Tal National

Tal National is a band from Niamey, the capital city of Niger, West Africa’s largest nation. Although they are hugely popular in their homeland where their music is heavily featured on Niger national TV, they can still be found selling their CDs on roundabouts in Niamey, since the country has no distribution system. Each year they do national tours, travelling 18,000 kilometres throughout Niger, performing shows in over forty cities. In their joyously hypnotic, highly unique contribution to West African guitar music can be heard the history of Niger as a cultural crossroads along ancient trade routes. Collected within the borders of the former French colony can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in the musicians of Tal National.