"Be real. Be vulnerable."

A note from Linda Diaz, our 2020 winner [View this email online]( [NPR Tiny Desk Contest]( This week, we reached out to Linda Diaz — last year’s Tiny Desk Contest winner and one of this year’s judges — and asked her to share her path to the Tiny Desk and advice for the Tiny Desk Contest community. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello all! My name is Linda Diaz and I am a singer-songwriter from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. As you know, I won last year’s Tiny Desk Contest and I’m also one of this year’s Contest judges. It has been such a privilege to have this major, career-making experience at a time when I needed it most. Today, I want to tell you a bit about my experience and what I’ll be looking for in your entries. I first heard about the Contest in 2017 when [Tank and the Bangas won]( and took the internet by storm. I was incredibly intimidated and didn’t even consider applying to the Contest until 2019, when my friend Nic asked me to be part of his entry. Our submission didn’t gain much traction, but I learned a lot from that experience and paid close attention to the Contest. At the end of that year, I had been fired from my first big-deal job and was getting the hang of gigging in NYC and working part-time at a bookstore to pay rent when I was asked — through a serendipitous connection — to sing background vocals for [Jordan Rakei’s Tiny Desk concert](. I was truly flabbergasted and terrified because I had just started considering myself a musician — but, of course, I obliged. It ended up being an experience that influenced my career more than I could have ever imagined. By the time I decided to enter the Tiny Desk Contest myself, the 2020 submission deadline was quickly approaching, so I scrambled to bring a band of my friends together to record my entry. I chose my song “[Green Tea Ice Cream]( because it sounded best live. I write a lot of songs about other people, but this was the only one on my EP Magic that was about me, and that felt appropriate. The new group and I gave it our all. And, I suppose, the rest is history! --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Since winning, I performed [my own Tiny Desk (home) concert]( with my band and have started to build a team. I performed virtually at SummerStage (my first festival!), spoke with NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes about my [past life as a professional chess player]( and reached my first one million streams on Spotify for “Green Tea Ice Cream!” To say that 2020 was an unconventional year is an understatement, and I imagine this experience would have looked very different were it not a pandemic. But in retrospect, this pace has been good for me. Winning the Tiny Desk Contest has presented me with a huge opportunity, and I’ve had time to think about the kind of artist I am, the career I want, what I want my team to look like and what I need to succeed. Tiny Desk fans are so real and patient, and having the freedom to find myself away from the public eye after such a big win has been invaluable. It is so dope to be writing to you all from the studio between signing hundreds of copies of my first vinyl! My first single since the Tiny Desk win, “[Blessed]( just dropped, and I am already feeling the love from my Tiny Desk family near and far. Watch the music video for "Blessed," shot by Rahul Sharma If you have even a passing thought of submitting to the Contest this year, I encourage you to do so. And, encourage other songwriters in your life to apply as well! So often, the best entrants just need a little push. I can’t wait to watch your submissions as a judge this year, hear your stories and be part of the process that got me where I am today. The best advice I can give to entrants, aside from being mindful of blend and finding good lighting if you can (it makes all the difference, folks) is to be yourself. There is no one way that your entry is “supposed” to look or sound or feel. None of the past winners are similar musically, but past Contest judges saw us in each of our entries. Be real. Be vulnerable. If you are true to yourself, it will always shine through. Good luck! Linda Diaz --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [tinydeskcontest@npr.org](mailto:tinydeskcontest@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Interested in connecting with music-lovers and music-makers across the Contest community? Join our Tiny Desk Contest Community [Facebook Group]( Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on [Spotify]( and [Apple Music]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Pop Culture and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Tiny Desk Contest emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]