Over 40 years PBS has hosted no end of four-piece guitar blues bands. Rarely, however, has PBS been able to extend an invitation to a blues band that has quite literally lived in exile to play music.
Since the early part of this century we’ve been hearing more and more desert blues, often from the dry Saharan region of northern Mali. The music speaks of struggles, conflicts and challenges. If blues is the music of struggle, then the desert blues bands of Mali have more to draw from than most.
In 2016, PBS invited Songhoy Blues to Easey Street to perform as part of Studio 5 Live. From the outset, the sound of acoustic desert blues was front and centre – clean guitars, a steady pulsating rhythm and earthy vocals over laid-back hand percussion. The music of Songhoy Blues live in Studio 5 smoulders with a warmth that envelopes the listener and gently rocks them in a way that few other sessions on Easey Street have.
Tune in to Deeep Space on Monday September 14 to re-visit this magnificently intimate performance, straight from Mali to your living room.
Studio 5 Live is proudly brought to you by our friends at Mountain Goat.
