Suzanne Vega: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

In popmusic circles, Suzanne Vega is known almost entirely for two songs from the late 1980s: the childabuse ballad Luka and a song that launched literally dozens of dance remixes, Tom s But Vega has been making vital, inventive music the entire time much of it folkbased, though her sound has taken many smart detours along the way and is about to put out her first album of original material in seven years, Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles. The challenge, then, lies in capturing a snapshot of her career in only four songs. For this Tiny Desk Concert performed with her brilliant guitarist and producer, Gerry Leonard Vega splits the difference evenly between old and new, bookending her set with the aforementioned classics and tucking two abouttobereleased songs in the middle. Game and goodspirited throughout, Vega performed Luka and Tom s Diner as if she hadn t played them thousands of times before aided grea