St. Paul and the Broken Bones — Tiny Desk, 2014

Filmed live session of St. Paul and the Broken Bones for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts, recorded at Bob Boilen’s desk in Washington D.C. and released in December 2014. A soul band from Alabama, led by singer Paul Janeway, they deliver an acoustic, tightly packed performance, faithful to the intimate spirit of the Tiny Desk format. Across three songs — “Half the City”, “Call Me” and “Broken Bones and Pocket Change” — the band unfurls a soulful, inhabited retro-soul, carried by Janeway’s powerful, impassioned voice and a warm horn section. For fans of filmed live concerts, this capture is a perfect example of the NPR series: precise sound, maximum closeness and raw emotion, without artifice. Far from big stages, the group demonstrates the richness of its repertoire and the openly embraced legacy of 1960s soul. A reference document to discover St. Paul and the Broken Bones around the album Half the City, and more broadly the vitality of contemporary American soul in a live session.