NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts

I have a wonderful collection of music with many of the popular musicians, but also some much less famous artists. People sometimes ask me how I got to know about this or that obscure artist. In truth, it is often just by accident really. However, I will share with you one place that has introduced quite a number of interesting (usually American) musicians: NPR Tiny Desk Concerts.

Bob Boilen from NPR (National Public Radio) invites musicians to come do tiny concerts (around three songs) literally at his desk, in his office. These "tiny desk concerts" are recorded and shared on the NPR website and many can also be found on YouTube.

It was about three years ago that I started to listen to the Tiny Desk Concerts and one of the earliest performances I heard at the time was of The Avett Brothers after which I promptly got their album "Emotionalism".

The Tiny Desk Concerts are by there very nature (i.e. the very setting) often unplugged. This of course loans itself more to those types of music such as folk rock that can comfortably play with a guitar and some percussion, but Bob Boilen's office has hosted even some electro-gurus and brass ensembles. Below is a cheerful group making a merry Christmas noise. I won't be getting their album, but it was nonetheless fun to listen to.