Tag: npr

We Can’t Stop Watching Yasmin Williams’ Tiny Desk Concert

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

With joy, gratitude, and undeniable talent, composer and innovative guitarist Yasmin Williams shines in her first official NPR Tiny Desk Concert – and we can’t stop watching! Flanked by a crew of seven musical collaborators – including old-time music powerhouses Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison de Groot – Williams shares four original songs, “Hummingbird,” “Sisters,” “Guitka,” and “Restless Heart.” While the 23-minute performance is firmly rooted in Williams’ characteristic style, her songs transcend easy genre labels, inhabiting a musical atmosphere of their own. What results is a collection of thoughtful, intricate, and heart-led songs that bring the listener firmly and gently into the present moment.

Starting off with a decidedly bluegrass and old-time-inspired composition, “Hummingbird,” Williams is joined by Hargreaves and de Groot, who recorded and released the track together with Williams in 2024, ahead of the release of her third studio album, Acadia. Williams and her band then widen their reach, drawing on African folk music traditions and modern experimental and atmospheric soundscapes. The instrumental lineup is impressively wide for such a brief performance, featuring a kalimba taped to the top of Williams’ guitar (that she plays with one hand while playing the guitar with the other), a 10-foot-wide marimba, multiple violins and violas, a djembe, tap shoes, and more.

If you’re new to the world of Yasmin Williams, this video is the perfect place to start – and you can continue exploring with our recent Artist of the Month coverage from October of last year. (Find additional BGS content on Williams below.) Her performance is meditative, emotive, and soothing, but it’s also energizing and inspiring. In this way, Williams has a knack for duality. Her songs are both intricate and subtle. They’re complex without feeling math-y or inaccessible. Focusing in on her fingerstyle and tapping techniques, her technical skill is obvious. She’s deliberate, precise, and truly a master of her craft. But there’s also incredible ease in the way Williams plays. She’s joyful and present, embodying a wholesome “just-happy-to-be-here” energy. At just 28 years old, her immense skill is perfectly balanced with a sense of comfort and familiarity, making this performance a gift to behold.

While this is Yasmin Williams’ first official Tiny Desk Concert shot on-site at NPR’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., it’s not her first foray into the world of NPR Music. She’s been orbiting the legendary “tiny” desk (which she humorously admits feeling disappointed isn’t actually that tiny) for years. In 2018, Williams submitted a video of her song “Guitka” to the NPR Tiny Desk Contest. A year later, she was featured by NPR Music’s Night Owl series. Then in 2021, she landed her first Tiny Desk spot through NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series. But as Williams shares, none of that compared to the feeling of finally getting to sit behind that actually-pretty-big desk. We’re so glad she made it.

 

Watch Brittney Spencer’s Gorgeous Tiny Desk Concert

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artists from all across the genre spectrum shine in the stripped down and focused setting of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, but roots musicians often stand out from the rest. Even a big-voiced, high concept, maximally-produced country artist like Brittney Spencer is seemingly at her best in this simplified context, where her impeccable, controlled, and artful voice can deliver songs from her 2024 debut release, My Stupid Life, as if they were always intended to be played by only a handful of musicians behind a desk in a corporate headquarters.

Spencer and her ensemble utilize space and restraint to center her acrobatic and athletic vocals, which are tender and powerful, passionate and nuanced. The group kicks off their six-song Tiny Desk set with “Bigger Than The Song,” a track that’s something of a mission statement for Spencer and the new album. The lyrics name check artists who have inspired and blazed a trail for the vocalist and songwriter, from Beyoncé – with whom Spencer collaborated on Cowboy Carter and “Blackbiird” – to Whitney Houston to Maren Morris, an adept and technical singer who’s not only a peer of Spencer, but a community member of hers, as well. The number points out how, even in Music City and on Music Row, the priorities of creators in country and beyond should always be bigger than just a profitable, “hit” song.

The concert continues with an easy, deliberate flow and with Spencer confidently inhabiting a vibe that feels most like a living room guitar pull or a back porch jam session. Her energy may be off the cuff, but this singer is intentional and in the driver’s seat. The group play through a handful more tracks from My Stupid Life, culminating with “I Got Time,” an apropos closer that longs to run away from the noise and the rat race to a kudzu-draped back road. Spencer is more than comfortable playing around in these classic and familiar country idioms and she uses her variable and virtuosic singing to sell each and every archetype and stereotype she references. But it’s remarkable that she does so as often with touches and styles from outside of “traditional country” as from within it. And that might just be the most traditionally country thing about Brittney Spencer.

