Sidi Touré

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Sidi Touré is somewhat well known in his native Mali as much for his family's name and royal lineage as for his music. Touré, much like fellow countryman Ali Farka Touré (though he is from Gao, not Bamako), plays an original droning kind of songhai blues. Songhai is the language of his native Gao. He was born in 1959. He created his first guitar when still a child, but his royal family, who had often been sung about in their ancient town, had never produced an actual musician; they pushed him to pursue another career. Touré rebelled and bega...