Etran de L'Aïr

23 Aug 2023

Future Yard CIC

A name that translates to “the Stars of the Aïr,” the mountainous, northern region of their home country of Niger, Etran are based in the town of Agadez, an urban centre renowned for the electric guitar and the Western named “desert blues.” In the Sahara, the electric guitar genre is intertwined with social function, with Etran de L’Aïr standing apart from the crowd, playing in a pan-African style that is emblematic of their hometown, citing a myriad of cultural influences, from Northern Malian blues, Hausa bar bands, to Congolese Soukous. The trio join us this summer in support of their sophomore album, Agadez, recorded at home in the titular city, it’s an LP that invokes the desert metropolis, celebrating the sounds of all the dynamism of a hometown wedding.