Chinagrass Sensation Mamer to Perform at WOMAD 2009

Mamer, one of China’s most innovative and influential young artists, is returning to the UK with his band to perform at the WOMAD festival Charlton Park on Saturday, 25 July, 14.00 – 15.00 in the Siam Tent and on Sunday, 26 July, 13.00 – 14.00 on the BBC Radio 3 Stage.

Hailing from Qitai County in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Mamer grew up, like every Kazak child, on horsebacks and in the strong musical tradition of the Kazaks, he naturally learned to sing folk songs and play the dombra from his father and relatives.

His debut solo album ‘Eagle‘ is out now on Real World Records. It features songs of the grasslands that are deeply rooted in traditional Kazak music, while fusing Western folk and rock with dazzlingly fast plucking and strumming on guitar, dombra and other traditional instruments. This is lyrical troubadour folk infused with an alt.country sensibility.