T are even more opportunities to win: the Tiny Desk Contest All Songs Considered Each year the winner of the Tiny Desk contest gets to perform at his or her Tiny Desk concert. The strongest story Bob Boylen witnessed at Tiny Desk-a story of friendship, compassion and determination that brought us all to tears-is from Bernie and the faithful who entered the contest in 2018 and performed at Tiny Desk that same year. Every year we ask unknown performers from around the country to submit their songs to the Little Desk Contest. And if you’re an unsigned artist who has a song, we hope you’ll enter this year’s Little Desk Contest by June 7. In 2017, we met singer-songwriter Haley Heindericks during the Tiny Desk Contest On The Road Tour in Portland. And every year, one artist wins the grand prize and gets to perform on their own Tiny Desk show. In the contest’s first year, we discovered the Seratones, a gospel and roll rock band from Louisiana that seduced us with the upbeat vocals and infectious energy of singer and guitarist A. J. Haynes. Sometimes Bob Boylen likes the artist so much that he invites him to play at his little table after the show. We do our best to share the most impressive work with the world – NPR Music staff favorites, judges’ favorites, public radio favorites and more. But through the contest, we’ve discovered many other great artists and invited some of them to perform . In 2018, we invited Heynderickx to play “their” cathartic and tender songs at the console. Performances by all of these artists we discovered during the contest and more can be found in this playlist. The contest also introduced us to California rapper Hobo Johnson, whose uniqueness is undeniable. He has entered the contest three years in a row, and while he has never won, he says the contest has changed his life. But winning isn’t everything; NPR Music has thousands of talented musicians who send us videos of them playing their original songs at their desks. In the past, we’ve taken our winners on tours around the country and invited great artists to open for them.
Subscription to our newsletter open soon.