Mon Rovîa's voice is like a balm: soft, clear, soothing. He uses that voice to tackle difficult, yet poignant vignettes — of battles fought internally and others observed in the world around him.
Born in Liberia during the country's civil war, Mon Rovîa was adopted by an American missionary family and spent his childhood moving around before eventually settling in Tennessee. His debut album, Bloodline, untangles that complicated lineage through ukulele- and guitar-driven folk melodies in music he describes as "Afro-Appalachian."
At the Tiny Desk, backed by his full band, Mon Rovîa glides from the intimate revelations of "crooked the road." into the thumping energy of "Somewhere down in Georgia," a nod towards the South's violent history. Throughout the set, his mission is clear: To reconcile pain and conflict with a sense of joy and belonging.
SET LIST
- "crooked the road."
- "Bloodline"
- "Somewhere down in Georgia"
- "Heavy Foot"
MUSICIANS
- Mon Rovîa: vocals, ukelele
- Tyler Martelli: guitar, background vocals
- Sam Hudgens: bass, keys, background vocals
- Joshua Durant: drums
- James Randy Sanchez Fall: pedal steel, banjo
- Lauren Conklin: violin
- Claudia Cunningham: background vocals
- Kayla Starr: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
- Director/Editor: Kara Frame
- Audio Engineer/Mix: Josephine Nyounai
- Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant
- Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
- Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
- Tiny Desk Team: Josh Newell, Felix Contreras
- Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
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