Felix Contreras | May 15, 2026

Is it possible to be ubiquitous and behind-the-scenes at the same time? That pretty much sums up Don Was and his long career in the music business.

After co-leading the funky pop-rock band Was (Not Was) in the 1980s, Was went on to win an armful of Grammy awards as a producer. He's worked with Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Ringo Starr and Bob Weir, to name just a few. Since 2012, he has been president of the legendary Blue Note Records.

Was is also a son of Detroit. In recent years, he put together a band under his own name for the first time: Don Was and the Pan-Detroit Ensemble. "We are on a mission to promulgate the indigenous sounds of our hometown of Detroit, Michigan," he explains.

This is a tight and powerful group, with an emphasis on the groove, but all eyes and ears are on lead vocalist Steffanie Christi'an. In this Tiny Desk performance, she breathes a very different kind of fire into the Grateful Dead classic "The Music Never Stopped" and smolders on re-working of Hank Williams' "I Ain't Got Nothing But Time." The entire set is a perfect example of how, as the Dead used to say, "the music plays the band."

SET LIST

"The Music Never Stopped"

"You Asked, I Came"

"Midnight Marauders"

"I Ain't Got Nothin' But Time"

"Insane"

MUSICIANS

Don Was: bass

Steffanie Christi'an: vocals

Wayne Gerard Milton: guitar

Luis Resto: keys

Dave McMurray: tenor sax

Vincent Chandler: trombone

John Douglas: trumpet

Jeff Canady: drums

Mahindi Masai: percussion

Herschel Boone: background vocals

Terena Boone: background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Felix Contreras

Director/Editor: Maia Stern

Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene

Audio Engineer: Hannah Gluvna

Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer

Photographer: Vanessa Castillo

Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Executive Director: Sonali Mehta

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#donwas #nprmusic #tinydesk

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