Mon Rovîa Makes ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ Debut

Mon Rovîa made his Tiny Desk Concert debut with a four-song performance shared today by NPR Music. The singer-songwriter showcased material from his debut album, Bloodline, during the session.

Mon Rovîa opened the set accompanied by ukulele on “crooked the road.” He was backed by guitarist Tyler Martelli, bassist/keyboardist Sam Hudgens, drummer Joshua Durant, multi-instrumentalist James Randy Sanchez Fall on pedal steel and banjo, violinist Lauren Conklin and backing vocalists Claudia Cunningham and Kayla Starr.

“It’s a pleasure of all of our lives to be up here with you guys today,” Mon Rovîa told the assembled crowd after the opener. “Something we’ve all watched and yearned to be on as artists and singers.”

The Liberia-born musician then discussed the personal significance of the title track to Bloodline. Mon Rovîa was adopted by an American missionary family during the Liberian Civil War and eventually settled in Tennessee. His debut album explores that lineage through a blend of folk music he has described as “Afro-Appalachian.”

“I kind of grew up never feeling like I was belonging to any group,” Mon Rovîa said. “But in writing this song for this project, you know, I kind of got to heal a bit and truly understand that, you know, wherever you’re from in the world and wherever you move to, your people are always with you.”

Mon Rovîa added that writing “Bloodline” brought him “a lot of peace and joy” before offering the song to anyone who was “missing home” or had “come a long way from there.”

The singer-songwriter followed “Bloodline” by addressing the importance of accurately preserving the past as he introduced “Somewhere down in Georgia,” a song informed by the South’s violent history.

“It’s important to tell history the way it was no matter how hard or terrifying it can seem,” Mon Rovîa explained. “When we tell the things as they happened, we make sure that these things don’t happen in the world that we live in today.”

Mon Rovîa and his band then performed “Somewhere down in Georgia” before concluding the Tiny Desk Concert with “Heavy Foot.”

Watch Mon Rovîa’s Tiny Desk Concert below:

Mon Rovîa will launch his Bloodline Tour on September 15 at Brooklyn Steel in New York City. He’ll go coast-to-coast through October 16 before heading to Europe to support Noah Kahan.