Sylo: Tiny Desk Concert

VPM | By Kara Frame

Published October 28, 2024 at 9:00 AM EDT

When I first heard Sylo, his voice spoke to me — something light and airy, but cozy. It was just him on a summery beat and an acoustic guitar; at the Tiny Desk, the sweetness of “Millions” blooms.

Before his first headlining tour, the Toronto-based R&B artist stopped by the NPR Music office to share material from his latest project, Dreamt that I Was, and three older songs reimagined for this performance. The choices reflect his growth as an artist: His new music still showcases his soft vocals, but holds more dimension with the addition of saxophone and piano.

As the band settled in, it was clear to see how important this moment was for each of them. Sylo acknowledged this at the end of the set: “This last song is a testament and a reminder to how far this journey as an artist has taken me. It’s had its ups and downs, but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way because it led me to where I stand today.”

SET LIST

“FOMO”
“Fall Into Me”
“So Familiar”
“Millions”
“Ginny”

MUSICIANS

Sylo: vocals, guitar
Evan Porter: bass, saxophone, vocals
Kairon Haynes: drums
Michael Goldchain: piano, keys
David Tanton: guitar

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer/Editor: Kara Frame
Director: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Alanté Serene
Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
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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Kara Frame

Kara Frame is a video producer and director for NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concerts series. To sum up what she loves most about working on the iconic series, she says, "We put joy into the world." In addition to this work, she manages the NPR Music Instagram account. Prior to her work on the music team, she crafted stories about housing segregation in Baltimore, Md., motherhood in a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, and food deserts in Washington, D.C.

Frame's personal projects have focused primarily on veterans and PTSD. In 2016, her short documentary I Will Go Back Tonight was awarded first place for long-form multimedia at the NPPA Northern Short Course.

In her free time, Frame volunteers with Women Photojournalists of Washington (WPOW), a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about the role of women in visual journalism and fostering their professional success. She organizes the annual WPOW portfolio review and seminar, an event that invites visual journalists of all career levels to share their work with some of the world's top editors from organizations such as NPR, National Geographic, Washington Post, The New York Times, Vox, Smithsonian Magazine, among many others.

Before starting at NPR in 2016, Frame received a B.A. in African-American Studies from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa., and a M.A in New Media Photojournalism from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. When she's not working on videos or volunteering with WPOW, you can find her in her garden, hosting a dinner for friends or getting lost in the woods in her teardrop camper, Sunshine.

See stories by Kara Frame