Tiny Desk (home) concerts you should watch

A look back at a time capsule of COVID-era innovation; plus, Black Music Month festivities roll on with new Tiny Desk concerts from Meshell Ndegeocello and more

View this email online June 20, 2024 by Stephen Thompson A look back at a time capsule of COVID-era innovation; plus, Black Music Month festivities roll on with new Tiny Desk concerts from Meshell Ndegeocello and more. NPR Tiny Desk (home) concerts began, like so many great ideas do, out of desperation. It was March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had sent the NPR staff home indefinitely, and we needed to figure out ways to keep doing Tiny Desk concerts without… well, anyone coming into contact with anyone else. The last in-office Tiny Desk concert we’d recorded was with Sudan Archives, on March 11, and we’d piled up enough of a backlog to keep us going for a few months. But as it became clear that this wasn’t just a two- or three-week blip, the team sprang into action and started soliciting home recordings. The first, a primitive but lovely solo set starring Soccer Mommy, was published on March 24, 2020. Taken in their entirety, the Tiny Desk (home) concerts sub-series provides a fascinating time capsule of the COVID era, and of Tiny Desk concerts in general. Sometimes, as with Soccer Mommy, those home concerts were make-goods for shows we’d booked in the office but had to cancel — see also: the wonderful Ashley McBryde — while others gave us an opportunity to book artists who don’t often make their way through Washington, D.C., and probably wouldn’t have half a day free in their schedules if they did. Tiny Desk (home) concerts are how we managed to duplicate the Tiny Desk experience with BTS without the group having to leave Seoul; more than 60 million YouTube views later, it’s one of the most-watched Tiny Desk concerts of all time. The actual most-watched Tiny Desk concert of all time, with Dua Lipa, was also a home concert, as she breezed through a provocatively lit set of her best-known songs while situated thousands of miles from NPR headquarters. As with the main series, Tiny Desk (home) concerts weren’t just a showcase for big stars — though they did provide us our first-ever brush with one Justin Drew Bieber. They also allowed the staff to bring in far-flung discoveries, in the form of up-and-comers (Elisapie), left-field agitators (Negativland) and artists who, like the Polish rock band Trupa Trupa or then-92-year-old, since-departed Burt Bacharach, weren’t often traipsing through D.C. The next time you’re thinking about heading down a Tiny Desk rabbit hole, take a bit of time with Tiny Desk (home) concerts. It’s been more than a year since the South Korean singer and rapper Jay Park closed out the series in May 2023, and if you scroll reverse-chronologically, you’ll see how often the home concerts’ later days were used to highlight international artists, from the French-saloon-friendly Dakh Daughters to the superstar likes of BTS’s RM, whose Tiny Desk simulacrum would make Saturday Night Live’s set decorators proud. If nothing else, one thing is abundantly clear: Between those home concerts with BTS and RM and the Tiny Desk KOREA set with V, it’s way past time we brought the BTS boys to the office, for real. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Introducing NPR Music+, a new way to support what you love and explore new music and conversations sponsor-free. NPR Music+ includes two podcasts with one convenient subscription: All Songs Considered and Alt.Latino, both sponsor-free. Learn more and support us at plus.npr.org/NPRmusic Get NPR Music+ Tiny Desk NPR Meshell Ndegeocello brought a full band to perform fan favorites and songs from No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, which drops August 2 — the date Baldwin himself would have turned 100. Kierra Sheard, a gospel superstar, brought her faith to the Tiny Desk with a stirring medley of her greatest hits. Chaka Khan kept the Tiny Desk’s Black Music Month festivities rolling, as the Queen of Funk — a 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — performed an epic, 34-minute, classics-packed set. Tierra Whack brought everything to the Tiny Desk: style, flair, humor, movement and heart. Oh, and the Philly rapper also brought a special guest, in the form of the Phillie Phanatic. Lakecia Benjamin is a saxophonist whose music spans jazz, funk and soul — and whose most recent album, 2023’s Phoenix, scored her three Grammy nominations. Around public radio WNRN in Charlottesville hosted The Japanese House, who played a brand new song.  KEXP in Seattle received a visit from rap star Danny Brown.  Fellow Pacific Northwest station KNKX filmed Brooklyn jazz trumpeter Takuya Kuroda during a recent stop in Seattle.  The Current in the Twin Cities captured the chill guitar vibes of Hermanos Gutiérrez  WFUV in New York City welcomed back station favorite Sinkane, who performed "How Sweet Is Your Love?".  Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Central Florida Public Media (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! 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