Alisa Amador (NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest Tour) @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 5/24/2022
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Alisa Amador (NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest Tour) @ Songbyrd Music House [DC] - 5/24/2022

For the last few years, NPR has been putting out the call for unsigned bands in the USA to submit videos of their own original music, with the hopes of winning and getting to perform at the now-famous Tiny Desk. Fantastic Negrito and Tank and the Bangas were two standout recipients of the very competitive annual contest who have gone on to sell out large venues and even win Grammy Awards. In DC, home of NPR’s Tiny Desk, this year’s winner and last year’s winner got together at Songbyrd alongside two other groups from the DMV, hand-picked by member station WAMU/DCist.

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Naia Izumi @ NPR Studio One - 5/7/2018
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Naia Izumi @ NPR Studio One - 5/7/2018

The Tiny Desk Concert. It’s a dream and a milestone for bands all over the country, even the world. Musicians of all backgrounds have made their way here: DC go-go bands. Atlanta rappers. British superstars. Spanish crooners. The Blue Man Group. Even Korean folk groups dressed in drag have performed at NPR HQ. So for the fourth year in a row, NPR held the Tiny Desk Contest to find the country’s best unsigned artist (as decided by a panel of NPR Music writers and a few musicians) and give them the opportunity to perform at the Tiny Desk and reach thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of eager listeners. This year’s winner was LA-based guitarist and busker Naia Izumi, whose simply-filmed, slightly-cramped recording featured a drum machine, a loop pedal, and some impressive guitar skills. On the night of his Tiny Desk Concert filming, NPR’s Studio 1 room was opened to the public for a performance before he embarks on a nationwide Tiny Desk Contest tour. While the other tour stops will feature local bands that ranked high on the final list of entries, the DC performance was all about Izumi.

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