WOMAD

Victor Démé

From Burkina Faso

West Africa's next folk-hero-in-waiting
If the name of Victor Démé has yet to register on your cultural radar, that's not your fault - it's more to do with the limited hand dealt to this singer-songwriter. Now, at the age of 45, he's finally got around to cutting his first-ever record and the world's ready to listen. Imbued with a clean yet mournful guitar style, it's Victor's voice that makes the deepest impression, a bluesy rasp pulling with it a seriously soulful undertow. But, despite the proximity of his native Burkina Faso to the musical powerhouse of Mali, he doesn't sound remotely close to his brothers across the border; the discernible Latin tinge would otherwise suggest he was from one of the Lusaphone African nations. There are even audible echoes of another late-blooming troubadour, Ted Hawkins. Victor Démé, in his modest, unobtrusive way, could well be one of the hits of this weekend. Just don't forget who sent you in his direction.
(Biography by Nige Tassell)

Click here to sample Victor's sounds