Vieux Farka Touré: Of Bamako And Banjos

Listen Now: Vieux Farka Touré on Mountain Stage

"Vieux Farka Toure learned to play guitar by jamming along to recordings of his father, renowned Malian musician Ali Farka Toure. But his music isn't always like the "desert trance" blues for which his father became known.

West Africa also plays a small but important role in the history of country music -- specifically, regarding the banjo. In Vieux Farka Toure's set at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol Tenn./Va., he features Mama Sissoko on ngoni, the earliest predecessor to the modern banjo...." (full article)

The Afrobeat Blog: Vieux Farka Touré Interview

My first question is as an African musician, do you find it difficult to reach a mainstream audience? Do you ever get frustrated by being categorized into an "exotic other" category such as "world music"?

I GUESS I HAVE BEEN PRETTY LUCKY BECAUSE THE KIND OF MUSIC I AM DOING SEEMS TO BE REACHING A PRETTY WIDE AUDIENCE - AT LEAST FROM WHAT I CAN SEE FROM THE STAGE ! LAST WEEKEND I PLAYED ON THE ROCK STAGE AT THE ROSKILDE FESTIVAL IN DENMARK WITH BANDS LIKE BATTLES AND COCOROSIE ...AND THE AUDIENCE JUST SEEMED TO BE THERE TO HEAR AND DANCE TO GOOD ROCK, AND DIDN'T STOP ROCKING WHEN I PLAYED - THEY SEEMED TO GET EVEN CRAZIER ! THEN WE PLAYED A MORE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN FESTIVAL IN HOLLAND. NEXT WEEKEND WE'LL BE PLAYING A HUGE FESTIVAL IN SPAIN WHERE I'VE INVITED IDAN RAICHEL (WHOM I'VE MET IN AIRPORTS AROUND THE WORLD BUT HAVEN'T MANAGED TO ACTUALLY PLAY WITH YET!) TO SIT IN. I DID A RADIO SHOW LAST SUMMER WITH COUNTRY MUSICIANS (I REALLY LIKED DIERKS BENTLEY) AND ALSO AN AFRICA EXPRESS SHOW IN LIVERPOOL , PLAYING WITH OTHER AFRICANS LIKE AMADOU AND MIRIAM,BAABA MAAL, RACHID TAHA AND COLLABORATING WITH ALL THE NEW ENGLIGH ROCK MUSICIANS LIKE DAMON ALBARN AND FRANZ FERDINAND . AND I'LL BE DOING A US TOUR THIS AUGUST IN A TRIBUTE TO JAMES BROWN WITH PEE WEE ELLIS AND FRED WESLEY. SO I'D HAVE TO SAY I'M NOT FEELING TOO BOXED IN ! (full interview)