Seasons & episodes
S5 · E49The Milk Carton Kids 2012-07-16
Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale sing sweet but intricate folk-pop songs in the NPR offices.
S5 · E50Janet Feder 2012-07-22
Feder marries classical and folk techniques with otherworldly guitar textures and sounds.
S5 · E51The Walkmen 2012-07-29
The band makes the Tiny Desk accommodate its booming sound rather than the other way around.
S5 · E52Beth Orton 2012-08-06
Known for mixing folk and electronics, Orton unveils three new songs with just an acoustic guitar.
S5 · E53The Zombies 2012-08-12
Two surviving members of the band still have the same chemistry here in a stripped-down performance.
S5 · E54Rufus Wainwright 2012-08-20
By the middle of Wainwright's final song, "Montauk," few dry eyes remained in the NPR offices.
S5 · E55Renaud Garcia-Fons 2012-08-27
Watch the renowned double bassist thump, strum and loop his way through three mesmerizing songs.
S5 · E56Avi Avital 2012-09-10
Avital's mandolin sings with the sounds of Ernest Bloch and a raucous Bulgarian folk tune.
S5 · E57Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra 2012-09-17
These songs' fervor is the product of a singer armed with intensity and musicians who can match it.
S5 · E58Yva Las Vegass 2012-09-24
Watch Las Vegass bring a punk aesthetic to Venezuelan folk music with a cuatro at the NPR offices.
S5 · E59Kat Edmonson 2012-10-01
Hearing the 29-year-old singer makes it virtually impossible to do anything but stop and listen.
S5 · E60Antibalas 2012-10-04
It's one thing for 11 musicians to make a big sound, but what stands out is Antibalas' subtlety.
S5 · E61Spirit Family Reunion 2012-10-08
The group plays fiddle, banjo, guitar and washboard, all gathered around a single microphone.
S5 · E62Dirty Three 2012-10-15
The band unleashes a gorgeous flurry of shambolic rumbling, prolific hairiness and dramatic yelling.
S5 · E63Robert Cray Band 2012-10-22
Like any great blues singer, Cray makes heartache and dysfunction sound engaging and relatable.
S5 · E64Lord Huron 2012-10-25
The band's rich harmonies are welcoming, its lyrics relatable and its live performances thrilling.
S5 · E65Passion Pit 2012-10-29
Michael Angelakos makes electro-pop with monster hooks. But his songs are sturdy, versatile things.
S5 · E66Jason Lytle 2012-11-05
The longtime frontman for Grandaddy goes it alone with acoustic solo songs from his latest record.
S5 · E67Flaco Jimenez 2012-11-12
The conjunto icon spins magic, and stays true to tradition, with his trademark button accordion.
S5 · E68Ben Gibbard 2012-11-19
For Tiny Desk Concert No. 250, the Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service singer performs solo.
S5 · E69Martha Wainwright 2012-11-26
Wainwright roughs up life's smooth spots, then digs her fingertips into the cracks that form.
S5 · E70Taken By Trees 2012-11-29
Victoria Bergsman's songs seem to come from a place somewhere between a dream state and waking life.
S5 · E71Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 2012-12-03
The Seattle duo literally shakes the dust off the ceiling tiles at the NPR Music offices.
S5 · E72Anaïs Mitchell 2012-12-06
The singer-songwriter performs three of Young Man in America's most bracingly beautiful songs.