Season 2014 (2014)
Episodes: 85
Star Cast:
Episodes List
Ep.1 Van-Anh Vanessa Vo
Air Date: 2014-01-04
The musician unpacks an array of traditional Vietnamese instruments — and 1,000 years of culture.
Ep.2 Lily & Madeleine
Air Date: 2014-01-07
The teenagers play a restrained, homespun mix of folk and pop with undeniably sweet harmonies.
Ep.3 Afro Blue
Air Date: 2014-01-13
The Howard University vocal jazz ensemble performs beautiful African-American spirituals.
Ep.4 Robert Glasper Experiment
Air Date: 2014-01-20
Members of the Grammy-winning, organic R&B Experiment band jam with singer Marsha Ambrosius.
Ep.5 Angel Olsen
Air Date: 2014-01-27
The expressive, powerful singer previews songs from her new album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness.
Ep.6 Pixies
Air Date: 2014-02-03
Hear the legendary band perform 1989's "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and two new songs — one unreleased.
Ep.7 Fanfare Ciocarlia
Air Date: 2014-02-08
The joyous Balkan brass band plays at a pace that would make the Ramones burst into a sweat.
Ep.8 Suzanne Vega
Air Date: 2014-02-10
The inventive folk-music veteran book-ends a four-song set with her hits "Luka" and "Tom's Diner."
Ep.9 Cate Le Bon
Air Date: 2014-02-18
The Welsh singer's set conveys loneliness and doubt with just two guitars and an inviting whisper.
Ep.10 Sofia Rei
Air Date: 2014-02-22
For about 20 minutes one sunny afternoon, Rei turned a desk into a small Latin American folk club.
Ep.11 Brass Bed
Air Date: 2014-02-24
See the band re-create some of its stellar studio effects with a pedal steel and some novelty mics.
Ep.12 Asaf Avidan
Air Date: 2014-03-02
Avidan has an album and no U.S. record label to put it out. But he's on a solo tour that's stunning.
Ep.13 Lowland Hum
Air Date: 2014-03-06
It's hard to convey the sound of two people in love, but Lowland Hum does that effortlessly.
Ep.14 Jake Bugg
Air Date: 2014-03-10
Watch the 20-year-old English singer-songwriter, who has worked with superproducer Rick Rubin.
Ep.15 Diane Cluck
Air Date: 2014-03-17
On record, Cluck's elastic voice and fingerpicking are impressive. Live, they jam the senses.
Ep.16 Joseph Calleja
Air Date: 2014-03-24
All the world's top opera houses want the young tenor with the old-school approach.
Ep.17 The Haden Triplets
Air Date: 2014-03-31
When the sisters cover classic country music together, the result is a treat and a trip in time.
Ep.18 The Both
Air Date: 2014-04-07
Singer-songwriters Aimee Mann and Ted Leo unite from opposite ends of the volume knob.
Ep.19 Tom Brosseau
Air Date: 2014-04-12
The North Dakota singer-songwriter possesses one of the most arresting voices in folk music today.
Ep.20 Courtney Barnett
Air Date: 2014-04-14
Barnett tells stories like your best friend, provided your best friend is a funny Australian poet.
Ep.21 Usman Riaz
Air Date: 2014-04-19
A young Pakistani musician treats the guitar as percussion — with surprisingly shimmering results.
Ep.22 Federico Aubele
Air Date: 2014-04-21
The Argentine singer uses his dark, husky voice to produce a specific effect in these three songs.
Ep.23 Quilt
Air Date: 2014-04-26
Interweaving harmonies and guitar lines set the tone for these soft, benevolent, dreamy songs.
Ep.24 Johnnyswim
Air Date: 2014-04-28
Impossibly telegenic and charming, the band mixes booming intensity with polish and sparkle.
Ep.25 Cian Nugent
Air Date: 2014-05-03
The Dublin guitarist runs through a ragtime jaunt, a basement-bar choogle and a sad-sack closer.
Ep.26 Public Service Broadcasting
Air Date: 2014-05-05
The duo's sample-laden instrumental music is entertainment as education for the head and feet alike.
Ep.27 Timber Timbre
Air Date: 2014-05-10
See the swamp-folk band play a characteristically eerie and mysterious set in the NPR Music offices.
Ep.28 Chvrches
Air Date: 2014-05-12
The Scottish synth-pop band turns up with a small arsenal of synthesizers to perform three songs.
