Bob Boilen: Celebs Rumors

Chris Willman Music WriterEd Sheeran already had some album promotion under his belt before his plans took a turn this week, as Tuesday morning saw the release of a “Tiny Desk” video concert, filmed for the NPR franchise, including several songs the “=” album (pronounced “equals”) that/s coming out Friday.With the popular video series having shifted to remote “desks” during the pandemic instead of having musicians coming in to gather around Bob Boilen’s desk in Washington, D.C., Sheeran made the most of the extra space, bringing a considerable slew of musicians to fill out a library space.

NPR Tiny Desk Concert — now that he knows what it is. A fan-led Twitter campaign to get the 48-year-old “Back That Azz Up” rapper to take part in the famed concert series started last week when a supporter tweeted at NPR to “please” have him on.

Big Thief performed an unreleased song called ‘Happiness’ during their recent appearance on NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’ – watch below.The Brooklyn band played a four-song set for the long-running video series, including ‘Change’, ‘Dried Roses’ and ‘Certainty’ from their fifth studio album, this year’s ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You’.Big Thief concluded the short gig by treating viewers to ‘Happiness’, a track that was first aired during the group’s 2020 European headline tour (via Setlist.FM).Filmed by Adam Gundersheimer and Vanessa Haddad, the latest ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’ video sees Big Thief performing in a cosy attic room in a house in Connecticut.Bob Boilen, host and creator of NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk’, said: “What we see in this ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’ is playfulness substituting for the intensity that I normally find in Big Thief on a big stage.“There’s a bit of a ‘hold on to your hat’ feel here, with players watching each other for a possible surprise. Maybe it’s James Krivchenia’s banjo percussion, the galloping rhythm on ‘Certainty’ or how the four musicians sing aloud on a chorus; it is so much fun to see it all unfold.”Big Thief returned to the UK last month to play a show at Glastonbury 2022.

Vince Staples‘ enchanting take on NPR’s long-running Tiny Desk series has made it to the Internet, sporting a handful of choice cuts from the rapper’s newly minted fourth album.The set was recorded, as the series has been since the COVID-19 pandemic broke, from outside the series’ usual home of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen’s desk at NPR’s Washington office. Instead, Staples and his four-piece backing band took to an idyllic cabin in the Hollywood Hills.“You should see this view – I don’t live here,” the 28-year-old boasts midway through his four-track performance.

Jordan Rose A year ago, “Tiny Desk” creator Bob Boilen, producer Bobby Carter and senior Director of NPR Music Lauren Onkey looked ahead to an uncertain future for the beloved online concert series.“I believe NPR started to work from home on March 12,” says Onkey. “And I think we filmed our last ‘Tiny Desk’ concert in the office on March 11.

What exactly constitutes a Tiny Desk Concert these days? With the NPR offices still closed due to the pandemic, nobody's been able to perform within the tight confines of Bob Boilen's office in nine whole months. That hasn't stopped the series from cranking out tons of new entries, in which artists offer their own interpretation of "tiny" and "desk," filmed without dozens of bespectacled NPR employees crowding behind the cameras.

(CNN)NPR Tiny Desk is where performers go to show they actually can sing, and BTS has done just that.The beloved K-Pop boy band on Monday became the latest artists to participate in the at-home series of the stripped-down, more intimate performances featured on NPR.Naturally, they kicked it off with their first all-English language single and No.