Today's Global Hit is about a son picking up where his father left off. The legendary guitarist Ali Farka Toure died just over a year ago... in his native Mali, West Africa.

Now his 25-year-old son is literally following in his footsteps. The son's name is "Vieux Farka Toure."

He's at the end of a brief US tour following the release of his first CD. The son's live concert with his band is a rocking performance.

But when he plays solo, Vieux Farka Toure channels the traditional inspirations his father is known for.

Marco Werman: ¡§The world won¡¦t stay the same¡¨ is a line from this song ¡§Dounia,¡¨ by Vieux Farka Toure. We are in the studio with Eric Herman, record producer and Vieux Farka Toure himself. Thank you both for coming. First of all, the name ¡§Vieux¡¨ means in French, but you¡¦re young, so where does that come from?

Vieux Farka Toure: The name ¡§Vieux¡¨ in Mali is given as a sign of respect. My grandfather was named Vieux. He passed away a long time ago so now I¡¦m the oldest one in my family. I¡¦m Vieux. But my real name is Bouriema.

Marco Werman: Your father instructed you before his death last year that whatever you do musically, you should let your tradition be your guide. That must have been pretty heavy advice, given whom it came from. Is it overpowering, does it limit you?

Vieux Farka Toure: No, he gave me a lot of advice, from my early childhood until his death, so he told me a lot of things. But there are a lot of musicians who forget where they come from and completely alter their music. For me, whatever I do, whether it's reggae or rock, I'm true to my roots, to my own sensibility. It doesn't mean I can't do other things. But I think it's important to figure out your own style so that you're able to tell where the music comes from when you hear it.

Marco Werman: Your father gave you that advice but he had not been always been so supportive of your career in music. For a long music time, you practiced music in secret. It doesn¡¦t sound like there was a lot of support when you were quite young.

Vieux Farka Toure: Well, I had a small boombox, and I'd listen to his music tapes to practice along on a guitar or sometimes even a "pretend-guitar" like a pen strung with a shoe lace. Some of my relatives would show me a trick occasionally. That's how it went for me for a while. My father was a great guy. And he did encourage all his children in whatever direction they'd chosen. But he wanted me to go into the army. I told him I wasn't interested. After a while, I managed to convince him that I truly wanted to pursue music. And when he saw that I was making progress, he did help me out. But in the beginning, it was tough.

Marco Werman: I heard a story about the fist time you went on stage with your own father you were playing calabash and your dad said O it¡¦s time for you to go, get out there and play¡K.

Vieux Farka Toure: One day, he asked me "do you want to go to France? I said "sure!" But I thought he was putting me on. He said to me "get your passport photo, your visa, and everything in order, we're going next week." So I did all that but I didn't believe him. In fact I didn't believe him until we landed at the Charles de Gaulle airport and I thought to myself, "OK, now we're in France."

So, we played a concert in southern France. And at the opening of the show, he shoved me onto the stage and said to me "you go first" I was stunned, I said, "to do what?" I had to play a solo in front of more than 5000 people. I had never done that before, so I felt completely out of my league.

Marco Werman: Did you feel that this moment was the official passing of the baton?

Vieux Farka Toure: Yes, in a way, but I remember feeling completely overwhelmed.

Marco Werman: This is a big tour clearly for Vieux Farka Toure. But it's big for you too since the tour is kind of a study in guerilla marketing. You're associated with an artist who by virtue of his family has name recognition. And then you've also tied the tour to a consciousness raising and fundraising campaign to fight malaria. Explain what that's all about...

Eric Herman: Our production company was founded with the understanding that we could sue music fro African empowerment and social betterment of the continent.

Marco Werman: On the CD it says ¡§Fight malaria,¡¨ does that mean that proceeds go to malaria prevention?

Eric Herman: Absolutely, we connected with a group manufacturing insecticide-treated mosquito nets, the first line of defense in malaria prevention. We hope to succeed and buy 15,000 nets for the region.

Marco Werman: Well good luck to you both. The debut album is called ¡¥Vieux Farka Toure.¡¨ Vieux, I hope you¡¦ll play us another song.

Vieux Farka Toure: Sure.