Mdou Moctar might be playing wedding music when he is back in his hometown village of Tchintabaraden located in rural Niger, but that is probably not for long as he racks up a sizable list of influential fans here in the states, including Bob Boilen of NPR Music.
We’ve all heard stories of folks who have benefited from digging into those forgotten spaces of the web where old movements remain buried, ready to be revived.
And we can thank YouTube’s reach deep into Mdou Moctar’s village where, due to his community’s very conservative Islamic standards that forbid folks from playing rock music, this artist has unearthed a fresh new album that mixes psychedelic rock with Tuareg — a folk style of contemporary Sahara music.
Boilen calls this new release by Mdou Moctar “the most insane psychedelic guitar album of the 21st century.” And he means “insane” as in truly outstanding and rare!
If you are a fan of the shredfest that artists like Hendrix could produce on a guitar, then this is your moment to catch a rising star that is surely not to be accessible on intimate stages like he’ll be on Sunday night in Grand Rapids. (It is worth pointing out that Mdou Moctar is a left-handed Fender Stratocaster guitarist just like Hendrix.)
So do not miss your opportunity to see at The Pyramid Scheme a performer who is sure to wow as well as inspire music fans. Mdou Moctar’s expertise is truly rare and it would be insane to miss such talent when it is in our community. For advance tickets to ensure entry, please visit
here.
Visit Spotify to stream his debut release, “Ilana (The Creator)” - recorded in Detroit!
https://open.spotify.com/album/1bbKMkgzgyZ0K3rmMezZ68?nd=1