Season 2015 (2015)
Episodes: 84
Star Cast:
Episodes List
Ep.1 Trey Anastasio
Air Date: 2015-01-05
The Phish star was in town to put on a huge show, but the songs here feel more personal than that.
Ep.2 Daniel Lanois
Air Date: 2015-01-03
The producer presides over an all-instrumental, free-form trio with Brian Blade and Jim Wilson.
Ep.3 Rubblebucket
Air Date: 2015-01-20
Even without its confetti cannon, the band brings a fun mix of brass and brash to the NPR offices.
Ep.4 Bobby Bare Jr.
Air Date: 2015-01-27
The Nashville singer writes with acidic wit in lines worthy of his old mentor, Shel Silverstein.
Ep.5 John Reilly & Friends
Air Date: 2015-02-03
Reilly sings and plays guitar alongside Tom Brosseau and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark.
Ep.6 Mucca Pazza
Air Date: 2015-02-10
With 23 members, the performance-art marching band is the biggest ever to play the Tiny Desk.
Ep.7 Until The Ribbon Breaks
Air Date: 2015-02-17
The band strips down its electronic sound with the aid of a spaghetti strainer and a paint bucket.
Ep.8 Zola Jesus
Air Date: 2015-02-23
With her huge voice and an assist on trombone, Nika Roza Danilova offers up a curious combination.
Ep.9 Dan Deacon
Air Date: 2015-02-25
The Tiny Desk becomes a DJ booth for an office space dance party.
Ep.10 Phox
Air Date: 2015-03-02
The Wisconsin band performs three of its warm, accessible songs in the NPR Music offices.
Ep.11 Aurelio
Air Date: 2015-03-07
Aurelio weaves intricate layers of acoustic guitar to capture the feel of African and the Caribbean.
Ep.12 Fantastic Negrito
Air Date: 2015-03-09
The singer beat out nearly 7,000 other submissions to win NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest.
Ep.13 Matt Haimovitz & Christopher O'Riley
Air Date: 2015-03-14
The duo plays visionary Beethoven, heartbreaking Janáček and Glass that unfolds like a lullaby.
Ep.14 Punch Brothers
Air Date: 2015-03-16
Before the wide-ranging band plays, the audience sings "Happy Birthday" to mandolinist Chris Thile.
Ep.15 Anonymous 4 With Bruce Molsky
Air Date: 2015-03-28
The a cappella quartet, with banjo and fiddle, offers popular songs from the Civil War era.
Ep.16 Sylvan Esso
Air Date: 2015-03-20
Performed softly in the light of day, these three songs feel fresh and lovable.
Ep.17 Death Cab For Cutie
Air Date: 2015-04-06
In a beautifully stark performance, the band plays two songs from Kintsugi and two older favorites.
Ep.18 Beach Slang
Air Date: 2015-04-10
James Snyder's euphoric punk anthems become raw and uplifting confessionals in this acoustic set.
Ep.19 Chadwick Stokes
Air Date: 2015-04-13
Stokes' songs feel familiar; they're old friends before you're done hearing them for the first time.
Ep.20 Rosa Díaz
Air Date: 2015-04-17
The singer's lyrics reflect deeply felt emotions in this performance with cellist Daniel de Jesus.
Ep.21 Jessie Ware
Air Date: 2015-04-20
The young English singer brings warmth to electronic music and a swooning quality to her own pop.
Ep.22 DakhaBrakha
Air Date: 2015-04-25
The Ukrainian acoustic quartet's music encompasses sounds and rhythms from around the world.
Ep.23 José González
Air Date: 2015-04-29
This soft-spoken Swedish singer left an imprint at the Tiny Desk that was gentle and long lasting.
Ep.24 Diego El Cigala
Air Date: 2015-05-01
The singer has been called "the Sinatra of flamenco." His expressive style draws on jazz.
Ep.25 Vijay Iyer Trio
Air Date: 2015-05-04
Iyer's working band transforms selections from throughout the pianist's deep and varied catalog.
Ep.26 Eskmo
Air Date: 2015-05-08
Found objects are percussion instruments in the hands of a man who's part musician, part magician.
Ep.27 Bellows
Air Date: 2015-05-11
These are enchanting songs, with the power to drift in your head for days.
