All Songs Considered

This year's Tiny Desk Contest was unlike any other. Amid lockdowns, social distancing guidelines and ongoing adjustments to daily life, over 6,000 dedicated unsigned artists sent in their songs in the hopes of performing a Tiny Desk concert.

Once again, Different Radio is partenering with NPRMusic for this year's Tiny Desk Contest!

On Thursday, May 25 Different Radio will sponsor a Tiny Desk Favorites Concert at Three Heads Brewing Beer Garden (186 Atlantic Avenue), with The Mighty High And Dry, Kitestring, and Machine Gun English.

 NPR Music is at it again with a call for unsigned musicians of all genres: Show us why you should perform in NPR Music's iconic Tiny Desk concert series by submitting an original video of you or your band playing behind a desk of your choosing. The winner of the Contest will secure a spot at the legendary performance space and a U.S. tour with NPR Music, fueled by Lagunitas Brewing Company.

At some point in the 1960s, steel drum (a.k.a. pan) music became the Caribbean equivalent of cheesy Vegas lounge tunes: something only an ill-dressed tourist might fancy during a cruise ship port o' call. And true, there's probably a thousand bad pan covers of "Yellow Bird" out there, but the tradition is unfairly maligned.