Stereophonic: Tiny Desk Concert

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

Mitra I. Arthur | December 9, 2024

The process of artistic creation makes for perfect storytelling. There's the unsexy doubt and the exhilarating breakthroughs, the fortifying confirmations and the sticky pockets. It is a messy process. This whole creative affair gets stickier when the artist is a band full of complex personalities and fraught relationships.

This is the central premise of David Adjmi's play Stereophonic, which ends its Broadway run on Jan. 12. The play garnered a record 13 Tony nominations and took home five, including Best Play. So what is a play doing at the Tiny Desk? Well, the play features an album's worth of original music from Will Butler (formerly of Arcade Fire) whose lyrics provide insight into five people falling apart when they should be coming together creatively. The music is performed by the original Broadway cast members Will Brill (who won a Tony for his performance), Juliana Canfield, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon and Chris Stack, who are joined here by composer Butler and music director and orchestrator Justin Craig.

The cast treats us to "Bright (Fast)" featuring Pidgeon's earthy twang, the Pecinka-led "Seven Roads," and Canfield's contemplative duo of "Drive," (supported by Stack and Brill's propulsive beat) and "In Your Arms." Throughout the performance Butler and Craig provide embellishments that help build out the sonic footprint of the tunes. Our unnamed band (as the audience never quite learns its actual name) closes the set with "Masquerade" in all its grooving '70s rock grandeur.

SET LIST

"Bright (Fast)"

"Seven Roads"

"Drive"

"In Your Arms"

"Masquerade"

MUSICIANS

Will Butler: piano, guitar, vocals, composition

Justin Craig: guitar, music direction

Will Brill (as Reg): bass

Juliana Canfield (as Holly): piano, vocals

Tom Pecinka (as Peter): guitar, vocals

Sarah Pidgeon (as Diana): vocals

Chris Stack (as Simon): drums

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Mitra I. Arthur

Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Zayhra Rodriguez

Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault

Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer

Photographer: Alanté Serene

Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson

VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#nprmusic #tinydesk #stereophonics

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