SDPB and NPR are asking South Dakota’s unsigned bands and musicians to submit their Tiny Desk Contest entries at NPR.org/tinydeskcontest.
2021’s panel of judges is phenomenal. Linda Diaz, NPR’s talented 2020 Tiny Desk Contest winner, will be part of our lineup — plus fellow extraordinary Tiny Desk alums Tobe Nwigwe and Phoebe Bridgers.
Since 2014, South Dakota’s emerging musicians have submitted videos to NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in the hopes of being chosen to perform as part of NPR Music’s signature music discovery series.
The winner will play on NPR Tiny Desk. NPR and SDPB will share standout entries on SDPB’s and NPR Music’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. NPR will feature standouts on the “All Songs Considered” blog and in mashup videos. After the contest, each judge will share their favorite entries, and even interview artists like you, on the Contest Top Shelf: a weekly series and on the NPR Music YouTube channel.
Locally, South Dakota musicians who enter may be featured as local favorites on SDPB Radio’s live music segment “Moment in Sound” on In the Moment with Lori Walsh, as well as on SDPB.org and SDPB social media, and in SDPB Magazine.
South Dakota Artists Among Select Musicians Featured on NPR.org
In 2020, two Tiny Desk Contest submissions from South Dakota artists were featured on NPR.org.
Mato Wayuhi & Treehorse, “Knots”
Sioux Falls-based Mato Wayuhi (a member of the Oglala Lakota nation) and guitarist Jacob Lemme score again as NPR Music selected their 2018 “Wildberry Poptart” as a Tiny Desk Contest standout.Slinky, chill, rap-R&B with smooth horns and synth, “Knots” melds musicians recorded in-quarantine from L.A. to Philadelphia, but South Dakota ultimately represents: “Yeah, I’m turnin’ Pine Ridge into Fashion Week / Native Americans are the world’s greatest masterpiece.”
Eliza Blue, “Let There Be Light”
Filmed at dusk atop the rolling prairie hills of her family’s small ranch near Bison, S.D., Eliza Blue’s “Let There Be Light” and its gently swelling call to better days is a soothing pandemic panacea. Singer/songwriter/banjo player Blue recorded her last album (South Dakota, First of May) with former Neil Young’s Crazy Horse bassist and unlikely fellow Bison-dweller Billy Talbot. In this video, she strums her acoustic guitar and sends her clear, bright vocals out in hope across Middle America.
A few reminders about the Tiny Desk Contest:
• Entries accepted through Monday, June 7, at 10:59pm CT.
• You must be an unsigned musician and at least 18 years old to enter.
• To enter, record a video of yourself playing one original song at a desk (any desk will do!) and upload it to YouTube.
• Enter by submitting your entry to npr.org/tinydeskcontest.
The winner will play their very own Tiny Desk Concert!