Tal National are from Niamey, the capital city of Niger. They’ve had several #1 songs in their home country, are constantly featured on national TV - folks in Niger leave their TV’s on and use them as boomboxes - and yet they sell their discs on the street, at roundabouts, since there is no distribution system in the country.

On stage Tal National perform with six musicians, but because of their rigorous performance schedule there might be up to thirteen members at any one time. At shows, musicians regularly change places midway through songs (including the amazing sight of drummers swapping without missing a beat). On some nights the band might split up to play two gigs simultaneously. Their concert material combines original songs with new arrangements of West African folk songs, themes of which deal with love, tolerance, peace, feminine beauty, and the woman's physical dance expression based on traditional African rhythms.