Read more about Spencer, My Stupid Life, and her unique approach to utilizing her voice as an instrument in our recent Good Country feature, from BGS and GC contributor Jewly Hight. You can find that story here.

 

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives Perform for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Last week, the folks at NPR Music graced the roots music world, releasing a Tiny Desk Concert performance by Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives. Behind the storied and iconic desk, Stuart and a three-piece band – Chris Scruggs (bass), Kenny Vaughan (guitar), and Harry Stinson (percussion) – perform a short set of classics and recent cuts, too. From 1991’s “Tempted” to 2023’s “Tomahawk,” the group demonstrates how interconnected all of these roots music genres really are – and that they are fluent in so many more. Stuart straddles limitless folk and country aesthetics, from classic, old-school sounds to bluegrass string band vibes to psychedelic surf rock.

In a stripped-down setting such as the Tiny Desk, that genre-bending is even more apparent, as the ensemble settles into a simple, honky-tonkin’, bluegrass quartet meets glitzy countrypolitan groove, with the instrumental and technical prowess of each player on full display. Having performed with the Country Music Hall of Famer for a decade or more, each, this trio of accompanists are comfortable and at ease, but never “phoning it in.” It’s clear to this outfit, whether playing for a couple dozen NPR employees in an office cubicle or on the biggest festival and venue stages in the world, there’s always plenty of fun, joy, and smiles to be had.

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous superlatives – whose most recent album, Altitude, was released to critical acclaim in 2023 – have a full slate of tour dates upcoming this year in the UK, the EU, and supporting Chris Stapleton on more than a half dozen appearances, as well. Plus, Stuart just released a limited, 50th anniversary edition of Americana and country staple Sweetheart Of The Rodeo for Record Store Day with the Byrds co-founders Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman.

An entire lifetime into his performing and picking career, Marty Stuart – and his Fabulous Superlatives, too – show no signs of slowing down, easing up, or softening their vibrant and engaging post-genre country, bluegrass, and Americana melting pot music.

 

WATCH: Anna Tivel’s Tender, Heartfelt Tiny Desk Concert

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Singer-songwriter and musical storyteller Anna Tivel recently stopped by NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., to perform at the iconic Tiny Desk. Supported by drummer Micah Hummel and Galen Clark on keys, her four-song set showcases her empathetic, tender, and heartfelt style that runs through her entire 2022 release, Outsiders. But her performances are anything but one-note, she teases nuance from each number and complicates the stories within them through emotion and passion and, at times, a beautiful understated tension. The team at NPR Music puts it aptly: “Tivel’s remarkable empathy elevates her folk-based, jazz-touched compositions from mere stories to secular prayers.”

Enjoy Anna Tivel’s Tiny Desk Concert right here, on BGS.

 

On “Muskrat Greene,” Brothers Osborne Prove Their Instrumental Prowess

Posted on by Editor

Country music’s band of badass brothers found themselves in a precarious situation like many artists last year; they released a new record in 2020, but weren’t able to tour it. The lack of performing meant few chances to gauge the reception of the Brothers Osbornes’ new album, Skeletons, but this showcase for NPR cements what fans of the band have known since the record’s release — it may be the group’s best work yet.

For this Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, TJ and John Osborne deliver the title track “Skeletons,” an uplifting tune in “Hatin’ Somebody,” and the blistering “Dead Man’s Curve.” But it’s the fiery instrumental “Muskrat Greene” that quickly sets the tone for the show. Even without their regular regiment of touring and performing, the brothers and their band sound as tight as ever, with instrumental prowess taking more of the limelight in this new body of work while still building on the rock, country, and blues blend that they are known for. If you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with the new record, you may be able to get out and hear the new music live on their current We’re Not For Everyone Tour — named after a track that’s also included in this set.

Photo credit: Eric Ryan Anderson

WATCH: Grammy Nominee Don Bryant’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

After decades writing and performing incredible music, soul icon Don Bryant has earned his first Grammy nod in 2020. This past Juneteenth, the veteran bluesman released his newest album, You Make Me Feel, on Fat Possum Records. Nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album, the record is nothing less than a physical incarnation of rhythm and blues.

