I'm Clyde Macfarlane, an NCTJ qualified journalist and illustrator.

Interview with Fatoumata Diawara

Hailed as Africa’s best interpretation of the ‘girl with a guitar’ archetype, Fatoumata Diawara is the latest Malian to be signed by World Circuit, the label that provided a platform for such legends as Toumani Diabaté and Ali Farka Touré. While these two were very much Malian exports, Diawara holds a closer tie to Europe.

“Now I compose all my songs with a guitar instead of a kamalen n’goni (a six stringed harp)”, she tells me. “This was a big change for me.” Compare this attitude with the climax of World Circuit’s Malian ventures- Diabaté and Farka Touré’s formidable In the Heart of the Moon– and we have an artist who comes closer to acoustic folk than traditional African music. Despite singing in Wassoulou she seems to play down her African identity, choosing instead to cite Paris as her main source of inspiration.

“It’s an…