Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: Tiny Desk Concert

Lars Gotrich | July 2, 2025
Two guitars. Two voices. Fifteen years since the duo last stopped by the Tiny Desk, not much has changed in how they present themselves, right down to their preferred guitar tuner. This is how it's been, with some variation, for over three decades, in the timeless music of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

And, yet, everything changes when you listen deeper and live longer. Behind the Desk, facing each other, the ballad "Empty Trainload of Sky" achieves an auditory illusion as their guitars chug and vocal harmonies swirl surrealistic imagery across a classic American canvas. "Lawman" could be about a corrupt politician a hundred years ago or yesterday. "Hashtag," a tribute to the late Guy Clark, is, at turns, tragicomic ("Singers like you and I are only news when we die") and existential ("When will we become ourselves?"). These songs, from last year's Woodland, endure change with grace, leaning into small moments in order to make the outsized ones seem surmountable.

Welch and Rawlings close with "Revelator," a mystic brew of apocalyptic prophecy and personal history that marked a significant leveling-up for the duo when it was originally released in 2001. Behind the Desk, their simmering harmonies bloom as much as they wither, only to burst through Rawlings' guitar solos that range from reflective to ravaging. As the song ends, Welch and Rawlings bend toward their mics — and each other — not only to let the last chord ring out, but to let the feeling reverberate.

SET LIST
"Empty Trainload of Sky"
"Lawman"
"Hashtag"
"Revelator"

MUSICIANS
Gillian Welch: vocals, guitar
David Rawlings: vocals, guitar

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Lars Gotrich
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
Audio Engineer: Zo vanGinhoven
Production Assistant: Dora Levite
Photographer: Michael Zamora
Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Ashley Pointer
Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

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