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.
Tag: tiny desk
WATCH: Josh Ritter Brings Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires to Tiny Desk
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.
WATCH: Rhiannon Giddens Plays the Tiny Desk
Former Carolina Chocolate Drops leader and old-time music maven Rhiannon Giddens has the uncanny ability to sing through an audience. In May, she released her third full-length, studio album, there is no Other, with Nonesuch Records. In this new chapter, Giddens collaborated with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, who is known for his virtuosity on percussion and jazz piano. Giddens, Turrisi, and bassist Jason Sypher stopped by NPR to perform some music from the latest record; watch as they stun the audience huddled around the Tiny Desk.
Photo credit: Claire Harbage/NPR