Hobo Johnson and The Lovemakers: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Sept. 12, 2018 | Bob Boilen -- Hobo Johnson and the Lovemakers accomplished something remarkable this year with their Tiny Desk Contest entry. They made a simple backyard video - a single camera shoot - that's now been seen almost 10 million times on YouTube. And the song they played, "Peach Scone," has unlocked a door to a dream - to play a Tiny Desk Concert and be heard. The song is a tale of one-sided love - a tale of kindness in the face of loneliness and depression. Now, "a couple of kids - five I guess" as its lyrics go, get to bring their creative, urgent and somewhat nervous energy from Sacramento, Calif. to play "Peach Scone" and more to millions of other listeners.

This is a band always on the verge of emotional explosions, all while Frank Lopes, aka Hobo Johnson, is quoting Shakespeare and making references to Jay-Z, The Front Bottoms song "Twin Size Mattress" and so much more.

The directness in their music, with its chorus shouts ("Damn I love those sandwiches!") and the little asides ("I got a duvet the other day - how do you wash a blanket? In a washer? That's what I found out") make for a remarkably personal performance. At times it's as much a storytelling session or personal confession than a musical performance, and for me it conjures feelings of empathy and understanding and compassion.

Set List
"Romeo & Juliet"
"Sex in the City"
"Peach Scone"
"Creve Coeur 1"

Credits
Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Bronson Arcuri, CJ Riculan; Editor: Production Assistant: Ema Sagner; Photo: John Poole

[chaser]

I've never seen this type of music in my entire life, and it's putting me in a state I've never been in before.

[dean]

He looks like he's on the verge of tears with every lyric

[TylerJudon]

It's impressive how long he sound like he's about to cry without actually crying

[bookishbianca]

Still come back to this video in 2024. Remember watching this back in high school. Will always love these tiny desk renditions

[elisiaduran]

my ap calculus teacher told us that he had a late night because he went to a Hobo Johnson and The Lovemakers concert last night and I gained a new respect for him

[weirdo]

If you haven’t heard these songs before I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to tell what’s a part of the song or just hobo Johnson randomly starting to talk to a pretend person in the middle of a song, it’s awesome

[tidikong]

I love that it feels like he's really telling these stories from the top of his head and not like he's going off totally from a set of lyrics. This is so authentic and real

[markrussell]

“The sound of people falling out of love” always breaks my heart. This song is such an incredible piece of art.

[joeszilvagyi]

I'm 50, happily married, grown kids, with a great career but when I listen to this it's like every single damn insecurity I've ever had has been given a voice.
I really don't want this music to resonate so deeply but here it is.
Exposed and somewhere between rage and a complete breakdown.
These are words I would never say out loud but constantly haunt my thoughts.

[aprilsong]

Cause that’s the sound of people falling out of love....well I just cried

[mty]

This is like watching all of your insecurities no one knows about write a song and you having to sing it infront of people. But it makes you feel good in a way

[simonstevens]

Found this man about three years ago and since then i’ve come back to this video at least once a week. There’s no piece of music in the world that hits quite like this. Best part is todays the day i finally get to see him perform live and i couldn’t be more excited to feel the energy in that room.

[alexanderwiklund]

It’s like his heart is breaking live.


The lyrics keeps growing on me. Bittersweetly.

[NatalieHolmes]

started off unsure about this, ended up almost crying. Wow, totally blown away, what poetry and blunt truth combined, the music adding an invisible canvas that drives the emotion even more. Amazing work.

[cameronknight]

his energy is so damn pure that even though the lyrics are pretty depressing i cannot help but watching with a smile on my face

[spencerharmon]

Whoever the sound engineer at tiny desk is deserves the world

[DakotaWester]

I wish tiny desk had a Spotify playlist.

[theamateurstake]

When he loses control, whether intentionally or not, I can't help but 100% feel what he's feeling. He's such a special person and makes you feel like genuinely, anything is allowed and anything is possible

[weirdo]

I absolutely love hobo Johnson cause he feels like a completely different genre of music, it’s like a slam poet that has started making music combined with like that weird indie band that is extremely good but like only exists in weird clubs or something, idk but it’s just amazing cause it’s like you can just really hear how much fun they’re having and how much they like what they’re doing and it’s just wonderful

[JX-jkqn]

Well, he just made the most vivid narration of my parents divorce, not even I could’ve explained it better, at least not in such a beautiful way. Thank you...