The winner is....

Meet the band that rose to the top [View this email online]( [NPR Tiny Desk Contest]( We received nearly 6,000 Contest entries from artists across the country — but one Springville, Utah, band rose to the top as its entry surprised the judges, moved them to tears and filled them with hope. The winner of the 2023 Tiny Desk Contest is “Wonder Eye” by Little Moon! This is Little Moon’s fourth year entering the Contest, a real testament to never giving up. We’ve been [loving Little Moon’s entries since 2020]( but this year, the band leveled up — and our judges noticed. KEXP’s Albina Cabrera shared “Wonder Eye” on [her episode of Top Shelf]( last month, noting its powerful message and applauding singer Emma Hardyman’s exceptional voice and the togetherness of the entire band. A few weeks later, when all the judges came together to decide on a winner, the decision to crown Little Moon was unanimous. “Emma’s deceptively strong voice and the band's ability to take the music to places completely unexpected catapulted ‘Wonder Eye’ to the top of the heap of wonderful entries,” said Bobby Carter. Sharon Van Etten said Emma’s vocal range was “out of this world.” Bob shared: “The song is a dynamic and explosive tune with a deeply emotional story.” Emma told us the song was written under heavy circumstances: Her mother-in-law was in hospice care and she and her husband, bassist Nathan Hardyman, were in the process of leaving the Mormon church. “Mormonism believes in life after death, resurrection and eternal families,” she said. “There is beauty and comfort in our former beliefs of certainty, light and life — we honor and respect such teachings. But we also find deep beauty in uncertainty, darkness, chaos and death — perhaps it's all one and the same.” She added: “Perhaps this song was written because we realized we have been mourning various deaths our whole lives… Perhaps it took a major, physical death of a loved one to see that death is happening all the time — that we are always grieving something; that accepting the mysterious, shadowy nature of death can deepen one's sense of humanity and soften the ways we see ourselves and each other.” You can hear more from Emma this afternoon, when she’ll do her first NPR interview as the Contest winner on All Things Considered. The 2023 Tiny Desk Contest is presented by Capital One and supported by Guayakí Yerba Mate. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Soon, Little Moon will come to NPR’s headquarters to play a Tiny Desk concert. (We’re excited to see how the six band members — Emma and Nathan, plus keys player Bly Wallentine, harpist Bridget Jackson, drummer Chris Shemwell and electric guitarist Grace Johnson — will fit behind the Desk.) And in a few weeks, you can join us on YouTube when they’ll talk with Bob for the fifth episode of Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf. Then in June, the band will headline our Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour, playing alongside local Contest entrants (we’ll announce those artists soon) across the country. We hope to celebrate alongside many of you in this [Contest community](. [Get tickets]( Thank you again to everyone who submitted to this year’s Contest. We’re incredibly proud of all (6,000!) of you. We hope you’ll join us in congratulating [Little Moon]( — and we hope to meet you [on the road]( From the Desk, NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest team --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Find a Station]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [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]