Mon Rovîa: Tiny Desk Concert

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento | September 1, 2026
Mon Rovîa’s voice is like a balm: soft, clear, soothing. He uses that voice to tackle difficult, yet poignant vignettes — of battles fought internally and others observed in the world around him.

Born in Liberia during the country’s civil war, Mon Rovîa was adopted by an American missionary family and spent his childhood moving around before eventually settling in Tennessee. His debut album, Bloodline, untangles that complicated lineage through ukulele- and guitar-driven folk melodies in music he describes as “Afro-Appalachian.”

At the Tiny Desk, backed by his full band, Mon Rovîa glides from the intimate revelations of “crooked the road.” into the thumping energy of “Somewhere down in Georgia,” a nod towards the South’s violent history. Throughout the set, his mission is clear: To reconcile pain and conflict with a sense of joy and belonging.

SET LIST
“crooked the road.”
“Bloodline”
“Somewhere down in Georgia”
“Heavy Foot”

MUSICIANS
Mon Rovîa: vocals, ukelele
Tyler Martelli: guitar, background vocals
Sam Hudgens: bass, keys, background vocals
Joshua Durant: drums
James Randy Sanchez Fall: pedal steel, banjo
Lauren Conklin: violin
Claudia Cunningham: background vocals
Kayla Starr: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Isabella Gomez Sarmiento
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Engineer/Mix: Josephine Nyounai
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant
Audio Engineer: Tiffany Vera Castro
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
Tiny Desk Team: Josh Newell, Felix Contreras
Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#tinydesk #nprmusic #monrovia