The Virtues of a Tiny Desk

Our guest author commends the NPR sensation and its beneficial effects

By T. Scott Plutchak

The intimacy of NPR’s “Tiny Desk” pressures musicians in a way that can be revelatory. 

The story goes that Bob Boilen, NPR’s music guru, went to a club with a friend one night and was annoyed that they couldn’t hear the singer over the crowd. So they invited her to come to the studio and play at Bob’s desk.  

Over the past 11 years, …