Submission are closed for 2021's National Public Radio (NPR) Tiny Desk Contest.
The annual contest (now in its seventh year) is an offshoot of NPR's popular Tiny Desk Concert series, for which a wide range of artists perform intimate sets in the network's offices — at host of "All Songs Considered" Bob Boilen's actual desk — for their long-running video series.
For the contest, musical acts from across the country submit videos and the chosen winner (picked by a committee of artists and music professionals, this year including Phoebe Bridgers, last year's Tiny Desk winner Linda Diaz and Boilen) gets their own Tiny Desk Concert, a spot on NPR's "All Things Considered" and a considerable career boost from all of the exposure.
The winners of the contest over the past six years have experienced major success after their victories. For example, the first Tiny Desk Contest winner, Fantastic Negrito, has won multiple Grammys, while the 2018 winner, Naia Izumi, toured with The Lone Bellow and earned a record deal with Sony Masterworks.
So it's no wonder some of Cincinnati's best acts have submitted their own videos for consideration.
NPR says judges will select a winner "on or about" Sept. 7.
Let's take a look at some local entries.
Jess Lamb and The Factory (featuring Siri Imani): "Beautiful"
Jess Lamb and The Factory are an Indie group that create a blend of Soul, R&B and Gospel, with a dose of improvisation. They've taken home awards from CityBeat readers for Best Of Cincinnati's best local band, as well as Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (Lamb won Artist of the Year in 2016). Lamb — as a solo artist — was on American Idol in 2015. The band was also recently featured on NPR's "Echoes" podcast for the 2020 album You Are, described by the show as a "deep spiritual meditation partly shaped by pandemic...steeped in biblical imagery, Gospel-like hymns and ambient moods."
"Beautiful" features Lamb and The Factory, as well as local musician, activist and poet Siri Imani of Triiibe.
Deuces II The Golden Theory: "I Believe"
Cincinnati musician Michael "Deuces" Lee Cunningham II, known as Deuces II to his followers and fans, began pursuing music when he was just 13 years old and has been heavily involved in the local music scene ever since. In 2020, he dropped II Hand Smoke, an eight-track project he says has been in the works for more than a year and reflects on his personal experiences. He describes the album as sticking to "contemporary Hip Hop standards, with skill that reveals itself in tricky syncopation and double-time flow. His cerebral content draws comparison to Kendrick Lamar, but with a Midwestern backdrop."
For "I Believe," Deuces tells CityBeat, "Everything we did in this video was improvised — from the lyrics to the chorus, and even the band playing as great as they did... Phil Cotter's and (my) band 'The Golden Theory' is basically an improv band, and the experience is always great."
Lauren Eylise: "Cry"
Lauren Eylise calls her music Eclectic Soul — it’s heartfelt Indie Folk with R&B and Soul inflections. When the full Part Time Lovers backing band joins her onstage, the worlds of Funk and electric Blues combine for a soul-stirring, vulnerable and sensual concoction. Her debut landed in 2017, and that Life/Death/Life EP swiftly began turning heads and earning the young artist comparisons to none other than multiple Grammy Award winner Lauren Hill.
For last year's Tiny Desk submission, Eylise landed herself on NPR's Heat Check list — basically public radio's list of hot tracks to listen to "highlighting artists who aren't afraid to take risks."
KNOTTS: "Two Arms"
In February, local Indie band KNOTTS released the music video for their melodic and ariose track "Moon Faced Girl" off the band’s EP, Good Glasses.
In 2018, Knotts got a special shout-out for its unique Tiny Desk Contest submission (shot at a Walnut Hills hair salon) from NPR Music’s website. The project of singer/songwriter Adalia Boehne went on to release the debut album Is It Art Yet? and win the Cincinnati Entertainment Award for New Artist of the Year in 2018 (an expanded full-band Knotts performed at the CEA ceremony at Memorial Hall as well).
Patterns of Chaos: "Spazzin"
Local Hip Hop group Patterns of Chaos call themselves "nerds who love all kinds of music," and describe their band as sometimes Jazz, sometimes Punk but always Rap. They just wrapped up their forthcoming album Chaotic Good — two years in the making — and currently run every-other-Thursday-night "Beats & Vibes" events at OTR bar Mecca. During Beats & Vibes, Hip Hop producers do live sets and featured artists perform.
Freedom Nicole Moore & The Electric Moon: "Morning"
Freedom Nicole Moore has been in the Cincy music scene for years, starting off doing background vocals for a variety of bands including Indie Folk/Rock acts like Royal Holland and Neo R&B sensation JSPH before launching into gigs as a solo singer/songwriter and forming her band Freedom Nicole Moore & The Electric Moon. Moore’s music hovers around the spheres of Modern/Neo Soul and Indie Rock, but is rather timeless, buoyed by her warm and enchanting vocals and rich songwriting.
Maurice Mattei: "Jungalingle"
Maurice Mattei's extraordinary work as a graphic designer and photographer has spoken volumes for itself over the past three decades, and his output as a singer/songwriter over that same period has expanded on his initial Dylanesque direction to incorporate the droll humor of Loudon Wainwright III and John Prine, the working stiff observations of Bruce Springsteen and the storytelling gifts of Robert Earl Keen. For his 2019 album, Velvet Lined Room, he sat down alone with his acoustic guitar and documented 18 fascinating Folk vignettes, obviously conceived during a particularly productive songwriting period.
