Elle Mannion | December 16, 2024
The last time Waxahatchee performed at the Tiny Desk, things looked — and sounded — a bit different. In 2013, Katie Crutchfield, sporting baby bangs, performed her bare-boned, devastating songs alone with her eyes mostly closed. "I rolled out of the tour band … I sort of didn't really know what I was doing at all. My amp broke in the middle [of the set]," Crutchfield says of her 2013 performance.
And while she was already earning her place as one of the most profound lyricists of the 21st century, much has changed since then for the now Grammy-nominated artist. Across Crutchfield's six albums as Waxahatchee, plus country duo Plains, she's strayed from her DIY punk roots and settled into something more akin to Americana.
In this Tiny Desk concert, Crutchfield is cool and cozy behind the Desk; she sways with an easy smile as she kicks off the set with her latest single, "Much Ado About Nothing," alongside a five-piece band. She performs one of NPR Music's best songs of 2024, "Right Back To It," as well as Tigers Blood's title track and an album standout, "Crowbar." She and the band end with "Fire," a song that, as the first single from 2020's Saint Cloud, marked the beginning of a beautiful transformation of Waxahatchee's music.
"I'm really happy that that exists," Crutchfield says of her 2013 Tiny Desk. "And I'm really happy to be back to show you this new version of the band."
SET LIST
"Much Ado About Nothing"
"Right Back to It"
"Crowbar"
"Tigers Blood"
"Fire"
MUSICIANS
Katie Crutchfield: vocals, acoustic guitar
Eliana Athayde: upright bass, background vocals
Cole Berggren: piano, banjo
Spencer Tweedy: drums, background vocals
Colin Croom: pedal steel, dobro, guitar
Clay Frankel: guitar, background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Elle Mannion
Director/Editor: Maia Stern
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Estefania Mitre
Audio Engineer: Andie Huether
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
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Support for NPR Music comes from Google and Year in Search 2024. You can watch the film featuring the biggest breakout searches that defined the year at g.co/yearinsearch