FMRL: Mdou Moctar w/Sean Thompson and the Weird Ears Band

Some might recognize Mdou Moctar’s name because of the recent awareness of musicians who work in the traditions of the Tuareg people — the Niger-born guitarist’s virtuosic, hypnotic blues guitar style shares those roots with artists like Bombino and Tinariwen. Others may know Moctar from his lead role in Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai (Rain the Color Blue With a Little Red in It), a 2015 Tamasheq-language film that’s loosely based on Purple Rain. In 2017, he made his Music City debut at a show organized by arts nonprofit FMRL, just after releasing the album Sousoume Tamachek, which features mostly acoustic instruments and introspective vocals. Thankfully (for everyone, but especially those of us who missed out last time), he’s returning to share the full spectrum of his music. Inventive Nashville musician Sean Thompson, a frequent MVP sideman who makes his debut as frontman on his folk-rock-y 2018 EP Weird Ears Part 1, will open the show with his Weird Ears Band. STEPHEN TRAGESER