A BAND of nomads hailing from the Sahara Desert will be bringing their signature brand of West African music to Kendal this winter.

Tinariwen, a musical collective of Tuareg people originating from Mali, was founded in the 1980s in camps in Libya, where the nomadic peoples had relocated to find work and a new life away from their homeland of the Sahara.

Their 2011 album 'Tassili', recorded in the Algerian desert — in a tent and under the stars with a esteemed cadre of musicians including Nels Cline and TV On the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone — won a grammy award for best world music.

Now their new record 'Emmaar' returns to their roots, with a focus on more stripped-down recordings and simplicity in the songwriting.

Tinariwen’s own story is the stuff of legends. Founding member Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, grew up in desolation in Mali, where he witnessed his own father’s death at the age of four. Later, after seeing a western film, he built his first guitar from a bicycle wire, a stick and a tin can.

While living in Libya, the Tuareg became disillusioned by the promises of Quaddafi at the time, and became restless again and longed for home.

The interaction with city life yielded unexpected consequences, the became exposed to western music — most notably the guitar-driven anthems of Jimi Hendrix and the American Blues — which they mixed with their own soulful dirges which they’d perform in the camps by the fire with battery-operated amps.

When revolution broke out back in Mali, they left Libya behind, hung up their guitars and picked up guns to fight for the Tuareg independence. When the discord died down, the band returned to music.

Their music was bootlegged and traded around the region, earning them a devout following. Then in the late 1990s, they were discovered by western musicians and for the first time, their songs left the Sahara and were introduced to the world.

The chance to hear this music in the South Lakes will be at the Brewery Arts Centre on NOvember 5.