About

‘As we cycled thousands of kilometres across North and West Africa, we saw the changes as they came; the clothes, the tea, the language, the road, the music‘.

It began as a grey weather daydream, to cycle from the UK to Mali. But in September 2011 it became our living reality. We reached Mali and by February 2012 found ourselves recording a collaborative album in the lively city of Bamako.

The aim of our project, ‘music cycles’, was to bring our readers with us to meet musical legends, uncover hidden gems and discover the everyday sounds of a region with one of the richest musical cultures in the world. The album ‘Tuning Pegs and Fishing Line’, is a celebration of aural musical traditions, the stories and songs we brought with us, and those which we encountered.

You can read our blog to hear about our encounters with musicians, from a chat over tea, an informal jam, a long sojourn or even becoming roadies for a few days. We hope you get a sense of the amazing journey we were lucky enough to make. If you like what you read and hear, why not pre-order the album? (release date December 2013).