Video Sessions

Thao Nguyen makes captivating music. Her songs are raw and infectious, her voice has a distinctive swagger, and she's a remarkably nimble guitarist. The singer-songwriter stopped by NPR's offices recently to give an intimate performance at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

Coming from meager beginnings in middle-class China, the 26-year-old superstar pianist describes his drive to be the best in the world — and the struggles along the way — in his new autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles.

The band from Champaign, IL brings Phil Spector and his doo wop groups to mind as well as classic mid-90s indie rock bands. A video shoot with the band even revealed them to be five of the nicest people we could have hoped to meet.

Annie Clark of St. Vincent stops by the BPP studios to play a few songs and talk about her music. Her debut album is Marry Me.

Sera Cahoone got her start playing drums for a few widely adored bands in the Pacific Northwest, most notably Band of Horses and the spell-checker-defying Carissa's Wierd. But her self-titled, self-released 2006 album marked her as a fully formed talent — a warm and inviting singer whose songs convey world-weariness and homespun grace. Cahoone stopped by the NPR offices to perform a few songs at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.

The New Yorker describes the Quavers as moody and enchanting. The two Brooklyn musicians describe themselves as a "space-age Carter family." They stopped by The Bryant Park Project studios to demonstrate.

The music of Sam Phillips unfolds like perfect, miniature pop dramas. Her new album, Don't Do Anything, is loaded with great ones. Of all her incarnations as a performer — first as a Christian singer, then as a pop singer — the current Sam Phillips is one of the most alluring. On this Tiny Desk performance, recorded live at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, Phillips performs four songs from her latest CD.

Acoustic funk/soul singer-songwriter G. Love stops by The Bryant Park Project to talk and play music from his new album, Superhero Brother. He says the album was inspired by a recent trip to the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

Back with a new album, Flavors of Entanglement, Morissette talks about heartache and healing. After the painful breakup of her long engagement to actor Ryan Reynolds, Morissette has a lot to say — and to sing.

Toronto musician Hayden is known for his quirky sad songs and his latest album, In Field and Town, is full of them. The intimacy of the record extends to the liner notes, which are a reproduction of Hayden's own handwritten notebook.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) made a musical splash Memorial Day weekend in a performance with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra; it was later posted in a video clip on YouTube. Alexander performed a few tunes at the piano in NPR's Studio 4A.

Athens, Ga., songwriter Vic Chesnutt is on tour in support of his latest album, North Star Deserter. In Washington, D.C., for a concert at the Black Cat, he stopped by NPR to perform live at All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's desk. Chesnutt played five songs, including two entirely new ones.

In the past eight years, Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel have made five albums, married and had two children. The pair, who record as Mates of State, stop by the Bryant Park Project studios to play from their new album, Re-Arrange Us.

Singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim brings his country-punk sound to Manhattan. With help from the BPP, he and his band got permission to perform "Honey Pie" live in Bryant Park, one of Midtown's most beloved green spaces.