Kevin Kaarl — Tiny Desk, 2024

Tiny Desk concert by Kevin Kaarl, filmed for NPR Music at the radio’s offices in Washington, in January 2024. A singer-songwriter from the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, Kevin Kaarl made his name with intimate, melancholy folk, where his soft voice and stripped-back guitars meet an instrumentation inspired by regional Mexican music. For this live session, the artist reinvents his songs by blending guitar and banjo with the trumpet of his twin brother Brian, transfiguring the sounds of banda sinaloense into a folk with North American accents. The set runs through several of his signature tracks, including Me Va a Costar, Te Quiero Tanto, the very romantic Vámonos a Marte and San Lucas, in inhabited, pared-down versions. The Tiny Desk format highlights the finesse of his writing and the emotion of his singing, between falsetto and generous vibrato. For fans of folk and Latin American music, this filmed live offers a fine gateway into the world of a singular artist, at the crossroads of Mexican tradition and independent songwriting.