Ep.29 Iestyn Davies
Air Date: 2014-05-17
See the countertenor and lutenist Thomas Dunford perform John Dowland's melancholy songs.
Ep.30 Ages And Ages
Air Date: 2014-05-20
The band makes the kind of music that can at least briefly restore your faith in humanity.
Ep.31 Yasmine Hamdan
Air Date: 2014-05-24
The Lebanese singer-songwriter is one of the most groundbreaking musicians in the Middle East.
Ep.32 Hozier
Air Date: 2014-05-27
Andrew Hozier-Byrne wraps his rich, vital, soulful voice around songs rooted in the blues.
Ep.33 Juana Molina
Air Date: 2014-05-31
Molina sounds as if she'd been raised by wolves and discovered the world of music on her own.
Ep.34 Simone Dinnerstein
Air Date: 2014-06-02
Watch the celebrated pianist make Bach's Two-part Inventions sing and zing.
Ep.35 Marian McLaughlin
Air Date: 2014-06-07
A quirky and wistful performer with a string section, McLaughlin makes music like few others.
Ep.36 Eliot Fisk And Paco Peña
Air Date: 2014-06-14
A classical virtuoso and an equally captivating flamenco player combine for a set of duets.
Ep.37 Rodney Crowell
Air Date: 2014-06-16
The country singer-songwriter performs with the ease and swagger of a man comfortable in his ways.
Ep.38 Mali Music
Air Date: 2014-06-21
The singer-songwriter and musician performs with unabashed positivity and an uplifting spirit.
Ep.39 Conor Oberst
Air Date: 2014-06-23
The Bright Eyes singer performs songs from Upside Down Mountain with help from members of Dawes.
Ep.40 Tracy Silverman
Air Date: 2014-06-28
See the innovative player create waves of sound with a six-string violin.
Ep.41 Lydia Loveless
Air Date: 2014-07-01
The 23-year-old singer-guitarist performs gritty, countrified blues-rock in the NPR Music offices.
Ep.42 The Foreign Exchange
Air Date: 2014-07-05
Watch the Tiny Desk turn into a church, comedy club and neo-soul spot.
Ep.43 Moon Hooch
Air Date: 2014-07-07
They call what they make "cave music" — but it's just as powerful at the Tiny Desk.
Ep.44 John Grant
Air Date: 2014-07-13
Grant's songs don't mess around, with lyrics that function as darts of retort and thought.
Ep.45 Holly Williams
Air Date: 2014-07-14
The singer has a magnificent way with phrasing, not to mention a remarkable country-music lineage.
Ep.46 Marisa Anderson
Air Date: 2014-07-19
The guitarist kicks up some dirt with a Rev. Gary Davis deconstruction and a Stratocaster hoedown.
Ep.47 Hamilton Leithauser
Air Date: 2014-07-21
In this three-song set, the Walkmen singer demonstrates that he's lost none of his vocal power.
Ep.48 Highasakite
Air Date: 2014-07-25
Watch an atmospheric Norwegian band with a yearning sound. Also: See a flugabone!
Ep.49 Saintseneca
Air Date: 2014-07-29
In the NPR offices, the Ohio band plays three alternately brooding and stomping songs from Dark Arc.
Ep.50 Quetzal
Air Date: 2014-08-02
The veteran East L.A. band's music penetrates the intellect even as it makes your hips sway.
Ep.51 The Family Crest
Air Date: 2014-08-04
The band's seven players are trained in classical and jazz, led by Liam McCormick's powerful voice.
Ep.52 Irene Diaz
Air Date: 2014-08-09
With Carolyn Cardoza, Diaz conjures a place where emotions run deep and beauty is unmistakable.
Ep.53 Bob Mould
Air Date: 2014-08-11
The former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman plugs in for a characteristically loud four-song set.
Ep.54 Ernest Ranglin
Air Date: 2014-08-16
Watch a talented, charming guitar legend make magic as his band Avila holds down the beat.
Ep.55 Pacifica Quartet
Air Date: 2014-08-18
Watch the group play selections from Shostakovich's cycle of introspective string quartets.
Ep.56 Rodrigo Amarante
Air Date: 2014-08-23
A veteran of Little Joy and Los Hermanos, Amarante makes warm, tender music as a solo artist.
Ep.57 Nickel Creek
Air Date: 2014-08-26
The band was made to sing and play around one microphone, so a Tiny Desk Concert seemed inevitable.
