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NPR Music: Tiny Desk Concerts
Tiny Desk Concerts from NPR's All Songs Considered features your favorite musicians performing at Bob Boilen's desk in the NPR Music office. This is the AUDIO only archive.Are you a fancy A/V nerd and need video? Visit our new Tiny Desk Concert video channel. Eye-popping video and all of the music you've come to expect.

The Family Crest: Tiny Desk Concert

By Bob Boilen
Published August 4, 2014 at 12:16 PM MDT

There's a decent chance you're about to discover your favorite new band. Based in San Francisco and led by Liam McCormick, The Family Crest builds its songs from a combination of infectious enthusiasm and powerful talent. The group owes its huge sound not just to its seven members, but to the community that records and plays with them. Eighty people are credited on The Family Crest's first album, Beneath the Brine.

At the Tiny Desk, we heard from seven players with training in classical and jazz, as well as instruments including violin, cello, upright bass, flute, trombone, drums, guitar and McCormick's voice. And what a voice: Trained as an opera singer but with a hunger for jazz, he's one of those fortunate souls with plenty to express and the range to deliver. The three songs performed here give you a sense of what The Family Crest can do, though Beneath the Brine is what you'll want to hear once your jaw has dropped watching this.

Set List

  • "Beneath The Brine"

  • "Howl"

  • "Make Me A Boat"

    • Credits

    Producers: Bob Boilen, Denise DeBelius; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Denise DeBelius, Colin Marshall; Production Assistant: Sarah Tilotta; photo by Sarah Tilotta/NPR

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Tiny Desk Concerts
    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
    See stories by Bob Boilen
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