Annie DiRusso: Tiny Desk Concert

Annie DiRusso: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Stephen Thompson | December 8, 2025

For those of us who agonized over 2025’s song-of-the-summer sweepstakes, Annie DiRusso provided a much-needed balm: Super Pedestrian, an album crammed full of funny, charismatic, bittersweet pop-rock songs about doomed Gen-Z romance and the joy of movies, sports and other distractions from… well, doomed Gen-Z romance. Whether or not 2025 ever gave you the exact song of the summer you craved, DiRusso gave some of us our album of the summer.

Now, she’s back for a fresh victory lap. DiRusso recently released a deluxe edition of Super Pedestrian with some welcome bonus tracks, and now we can unveil her first-ever Tiny Desk concert. In a five-song pageant full of clever costuming, synchronized dance moves and even a few behind-the-back guitar riffs, DiRusso and her band replicate their killer stage show without sacrificing the intimacy that makes the Tiny Desk special.

Still, she had to modify her stage patter, at least a little bit.

“Usually, when I play shows, I do this whole bit where I tell the plot of School of Rock like it’s my life,” DiRusso says, “and then I introduce every member of the band as ‘Annie DiRusso.’ But when I tried that [in rehearsal], just talking, I just seemed like the biggest a****** ever.”

If you haven’t yet dug into her vibrant, infectious music, may this be your first step toward a triumphant summer of 2026, complete with a killer Annie DiRusso soundtrack.

SET LIST

“Back in Town”

“Hybrid”

“Legs”

“Coming Soon”

“It's Good to Be Hot in the Summer”

MUSICIANS

Annie DiRusso: vocals, guitar

James Eichman: guitar, banjo, background vocals

book NOT brooke: keys, bass, cello, background vocals

Eden Joel: bass, guitar, background vocals

Levi Bennett: drums

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Robin Hilton

Director: Maia Stern

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Video Editor: Kara Frame

Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame

Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna

Production Assistants: Dora Levite, Dhanika Pineda

Photographer: Alanté Serene

Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Executive Director: Sonali Mehta

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#tinydesk #nprmusic #anniedirusso

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