Route Song of the Day
NPR's Tiny Desk announcement for 2026 on The Route. Entry window is now open!
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Marty Sohl/Met OperaGabriela Lena Frank's first opera, in its Met debut, sees late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead to be reunited with her husband and fellow artist Diego Rivera. -
Courtesy of Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage & Smithsonian Institution ArchivesJohn Cephas and Phil Wiggins were modern ambassadors of a fingerpicking regional acoustic blues style developed mainly in Virginia and the Carolinas: the Piedmont blues.
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Yvonne VenegasFor years, Julieta Venegas sprinkled traditional elements of northern Mexican music throughout her records. Her new album, Norteña, places the singer-songwriter's folkloric sensibilities front and center. -
Zayrha RodriguezFeaturing new songs and beloved classics, the stadium-sized rock band shrinks down its outsized sound without losing any urgency or oomph.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Cameron McCloud of the band Cure for Paranoia, which won this year's Tiny Desk Contest.
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The winner of the 2026 Tiny Desk Contest is revealed by NPR Music's Bobby Carter. It's the 12th time that an unsigned musical artist has won the nationwide challenge. -
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Steve Knopper, who wrote about the confluence of several boy bands of the 1980s, '90s and beyond reuniting this summer as adult men.
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Sharpe played a newly rich tech bro on vacation in The White Lotus. Now he's starring as Mozart, a musical genius who struggles to "read the room" in a new limited TV series. -
The British pop star makes a "tiny version" of her theatrical stage show, complete with roses, angel wings and a cardboard proscenium arch. -
An orchestra performs the world premiere of a piece by the late Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White, 23 years after he composed it.
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A conversation with eclectic rock duo, Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach of the The Black Keys, about the unique motivations behind the making of their new album, Peaches!
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Fans who danced to "Paper Planes" might hardly recognize the conspiracy-touting artist before them today — but in a certain way, she's the same button-pusher as ever. -
A Tiny Desk Contest judge introduces us to finalists Noa Barr from Los Angeles.
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Jewel's new single is called "Upon Meeting the Goddess of Love."
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