The Worst Episodes of NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

Laura Gibson works through a handful of tenderhearted songs: two of them unreleased and two of them from her full-length debut, If You Come to Greet Me.

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When Athens, Ga., songwriter Vic Chesnutt was on tour in support of his album, “North Star Deserter,” he stopped by NPR to perform live at All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's desk. Chesnutt played five songs, including two entirely new ones.

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The music of Sam Phillips unfolds like perfect, miniature pop dramas. Of all her incarnations as a performer — first as a Christian singer, then as a pop singer — the current Sam Phillips is one of the most alluring. Phillips performs four songs from “Don't Do Anything.”

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Sera Cahoone got her start playing drums for a few widely adored bands in the Pacific Northwest, most notably Band of Horses and the spell-checker-defying Carissa's Wierd. But her self-titled, self-released 2006 album marked her as a fully formed talent — a warm and inviting singer whose songs convey world-weariness and homespun grace.

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Thao Nguyen makes captivating music. Her songs are raw and infectious, her voice has a distinctive swagger, and she's a remarkably nimble guitarist.

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Kurt Wagner writes and sings beautiful songs with Lambchop, a hefty Nashville ensemble with a calm, restrained sound. When Kurt Wagner came by the office to play a Tiny Desk Concert, he came alone, with just an acoustic guitar, a stack of lyrics and his humble, good-natured sense of humor.

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Dr. Dog isn't an obvious choice for one of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts. For one thing, it's a pretty big group, at least for the small space behind Bob Boilen's desk. The band's music can be pretty chaotic — loud and rumbling, with multiple instruments fighting to be heard. And singer Toby Leaman likes to belt out his vocals in a window-rattling, raspy growl.

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Jim White is a storyteller first and a musician second. It's a kind of storytelling rooted in his own unusual history: He grew up in Florida in a deeply Pentecostal community and fell in love with the white gospel music he heard. But from there, White took a surprising path to becoming a full-time musician. He was a professional surfer, a boxer, a fashion model in Milan and a cab driver in New York City. White's travels recently took him to Washington, D.C., where he stopped by the offices of NPR Music for this live performance.

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A glorious four-song set that's at once pristine and ramshackle — equal parts clarity and clatter — not to mention one of our best Tiny Desk Concerts yet.

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He should be a name everyone knows by now. Instead, troubadour David Dondero returned to NPR having slept the night before in his car. Dondero travels from club to club, singing his well-crafted songs — songs that have his signature lyrics at their core. His lyrics can make you smile with their wit and hurt with their bite, all at the same time.

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David Eugene Edwards performs his fiery Americana and covers a rare Bob Dylan song.

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Hear the singer give an intimate acoustic performance at the desk of NPR Music's Bob Boilen.

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Hear the legendary singer perform at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

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See the band perform live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

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Ferree has enough charisma to draw you into his odd world. Watch him perform in the NPR offices.

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Singer Tony Dekker performs three songs at the desk of All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen.

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The classical guitarist plays with a clear, lyrical technique in music from the baroque and beyond.

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Hear the harmony-drenched roots-rock band perform a kinetic, frenetic set in the NPR Music offices.

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Hear the singer-songwriter's tender, winsome music, performed live in the NPR Music offices.

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After a few restarts, the singer played a bare, stark, memorable solo set in the NPR Music offices.

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Watch the artist formerly known as Smog play a three-song set that's almost eerily transfixing.

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Or, the day a trumpet, trombone, French horn and tuba played us a soulful Rufus Wainwright cover.

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In this video shot at the NPR Music offices, Siskind showcases a voice that's both honeyed and raw.

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Hear Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, stars of the movie Once, playing six new songs and an encore.

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Dark Meat has as many as 20 members. We fit as many as we could behind Bob Boilen's desk.

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