin Gastonguay - keys Petar Janjic - drums Alex Bone - alto sax, soprano sax Kenni Holmen - tenor sax, soprano sax, flute Dan White - bari sax, bass clarinet Jay Webb - trumpet, flugelhorn Michael Nelson - trombone, horn arranger Mix - Alex Kiel and Cory Wong Engineer ...

Mon, May 13, 2024 at 1:50:53 pm
For Tiny Desk concerts without a lead vocalist, I usually try to detect musicians' nonverbal conversations with each other as they perform. For Kiefer’s set, there’s a bonus show within the show. He plays with a sense of joy that I haven’t seen in a while and when his ...

Fri, May 10, 2024 at 5:27:11 pm
There is no punk like Japanese punk. Probably the most whacked out gonzo band you'll see this week, and yet still so adorable. Mannie Fresh bum rushed the crowd and mugged for the camera. Soul Glo's Pierce Jordan stunted on office furniture. Moses Sumney played our window-side piano. Some moments ...

Wed, May 1, 2024 at 2:36:15 pm
On a call ahead of her Tiny Desk taping, WILLOW told me that she "just wants to feel it and be in the vibe." Many artists worry about having to tailor their music for the space, but if done right, a beautiful synergy can be achieved. With boundless energy ...

Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 6:47:35 pm
The last time Volker Bertelmann stopped by NPR to perform as Hauschka, back in 2010, he dumped handfuls of Ping-Pong balls and anything else he could think of over the strings of our in-house grand piano, a performance captured in one of NPR's pristine studios (in a building that ...

Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 1:27:07 pm
Themes of reflection and resilience are on display the moment bassist Linda May Han Oh begins her opener, "Halo," a driving tune dedicated to the world of live music producers. The track, accentuated by Greg Ward on alto saxophone and Fabian Almazan's use of an effects pedal on the ...

Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 5:25:16 pm
I never realized how funky a supply chain warehouse could be. DHL Supply Chain asked me to write a song that demonstrates the idea of 'supply chain' and to exemplify different sections/teams working together to make one thing. Then we went in to the warehouse for a day to entertain ...

Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 11:13:08 am
It's a longstanding tradition for musicians to leave a small something-or-other on the thoroughly disorganized wall of "stuff" that backdrops our Tiny Desk. My favorite is the Johann Sebastian Bach bobblehead. But now, move over Bach. Here comes Philip Glass. When Timo Andres arrived at our office to play a pair ...

Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 11:13:48 am
In the spirit of Kenny Beats, Zaytoven, and Nile Rodgers, Ben Carr, aka Carrtoons keeps the producer-led Tiny Desk tradition alive. Another tradition developed over the years is the first look each artist gets at the Desk when they first walk into the space. In some cases, it feels ...

Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 6:23:07 pm
Saxophonist and composer Joshua Redman is a regular on NPR's Jazz Night in America, featured on episodes including a tribute to his father, saxophonist Dewey Redman, and a reunion with his former quartet featuring Brad Mehldau, Jazz Night host Christian McBride and Brian Blade. Since his debut in the ...

Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 4:54:02 pm
Hania Rani makes beautiful music that’s haunted, yet enchanted. The Polish pianist and composer blurs the lines of ambient, classical and house — submerged beats pulse under ripples of piano, synths and her delicate voice. She regularly performs in concert halls across Europe, but during an American tour she ...

Sat, Jan 20, 2024 at 2:57:29 pm
Back in 2008, the same year my colleagues Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson dreamt up the idea for these Tiny Desk concerts, a cohort of freelance musicians formed in New York, calling itself yMusic (referring to "Gen Y" millennials). That random aligning of planets has now resulted in this ...

Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 2:55:47 pm
Hayden Pedigo's guitar tells stories through musical landscapes. At the Tiny Desk, he plays quiet, gentle melodies inspired by his Texas panhandle home that still manage to kick up little dust storms of the soul. As a teenager, Pedigo picked up fingerstyle guitar by way of John Fahey and Robbie ...

Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 4:16:49 pm
There is something special about Louis Cato’s ability to captivate an audience. During this Tiny Desk, he expresses his belief that music is most powerful when experienced in a live setting — it’s there that we build community. With rhythmic strumming and a winning smile, he draws us into ...

Fri, Dec 15, 2023 at 9:18:07 pm
"I grew up playing classical music and it's so special to get to play my songs almost in this chamber-like setting," Laufey says in her performance. Accompanied by a string quartet, the singer-songwriter's modern jazz-pop love songs soared at the Tiny Desk, the intimacy of our little corner only ...

Thu, Dec 7, 2023 at 5:52:41 pm
Bob Boilen | December 7, 2023 I came out of retirement for this one! The LeeVees have been my Hanukkah tradition since 2005, with the release of the group's album Hanukkah Rocks. It's an album I play every year because, honestly, it's hard to find fun-filled songs about latkes and gelt. ...

Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 5:40:52 pm
When Sampha first performed at the Tiny Desk in 2017, it was just him and his keys. But for this second round, he had a very specific vision to execute. Accompanied by a spirited four-piece band who double as his background singers and percussionists, each member relishes in making ...

Fri, Nov 17, 2023 at 5:02:09 pm
Polly Harvey has inhabited many characters throughout her 30-year career and always dressed the part: catsuit-rocking glam queen, high-collared Victorian wraith, mini-skirted libertine, feather-adorned warrior. Bringing the story told in her latest album, I Inside the Old Year Dying to the Tiny Desk, she stands at the microphone in ...

Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 5:18:06 pm
The cameras were rolling long before the Emerson String Quartet played a note behind the Tiny Desk. A documentary film crew followed the band into our lobby and kept rolling tape as the players unpacked their instruments, sat down to warm up and joked ceaselessly among themselves. The reason for ...

Tue, Oct 10, 2023 at 5:13:41 pm
Any good singer who gives half a thought to the health of her instrument knows that hydration is crucial for functioning vocal cords. But when Caroline Polachek — whose left-of-center pop music makes great use of her mellifluous voice — stops for a water break in the middle of ...

Wed, Oct 4, 2023 at 3:23:42 pm
If you don't speak Spanish, YouTube's closed captions do a pretty good job of translating the excellent lyrics. This Latinx Heritage Month Tiny Desk is celebrating with an 'El Tiny' takeover, featuring a wide array of artists from all corners of Latinidad. Felix Contreras | October 4, 2023 Alex Cuba starts his ...

Sun, Oct 1, 2023 at 3:41:17 pm
Before the English band Yard Act set foot on stage at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, England, the band set up its instruments in the green room and performed this Tiny Desk (home) concert. It’s a fitting location for the band from Leeds, which has around 70 shows ...