Almost every week, a musician plays an intimate concert at a desk in NPR’s Washington, D.C., studio. They’re called Tiny Desk Concerts, and they've become incredibly popular. Adele has played there. So have musicians T. Pain, Kacey Musgraves, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.
For the second year in a row, San Diego musicians can enter to win their own Tiny Desk Concert. The music desk at NPR, which hosts and produces the concerts, is holding a national Tiny Desk Concert Contest. Last year's inaugural competition pulled in 7,000 entries from around the country.
The winner will play the official Tiny Desk at NPR before embarking on a U.S. tour that includes appearances at a taping of NPR’s radio show "Ask Me Another" and at events hosted by NPR Music and Lagunitas Brewing Companies (the contest sponsor).
The 2016 contest starts on Jan. 12. Entries will be accepted until Feb. 2. San Diego musicians, singers and bands can enter as long as they don’t already have a recording contract. Just videotape yourself performing a song you wrote behind a desk of your choice. The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges that includes Dan Auerbach of the band The Black Keys.
Each concert is videotaped and published on the NPR website. The concerts have helped bolster many music careers.
Last year's winner, Oakland blues musician Fantastic Negrito, performed as part of the Tiny Desk Concerts series in March and has since played several major music festivals. His self-titled EP then topped the iTunes blues chart.
“It just changed everything. It put what I was doing on steroids, and really shined a light on myself and the Bay Area,” he told NPR. “Tiny Desk. There’s no way I’d be where I am right now.”
Fantastic Negrito, whose real name is Xavier Dphrepaulezz, has an especially interesting personal story, including surviving a car accident that put him in a coma for four weeks. According to his website, "the narrative on this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound."
California topped the list of entries last year with 777. You can make sure San Diego is represented in 2016. Spread the word. Get behind a desk and sing. Let NPR know what kind of musical chops come out of this beautiful corner of the country.
