Tidiane Thiam

Guitarist, photographer, visual artist, and folklorist Tidiane Thiam hails from Podor, a small riverside town in the far North of Senegal and one of the first artists featured on Sahel Sounds. A self-taught musician, Thiam learned guitar through sheer passion and determination. Inspired by local African radio broadcasts, as well as late-night communal gatherings organized by the great Baaba Maal while he was still in high school, Thiam went on to distill these influences into a unique new direction. While still rooted in tradition, his approach is truly singular, incorporating elements such as field recordings or electronics. A veritable encyclopedia of Sahel folklore, he borrows from this repertoire to create his own technique of fingerstyle guitar, crafting serene pieces imbued with emotive reflection. Thiam first took up the guitar in 1987, while apprenticing at Omar Ly’s famous photo studio. After a hiatus, it was only in 2004 that he started playing, forming the group Lewlewal de Podor with Baye Aly in 2005. However, the band didn’t fully take shape until Demba Doka and Papa Demba Niang joined in 2009. It was the same year that he met Christopher Kirkley, who recorded both him and the band. Sahel Sounds released Lewlewal de Podor’s Yiilo Jaam in 2011, followed by Waande Kadde with Amadou Binta Konté in 2017 and Thiam’s first solo album, Siftorde in 2020.