Ep.58 Sturgill Simpson
Air Date: 2014-08-30
The Kentucky native writes country songs about loneliness, failed dreams, drinking and drugs.
Ep.59 Trampled By Turtles
Air Date: 2014-09-03
Known for the speed of their playing, the Minnesotans are about more than just blistering bluegrass.
Ep.60 Jessica Lea Mayfield
Air Date: 2014-09-06
Mayfield's music has gotten more beguiling as she explores the many contrasts in her hypnotic sound.
Ep.61 Justin Townes Earle
Air Date: 2014-09-08
In advance of his new album Single Mothers, the singer performs two new songs and an old favorite.
Ep.62 Luluc
Air Date: 2014-09-15
Graceful singing and storytelling meet guitars and textures that help create an unforgettable aura.
Ep.63 Tweedy
Air Date: 2014-09-22
With his drummer son Spencer, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy performs songs from their new album, Sukierae.
Ep.64 Bio Ritmo
Air Date: 2014-09-29
The 10-piece salsa band built its career on dance floors, where it never fails to make people move.
Ep.65 Ryan Keberle & Catharsis
Air Date: 2014-10-04
The trombonist's working band established some nifty swing, assisted in absentia by Sufjan Stevens.
Ep.66 Jackson Browne
Air Date: 2014-10-06
Browne still writes songs with conviction, craftsmanship and careful attention to detail.
Ep.67 Raquel Sofia
Air Date: 2014-10-11
Sofia has spent most of her career 20 feet from stardom as a backup singer for Juanes and Shakira.
Ep.68 The Bots
Air Date: 2014-10-14
The band plays with a great rock-duo punch that recalls The White Stripes or JEFF The Brotherhood.
Ep.69 Ásgeir
Air Date: 2014-10-18
The Icelandic singer's voice is angelic and yearning, his songs simple and universal.
Ep.70 Anthony D'Amato
Air Date: 2014-10-20
D'Amato's music can feel Motown-y, garage-y and Springsteen-y, but he sounds sparer here.
Ep.71 Danish String Quartet
Air Date: 2014-10-25
Watch the young, versatile ensemble play folk music from around Denmark and beyond.
Ep.72 T-Pain
Air Date: 2014-10-29
We asked the King of Auto-Tune to grace the Tiny Desk without any embellishment or effects.
Ep.73 Banks
Air Date: 2014-10-30
Known for lavish electronic productions, Banks serves notice as a powerful singer in her own right.
Ep.74 Sun Ra Arkestra
Air Date: 2014-10-31
With costumes inspired by Egyptian symbolism and sci-fi, Ra's band plays a special Halloween set.
Ep.75 Making Movies
Air Date: 2014-11-08
A rousing band from Kansas City, Making Movies mixes languages and eras with infectious energy.
Ep.76 Roomful Of Teeth
Air Date: 2014-11-10
Watch the group sing new music with yelps, yodels and a few fine harmonies.
Ep.77 Davíd Garza
Air Date: 2014-11-15
The Austin singer-songwriter joins his stunning voice with that of touring partner Gaby Moreno.
Ep.78 J Mascis
Air Date: 2014-11-22
The Dinosaur Jr. frontman, one of the world's loudest musicians, performs unplugged and acoustic.
Ep.79 Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
Air Date: 2014-11-24
Benatar and Giraldo play three classics: "We Live For Love," "We Belong" and "Promises In The Dark."
Ep.80 Sam Amidon & Bill Frisell
Air Date: 2014-12-01
Amidon weaves his compositions into traditional music, while Frisell adds atmospheric guitar.
Ep.81 Dublin Guitar Quartet
Air Date: 2014-12-04
Hear the Irish ensemble's fresh take on Philip Glass' propulsive yet intimate string quartets.
Ep.82 St. Paul And The Broken Bones
Air Date: 2014-12-06
The band's got heart and soul and flair, with a well-worn sound buoyed by strong, fresh songwriting.
Ep.83 Yusuf/Cat Stevens
Air Date: 2014-12-09
The singer performs two new songs, as well as "The First Cut Is the Deepest" and "Father and Son."
Ep.84 Lucinda Williams
Air Date: 2014-12-20
She came to the desk a little unsure, and left singing "West Memphis" with intensity and passion.
Ep.85 HMSTR
Air Date: 2014-12-24
Watch our favorite hamsters play their twee-as-all-get-out holiday pop-punk song, "Snow Day."