The latest edition of NPR Music‘s retooled Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series saw Black Pumas‘ debut on the flagship music program. Performing remotely from their studio, the Austin-bred psych-soul outfit debuted a bonus track from the recently-released deluxe edition of 2019’s Black Pumas, as well as some beloved hits from that debut record.
The performance comes just after Black Pumas were nominated for three Grammy awards late last month. The band received nods for Record Of The Year for “Colors”, Album Of The Year for Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition), and Best American Roots Performance also for “Colors”. This follows the band’s 2019 nomination for Best New Artist.
Related: Black Pumas Perform “I’m Ready”, Talk Group’s Origins On ‘Corden’ [Watch]
The remote performance began with a run through one of the bonus tracks featured on Deluxe Edition that wasn’t included in the original release, “Red Rover”. Despite the song’s new-to-you nature, it already feels like a classic Black Pumas track with Eric Burton‘s soulful lyrical delivery and Adrian Quesada‘s shimmering guitar licks that could have been pulled from a vintage funk record.
After that, Black Pumas took fans down the familiar road of their well-worn hits, beginning with “Fire”. With his rapid-fire guitar riff, Burton was able to infuse the song with the neo-Western flair of a Quentin Tarantino movie mixed with the band’s trademark soul and grit. Things slowed down with a somber run through the oft-overlooked “OCT 33” where Burton got to take center stage even more so than usual as the band’s frontman. Finally, Black Pumas closed out their Tiny Desk Concert with their undisputed hit, “Colors”.
Watch Black Pumas’ debut appearance on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series below.
Black Pumas – Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
[Video: NPR Music]