Natalie Prass | photo by Amr Alfiky for NPR
Natalie Prass and her band pool their collective strength at NPR Music’s Tiny Desk
After spending much of 2018 on the road in support of The Future and the Past, Richmond singer-songwriter Natalie Prass is landing a lot of those coveted “musical guest” spots. We recently saw her on the Late Late Show with James Corden, where she delivered a discofied rendition of “Short Court Style” (a song that, no matter how often she performs it, we will not tire of), and today we are stoked to dive in to her Tiny Desk Concert, recorded in January at NPR HQ in Washington, D.C. while Prass was on tour opening for Kacey Musgraves.
The performance features Prass and her band in their dress blues — she’s backed here by Eric Slick on drums, Alan Parker on guitar, Jacob Ungerleider on keys, Brandon Lane on bass — with guest vocalists Angelica Garcia and Kenneka Cook decked out in poppy orange tones. Collectively, they smoothly work through performances of “Oh My,” “Short Court Style,” and “Hot For the Mountain,” all from Future.
Writing on the performance, NPR’s Joshua Bote notes that the album was near completion around the 2016 presidential election, and the results moved Prass to scrap the project and start over with a renewed focus. In the performance, Bote writes, “Her vision was clear: If you want to overcome the times, find strength in numbers.”
Watch Natalie Prass’ Tiny Desk Concert below, and see her on Thursday, April 18th at World Cafe Live. Tickets and more information can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.