THEATR Mwldan and Cardigan Castle are absolutely thrilled to welcome Grammy-Award winning Touareg rockers Tinariwen to perform at Cardigan Castle on Saturday, July 15 as part of a series of special live music concerts taking place over the summer.

This is one of only a handful of dates the band are playing in the UK over the summer festival season and a huge privilege for the town.

These champions of desert blues and kings and queens of ‘assouf’ (guitar poetry), have become one of the most successful and exciting exports from the African continent in recent decades.

Their rolling, yearning grooves and uncompromising messages of simplicity and freedom, distilled over years of struggle, rebellion and exile, have earned them countless accolades and citations, and the attention of high-profile fans such as Robert Plant, Carlos Santana, Brian Eno, Bono and Thom Yorke.

“Listening to Tinariwen is like dropping a bucket into a deep well,” says Robert Plant, while Radiohead’s Thom Yorke said: “These guitar players from Mali play these amazing riffs… so I copied their style and improvised.”

Crucially, they also enjoy the enduring respect of their own people and ever growing audiences around the world – across ages and genres.

The Sahara is a place of great hardship and subtle beauty that reveals its secrets slowly and carefully. Its people are resilient and strong, gentle giants among the sand, storms, and sun.

Tinariwen come from that place, Touareg nomads from northern Mali, who since forming in 1979 have risen as true rock (Grammy-winning) rebels, fighting for dignity and self-determination through their hypnotic and electrifying guitar rock that reflects the complex realities of their lives and somehow embodies the expansiveness of its desert origin.

Massively influential, incredibly exciting, this is music from the beginning of time to move both your soul and your feet.

They will be joined by Kizzy Crawford. A Welsh speaker with Bajan heritage, 20-year-old Kizzy Crawford has exploded onto the Welsh music scene with her fusion of bilingual soul-folk jazz, complimented beautifully by a soulful voice that boasts both range and charisma.

Tickets are £20 and are available to book from Theatr Mwldan’s box office on 01239 621200 and online at www.mwldan.co.uk. The show starts at 7.45pm, with doors opening at 6.30pm.