While music has always been a driving force within Mali, it’s only over the last decade that many of its very talented singers and performers have broken out into the wider world, or, as they see it, “the United States.”

Salif Keita, Ali Farka Toure, Habib Koite, Oumou Sangare, Tinariwen, Amadou and Mariam are just a few of the now international superstars who call the West African nation home.

Even though she’s been a professional singer for 20 years, Khaira Arby is the latest to join this list as she embarks on her first American tour. She is thrilled with the reception at recent performances on the East Coast.

“I have been very happy that people have reacted so enthusiastically to my music,” Arby said, through an interpreter. “I have dreamed of performing here and hope my music will help new audiences to always remember the music of Mali.”

It didn’t start out easy for Arby, a determined woman who fought cultural traditions to pursue her love of singing. Forbidden to pursue a musical career by her father, and married at a young age, she had six children and eventually divorced a controlling husband. She returned to the ancient northern desert city of Timbuktu, where she pursued her singing and songwriting while also setting up a successful business as a salt trader. It’s still her “day job,” but her children have mostly taken over the duties.

Arby’s new album, “Timbuktu Tarab,” was released last month. She sings in four languages — the Malian dialects Sonrhai, Tamashek and Bambara, plus Arabic. She also speaks fluent French.

In her songs, topics range from her love of Timbuktu to women’s rights in Mali. In a conservative Islamic society, she has opened the door to a generation of artistic women who have followed in her footsteps.

“My music has freed young girls to have their music,” Arby, 51, said. “I want to encourage women to be very strong and have the liberty to do what they want with their lives.”

Unlike the trance-driven music of desert-blues bands like Tinariwen, Arby’s songs are edgy, filled with tight grooves of her electric-guitar driven band. Added rhythms are supplied by the calabash, ngoni, traditional violin and percussion, creating a complex mixture of sound and structure.

“In the beginning, Khaira’s music was more world music, but now it is contemporary music,” said Chris Nolan, her manager and interpreter. “Yet in making her music universal, she has never forgotten the music traditions of her homeland.”

Arby’s drive and talent did bring her an early fan — the late Ali Farka Toure, who married into her family when she was a child.

“He always told me I had a wonderful voice,” Arby recalled. “He was the only musician in my family and I learned a lot from him. He was a great artist and a great influence on me.”

•Khaira Arby performs at 7 p.m. Sunday at Reggie’s Music Club and 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie.