The Red Fetish is a stylistically mercurial group anchored by guitarist Alejandro Castaño. Flitting between experimental, folk, blues and chamber music depending on the participating collaborators, Castaño is a prolific songwriter, having released an impressive 17 albums so over the course of his career. This year’s entry into NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest is a stripped down performance of a new song called “Devices” on vocals and guitar with band mate Kris Kagei. Tonight they open an all DC evening at DC9 with psychedelic rock band Names.
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Tag Archives: Tiny Desk
Andy Shea – Braver (Tiny Desk Contest)
Andy Shea is an English teacher and singer-songwriter we’ve featured before on Hometown Sounds. His entry into this year’s Tiny Desk Contest is “Braver”, the title track from his name-your-own-price 2012 EP. Andy emphasizes empathy in his teaching, and this song about his older brother Matthew with Down syndrome exemplifies this perfectly.
Justin Trawick – The Bright Side (Tiny Desk Contest)
Let the record show that Justin Trawick is not above pandering. For this year’s submission to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest, the singer-songwriter and podcast host croons his optimistic tune “The Bright Side” to an oblivious English bulldog named, appropriately enough, Rico Suave. Who can resist that adorable pup?
DuPont Brass – Sunshine (Tiny Desk Contest)
DuPont Brass brings a touch of New Orleans second line brass band style to DC. Combining hip-hop, jazz and R&B, these Howard grads have graduated from street busking to blowout club gigs befitting their full, funky sound. “Sunshine” is their second go-round in NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest, after last year’s song “Common Tones”.
Handsome Hound – Carina (Tiny Desk Contest)
Our spin through the DC area submissions to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest continues with the utterly lovable folk rock band Handsome Hound. Claire Daviss and Cuchulain Kelly front this unique and accessible quintet of musicians, here performing an unreleased song “Carina” at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop Gallery.
While you’re at it, relive Snowzilla 2016 and watch Daviss and Kelly and trumpeter Allison Rosenberg perform “Hannah”, from their debut EP I Guess We’re Doing Alright, for last year’s contest, which we completely missed presenting to you until now.
Sara Curtin – Call You Home (Tiny Desk Contest)
Singer Sara Curtin never disappoints in her entries for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest. Her third effort is the romantic ballad “Call You Home”, filmed at Takoma Ranch and backed by bandmates Maureen Andary from The Sweater Set and Ryan Walker of The Beanstalk Library. Look for a new album featuring this song out later this year.
Run Come See – Empty Shell (Tiny Desk Contest)
Run Come See is a new soulful folk-rock supergroup featuring John Figura of the Gulley Jimson Quartet, standup bassist Tom Liddle of Letitia Van Sant & The Bonafides, and Lauren Calve. Over the last year they’ve refined each others’ songs live and in the studio, culminating in much highly anticipated debut album release next month. Get a taste of it with this submission to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest, John’s original song “Empty Shell” filmed by Sugar Farm Productions at the Petworth Citizen literary bar, where they shelve books by color. Mark your calendars for the album release show Friday March 3rd at the Black Cat with Turtle Recall and The North Country.
Stranger in the Alps – Pattern Matching (Tiny Desk Contest)
Steve Kolowich’s folk band Stranger in the Alps is now a 3 year veteran of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest submissions. This year’s entry “Pattern Matching”, the title track from their pay-what-you-want 2015 EP, got a well-deserved feature on the contest’s official Tumblr. The witty lyrics and laid-back production by Louis Weeks give this track a lot of replay value.
Near Northeast – COL (Tiny Desk Contest)
‘Tis the season for the annual Hometown Sounds spotlight into the best DC area submissions to NPR Music’s annual Tiny Desk Contest. Submissions closed last night, and we’ve found some great gems to share with you.
Indie folk band Near Northeast took great advantage of last year’s blizzard for their 2016 contest entry, playing “What To Say” in the middle of the snow. This year they seized on the climate of protest in our city to play a show at Capital Fringe on Inauguration Day with a community of artists, musicians, actors, and activists. Their new song “COL” derives its name from the lowest point of a ridge or saddle between two peaks, typically affording a pass from one side of a mountain range to another, and reflects on our current situation. Be on the lookout for their long awaited sophomore album coming out this spring.
Cecily – Your Idea of Beautiful (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
NPR Music’s judges are watching all the submissions to 2016’s Tiny Desk Contest, and soon they’ll pick a winner. We continue to show you the best submissions from DC, our shared hometown with the Tiny Desk. Cecily Bumbray, a talented and soulful singer-songwriter, gathered her jazz quartet to lay down a romantic new song called “Your Idea of Beautiful”. If this hits your spot, grab her debut self-titled EP featuring a collaboration with DC expat Tabi Bonney.
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