Ep.28 Camané
Air Date: 2015-05-15
A star in his native Portugal, Camané evokes melancholy with a silky baritone and elegant phrasing.
Ep.29 Young Fathers
Air Date: 2015-05-19
Intense, hip-hop-infused poetry is reduced to just the essentials in this two-song, four-minute set.
Ep.30 Jason Vieaux And Yolanda Kondonassis
Air Date: 2015-05-22
Watch the Grammy-winning guitarist and acclaimed harpist play music influenced by Africa and Asia.
Ep.31 Madisen Ward And The Mama Bear
Air Date: 2015-05-26
The mother-son duo's songs are memorable and singable even days after you hear them.
Ep.32 Frank Fairfield
Air Date: 2015-05-29
A young man with an old musical soul has a spellbinding voice and fluid fiddle playing.
Ep.33 Genevieve
Air Date: 2015-06-01
See a singer with a powerful voice and extremely encouraging message.
Ep.34 Anna & Elizabeth
Air Date: 2015-06-08
If you've never thought your tastes would lean to mountain music, breathe deep and soak it all in.
Ep.35 The Prettiots
Air Date: 2015-06-15
The clever trio shares its love of everything from Law & Order to old-school girl groups.
Ep.36 Strand Of Oaks
Air Date: 2015-06-19
Timothy Showalter's music is filled with bite and sometimes regret, but also a good deal of warmth.
Ep.37 Hop Along
Air Date: 2015-06-22
Frances Quinlan's raspy voice whispers one moment, then lets loose a gut-punching howl the next.
Ep.38 Oddisee
Air Date: 2015-06-26
The charismatic Brooklyn-via-D.C.-area rapper creates just the right amount of space in his music.
Ep.39 And The Kids
Air Date: 2015-06-30
The trio's music is full of life, with dissonant sounds that still feel suited for singalongs.
Ep.40 Christopher Paul Stelling
Air Date: 2015-07-06
Best witnessed live, Stelling's music is steeped in tradition yet filled with vitality and soul.
Ep.41 Girlpool
Air Date: 2015-07-10
The charming duo performs three of the simple, direct songs from Before The World Was Big.
Ep.42 Songhoy Blues
Air Date: 2015-07-17
See a Malian band that fuses African music with Western rock.
Ep.43 Kate Tempest
Air Date: 2015-07-21
A celebrated English playwright and rapper deploys storytelling and poetry.
Ep.44 Paul Weller
Air Date: 2015-07-28
See the beloved Britpop veteran perform songs from his new album, Saturns Pattern.
Ep.45 Shamir
Air Date: 2015-07-31
The singer's disco-infused funk and soul gets stripped down to a lone voice with a guitar.
Ep.46 SOAK
Air Date: 2015-08-03
Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson makes the most of a single voice and an acoustic guitar.
Ep.47 Terence Blanchard Feat. The E-Collective
Air Date: 2015-08-05
The New Orleans trumpeter's funky new band creates dance music to ward off despair.
Ep.48 Torres
Air Date: 2015-08-10
Mackenzie Scott's music channels Patti Smith and PJ Harvey while hinting at further growth.
Ep.49 Restorations
Air Date: 2015-08-14
The Philly rock band's big-hearted songs are stripped down to a few guitars and a MiniKorg.
Ep.50 Kacey Musgraves
Air Date: 2015-08-17
The country singer plays four songs from Pageant Material, plus the set-closing "Follow Your Arrow."
Ep.51 Son Lux
Air Date: 2015-08-21
The trio blows up its sound by adding off-duty, civilian horn players from the U.S. Marine Band.
Ep.52 Caroline Rose
Air Date: 2015-08-24
Rose plays music as if she's just met her new best friend: It's fresh, fun and enthusiastic.
Ep.53 Eskimeaux
Air Date: 2015-08-28
There's lighthearted, almost childlike beauty in the way Gabrielle Smith puts words to song.
Ep.54 Mitski
Air Date: 2015-08-31
Mitski's music is dark and even scary, but glimmers of beauty peek through.
Ep.55 Happyness
Air Date: 2015-09-04
If you're a fan of dark, incredibly dry, wry humor, you've just found Happyness.
