In the 1990s, Ag Kaedy would make the same pilgrimage to Libya for military training that many had made before him. But like Tinariwen, he instead received an education in the power of music. "I was a kid in the army, and I was in the final phase," Ag Kaedy told WW through translator, friend and Sahel Sounds founder Chris Kirkley, with whom the guitarist is staying in Portland. "I saw the guitar and wanted to know more about it. I played the drum for [the band], just so I could be around the guitar. When they finally went to sleep, I'd take the guitar and start to play."