© 2025 WFAE

Mailing Address:
WFAE 90.7
P.O. Box 896890
Charlotte, NC 28289-6890
Tax ID: 56-1803808
90.7 Charlotte 93.7 Southern Pines 90.3 Hickory 106.1 Laurinburg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WFAE's HD signals are impaired. Learn more.

'Tis The Tiny Season: Our 5 Favorite Holiday Tiny Desk Concerts

If music has a transportive power, able to send us back in time with a just a few notes, then no type is as powerful as the holiday variety.

This may be why I am a holiday music curmudgeon. For several decades on this planet, my musical Christmas list hasn't budged: I want jazz, the '40s/ '50s standards and ambitious '80s originals. Essentially, I want all the songs I grew up with, when the warmth of the recording was the only thing fending off the cold pressing in from the windows — no covers or new originals, please.

But this year, my tiny (desk) heart has grown three sizes. In a season so viscerally connected to childhood, perhaps part of growing up is creating new traditions and celebrating togetherness with friends and with family. In our favorite holiday Tiny Desk concerts, we have a bit of all of that.

Family bands Hanson and The Oh Hellos make me optimistic about locking myself in a house with my siblings (and make me rethink whether I put enough effort into my decorations this year); Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings bring some much needed jazz and funk (including tongue-in cheek "Big Bulbs," the 21st century's response to "Silver Bells,"); The Polyphonic Spree assures me it's not Christmas until I gather 15 of my closest friends and belt out the classics; "If you don't need therapy before Christmas — hang on," Amy Grant jokes. "You're going to need it after!" In the meantime, let this merry playlist of Tiny Desk concert holiday performances (yule)tide you over.


Tiny Desks In This Playlist

  • The Polyphonic Spree (read more)
  • Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (read more)
  • The Oh Hellos (read more)
  • Hanson (read more)
  • Amy Grant (read more)
  • Bonus: HMSTR (read more)
  • Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.