At the Tiny Desk, we love to entertain unexpected requests from artists: American Football brought in a children’s choir; Tyler, the Creator’s team lit our “stage” for a nighttime performance. These can certainly make a performance stand out, but also extend the range of an artist’s creativity.
So when Sheer Mag asked if we knew a bagpipe player in the D.C. area, we found Tim Carey, who also just so happened to have played the first-ever WrestleMania in 1985. If this bagpiper’s good enough for Roddy Piper, then he’s good enough for Sheer Mag.
Forged in punk and steeped in ‘70s hard rock, power-pop and disco, Sheer Mag has been a force for good in rock and roll for the past decade. The band doesn’t recreate or revive, but truly lives inside the blood, sweat and tears of this music — it’s fun and unpredictable, yet harmonious and homey.
That’s why this Tiny Desk feels like a well-earned victory lap, featuring songs across the Philly band’s catalog, from its early 7-inch singles to its latest album, Playing Favorites. The riffs are timeless, the boogie is raucous, the guitar solos are sweaty, and Tina Halladay’s voice is a soulful sneer that will set your heart aflame.
SET LIST
- "Steel Sharpens Steel"
- "Need to Feel Your Love"
- "Nobody's Baby"
- "Don't Come Lookin'"
- "Fan the Flames"
MUSICIANS
- Tina Halladay: vocals
- Kyle Seely: guitar, vocals
- Matt Palmer: guitar, vocals
- Hart Seely: bass, vocals
- Evan Campbell: drums
- Tim Carey: bagpipes
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Lars Gotrich
- Director/Editor: Maia Stern
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame
- Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
- Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
- Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
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