Bob Boilen

Watch the singer and violinist who stood out from 6,000-plus entries in NPR's Tiny Desk Contest. Gaelynn Lea performs two of these four songs with fellow Duluth, Minn., musician Alan Sparhawk of Low.

The pair behind Iggy Pop's latest album talks about theories of songwriting, formative musical experiences and why the perspective of a 68-year-old punk is essential to American music.

The producer's work with The Beatles opened the ears of a young Bob Boilen to the possibilities of a song, and stretched the boundaries of popular music.

For the soundtrack to the HBO show Vinyl, The Arcs cover a classic R&B tune which influenced The Beatles' "I Feel Fine" and Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick."

This week on All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton talk about Sturgill Simpson's more rock-inspired sound and how parenthood inspired Simpson's new LP, A Sailor's Guide To Earth. Bob also plays some great, guitar-driven rock from Weaves and Heron Oblivion.

Also ...

Max Jury makes music steeped in country and soul. And, though the two genres are different in expression, at their core are similar themes of loneliness, love and devotion. For his newest music, Jury sought out help from a local church music director near his friend's home studio in North ...

There are nine spare, simple songs on Julien Baker's debut album, Sprained Ankle, and every one of them is sad. In fact, she came to the Tiny Desk with an untitled new one — since given the name "Funeral Pyre" — and she appropriately introduced it as "Sad Song ...

"'One More' is in your face. It's raw." Those words from Jasmyn Burke are plainspoken and true. Her band Weaves was my No. 1 discovery at CMJ 2015, quirky, loud and mysterious, four amazing and downright fascinating players. "One More" is the first song off their very first ...

As one of the judges for this year's Tiny Desk Contest, I was so inspired by all the incredible entries we received — the level of thought, creativity and care that went into producing them and, of course, the music people made. But I'd be lying if I ...

I knew this would be a thrill but I didn't expect the new Sturgill Simpson record to have bagpipes, a Nirvana cover and the Dap-Kings! Sturgill has announced that his new album, A Sailor's Guide To Earth, will be out on April 15, and he's released a single called "Brace ...

Can two crushed hearts breath life into a desolate, dreary waterpark in the Mojave Desert? If they're PWR BTTM, armed with confetti cannons, glitter and a blasting rock song of lost love, the answer is: Of course they can.

PWR BTTM is a loud, lovable duo from New ...

Out of more than 6,000 entries, the musician selected as the winner of the Tiny Desk Contest created something "captivating," "serpentine," "beautiful," "unusual" and "tremendous."

There is new — and quite wonderful — music from Mitski. Mitski Miyawaki is an intense singer and guitar player who has been putting out albums since 2012. Yesterday she announced a new album, her fourth, which will be called Puberty 2. It's as impassioned as her previous records, but ...

This week on All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton call up Mitski to talk about her new song "Your Best American Girl" from her just announced album, Puberty 2. We also play a new song by Kyle Craft, former singer of one of our ...

These four musicians made their first record together a decade ago, but for many of us, 2016 will be the year Lake Street Dive becomes a household name. The appeal of this band of New England Conservatory friends lies in their warmth in harmony and comfortably styled songs — ...

The Ballroom Thieves is a folk trio with a cellist at its core. Singer Calin Peters and her bandmates, guitarist Martin Earley and percussionist Devin Mauch, have now teamed up with the Maine Youth Rock Orchestra on a music video for its song "Bury Me Smiling," and the combination makes ...

Artists shine given restrictions and limitations. Subtlety and nuance are more easily found in minimalism than excess. That's the beauty of Brushy One String, whose sound is made by one big fat E-string and a voice so rich and full, all it wants is a bit of rhythmic and melodic ...

"The song is the lullaby and the video is the dream state." That's musician Miya Folick describing her song and choreographed dance for this song, "Oceans." Miya was an artist I became fascinated with when I heard her EP Strange Darling and then saw her captivate ...

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Since we started making Tiny Desk Concerts almost eight years ago, we've had more than 500 artists play the Tiny Desk, our own little makeshift concert ...

Jeffrey Lewis is a storyteller, in both the comic books he makes and his style of speak-singing seemingly stream-of-consciousness observations on life while holding a guitar. Manhattan is just his latest record — there are twenty or so albums and EPs under his name over the past twenty ...