Mac Ayres’s Tiny Desk Brings an Unreleased Song Into a Seven-Song Set

Mac Ayres sings and plays acoustic guitar with his band at the Tiny Desk.

Mac Ayres’s Tiny Desk is here, and the new performance makes room for something listeners cannot simply pull from an old playlist. NPR released the concert September 3, with the unreleased “Please Come Home,” co-written with Carrtoons, joining six songs from across Ayres’s catalog.

The set begins with “Sunny & 62” and moves through “Calvin’s Joint,” “Pickled Ginger” and “Comfortable Enough.” “Please Come Home” arrives before “Where U Goin’ Tonight?” and the closer, “Easy.” That sequence gives longtime listeners familiar points of entry while leaving a reason to stay beyond the songs they already know.

NPR credits Ayres on vocals and guitar, joined by guitarist Josh Porter, keyboardist Daniel Abraham Jr., bassist and musical director Declan Miers, and drummer Brian Richburg. Jess Schneider and Brandon Lee Harris supply background vocals, with Harris also playing tambourine. The ensemble matters here: this is a band performance, not simply a singer stopping by to deliver a single.

That makes it a natural Power Mic Check moment. A live session lets the audience see who is carrying each part of a song, from the people supporting the lead vocal to the musicians keeping everything connected. The compact room puts those relationships in the same frame, with less visual distance between the artist, the band and the listeners.

The unreleased selection is also a useful invitation to pay attention to what comes next. It gives this appearance a forward-looking element without requiring an album announcement or a promised release date. For now, “Please Come Home” belongs to the performance in front of us; the full concert is the place to hear it.

For R&B fans building a September listening list, Ayres offers a different kind of entry point from a conventional album rollout. PowerPage’s Tinashe “Popstar” preview maps an upcoming release and Maryland festival appearance; this session asks for about 20 minutes with a working band. Watch the official NPR concert below, then pick the song you want to hear again.

Watch: Mac Ayres — Tiny Desk Concert (NPR Music, September 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFb_rXmh4hA