The project is also aptly titled, as Bryant’s work imparts a gamut of feelings and emotions — love and joy most predominantly shine through the timelessness of his voice and story. With production and arrangements reminiscent of an old soul record, the simplicity of the music is on display in a recent Tiny Desk (Home) Concert by Bryant. Backed by only an electric guitar and a pianist, the songs fly out of the speakers with unbridled power and emotion.

A decorated songwriter, Bryant holds deep connections to the roots of such powerful music, singing life into just about anything. With only the first few notes of this performance you’ll be entranced! Listen to You Make Me Feel wherever you get your music and watch Bryant’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert below.

WATCH: Rising Appalachia Are Familiar and Fresh on NPR’s Tiny Desk

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Atlanta-based, globally-influenced string band Rising Appalachia bring a unique flavor to American roots music. Drawing on modern styles and traditional sentiments, they craft an original take on folk. Fronted by sisters Leah and Chloe Smith, the band has a sound that is at once familiar and fresh, incorporating various world percussion instruments, reggae-esque grooves, and fluttery melodies that deliver the songs’ meanings with clarity and precision. Like many folk artists before them, Rising Appalachia are no strangers to building art around their activism. One action the band prides itself on is the Slow Music Movement, an idea aimed at creating sustainable practices for touring entertainment acts and re-framing performance as a public service. Watch Rising Appalachia on NPR’s Tiny Desk.

WATCH: Mavis Staples Performs “Change” on ‘Live From Here with Chris Thile’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Musical matriarch Mavis Staples is as active as she has ever been. Fresh off an Americana Award nomination for Artist of the Year, Staples was recently featured as a guest performer on Live From Here with Chris Thile. Her latest album, a release from May 2019, is a collaborative work with another extraordinary singer-songwriter and blues icon, one Ben Harper. The new record, titled We Get By, features Staples’ sultry singing over Harper’s compositions, and like so many magical musical matchups, the total of the project is somehow far more than the sum of its parts.

Speaking to the writing, Staples had high praise for her junior collaborator. “When I first started reading the lyrics Ben wrote for me, I said to myself, ‘My God, he’s saying everything that needs to be said right now,’” she remembers. “But the songs were also true to my journey and the stories I’ve been singing all my life. There’s a spirituality and an honesty to Ben’s writing that took me back to church.”

Staples’ performance on the Live From Here is just that — it’s like going to church. Watch as she performs the opening number from her newest record here.

Photo of Mavis Staples courtesy of APM

WATCH: Brittany Howard’s Big Sound at NPR’s Tiny Desk

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Alabama Shakes alumnus and Bluegrass Situation Artist of the Month, Brittany Howard has maintained a steady course through her journey in blues and roots music. Driven by a resilient spirit and equipped with a stout voice, Howard has seen her fair share of peaks and valleys. From tragically losing a sister to cancer to breakout success and Grammy nods with Alabama Shakes, Howard has faced more in her 31 years than most of us will see in our whole lives.

After playing founding roles in two other rock bands (Bermuda Triangle and Thunderbitch), she decided it was time to take a step forward and release an album as a solo artist. The debut record was a tribute to Howard’s sister and was also named after her; Jaime was released this past September.

Howard’s addendum to the record offers some insight to the music: “Every song, I confront something within me or beyond me. Things that are hard or impossible to change, words and music to describe what I’m not good at conveying to those I love, or a name that hurts to be said: Jaime.” Brimming with emotion and truth, Jamie is available now, as are tickets to her  tour. Watch her Tiny Desk concert here, on BGS.

Photo credit: Danny Clinch

WATCH: Josh Ritter Brings Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires to Tiny Desk

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

A collaboration for the ages, Josh Ritter teamed up with Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires to work on his newest record, Fever Breaks. This top-tier trio stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk to perform some of the more poignant and concise songs from the record — songs that some may even be labeled protest songs.

Each of them icons in their own right, these three musicians are no strangers to BGS. Earlier this year, Ritter was featured as an artist of the month, Isbell taught us a thing or two about protest songs, and Shires has enjoyed some accolades this year for her involvement in supergroup The Highwomen. A roots music trifecta, watch as Ritter, Isbell, and Shires grace the Tiny Desk here.