Ep.56 Leon Bridges
Air Date: 2015-09-08
Bridges is easy to love and hard to resist, with purity in his voice that's untouched by modern pop.
Ep.57 Sam Lee
Air Date: 2015-09-11
The singer found his voice by finding and preserving old British, Irish and Scottish folk songs.
Ep.58 Watkins Family Hour
Air Date: 2015-09-18
With help from Fiona Apple, two Nickel Creek alums gather a band to perform old and new songs.
Ep.59 Gina Chavez
Air Date: 2015-09-22
The Austin singer-songwriter performs with intense openness, directness and warmth.
Ep.60 Joan Shelley
Air Date: 2015-09-25
As technology rules the day, here's a reminder that a single voice can carry deep emotion.
Ep.61 The Internet
Air Date: 2015-09-29
The R&B band might just be the oddest thing to come from the hip-hop collective Odd Future.
Ep.62 Lianne La Havas
Air Date: 2015-10-02
The singer is soulful yet playful, raw and vulnerable in a commanding kind of way.
Ep.63 Deqn Sue
Air Date: 2015-10-05
She came so close to winning NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert Contest, we just had to see her play.
Ep.64 Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Air Date: 2015-10-09
The trumpeter presents his emotionally charged, jazz-hybridized "stretch music" in performance.
Ep.65 Andra Day
Air Date: 2015-10-13
Day's songs feel candid and vulnerable, but not understated.
Ep.66 Oh Pep!
Air Date: 2015-10-16
The band's clever, thoughtful music fits in everywhere from Nashville to its hometown of Melbourne.
Ep.67 Paolo Angeli
Air Date: 2015-10-19
The Sardinian guitarist has a whole toy shop aboard his instrument.
Ep.68 Beauty Pill
Air Date: 2015-10-23
In Beauty Pill, life whirs with plunderphonic glee and riffs are funky from the inside out.
Ep.69 The Suffers
Air Date: 2015-10-27
The 10-piece band can barely fit all its horns, guitars, percussion and energy behind one desk.
Ep.70 Diane Coffee
Air Date: 2015-11-02
Conjuring David Bowie, Diane Coffee's Shaun Fleming swaggered and shimmied behind the Tiny Desk.
Ep.71 Chris Stapleton
Air Date: 2015-11-05
With his wife Morgane, the country singer-songwriter sings patient, detailed songs of devotion.
Ep.72 My bubba
Air Date: 2015-11-06
My bubba is a duo of women whose quirky, delicate, sweetly sung folk songs are a delight.
Ep.73 Aurora
Air Date: 2015-11-09
At 19 and on the cusp of her first album, the Norwegian singer performs with a sense of discovery.
Ep.74 Rahim AlHaj
Air Date: 2015-11-13
The oud player's wordless music tells powerful stories about life's blessedness and fragility.
Ep.75 Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Air Date: 2015-11-17
At the Tiny Desk, Rateliff's body-shaking Southern-style soul takes on a more laid-back sound.
Ep.76 The Wild Reeds
Air Date: 2015-11-20
Great singers aren't easy to come by, so finding three in one band is something special.
Ep.77 Youth Lagoon
Air Date: 2015-11-23
Trevor Powers' new songs are expansive and self-assured, a transition reflected in this performance.
Ep.78 Teddy Abrams
Air Date: 2015-11-30
Hear a young conductor, composer and pianist play Beethoven and his own jazzy pieces.
Ep.79 Protomartyr
Air Date: 2015-12-04
The Detroit band's loud, screeching, grousing rock can be profound, poetic and bewildering.
Ep.80 The Oh Hellos
Air Date: 2015-12-08
The nine-piece band bursts with anthemic joy, even as its songs convey darkness and loneliness.
Ep.81 Land Lines
Air Date: 2015-12-11
The Denver band's mysteriously swirling music is singular, new and adventurous.
Ep.82 Shakey Graves
Air Date: 2015-12-14
When the singer breaks out his guitar and suitcase drum, a rush of adrenaline hits the room.
Ep.83 Son Little
Air Date: 2015-12-18
A modernistic bluesman with a taste for electronics appears with just his acoustic guitar.
Ep.84 Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Air Date: 2015-12-21
Watch the soul star perform "Silent Night" and two originals — one for Christmas, one for Hanukkah.