Most Ugandans , save for those hailing from Eastern Uganda and the Busoga region arguably do not know the Nakibembe Embaire (Xylophone) Troupe.

The troupe which hails from the village of Nakibembe in Iganga District performs a large traditional xylophone called the Embaire, a large wooden xylophone played by up to eight people.

The troupe has performed at every edition of the Nyege Nyege festival since 2017 and will be a part of the Uganda Waragi-sponsored eighth edition happening between November 9 and 12, 2023 in Jinja City.

Thanks to the exposure received from the festival, the troupe has performed on some of the world's biggest music stages with the first being in January 2020 at the CTM Festival 1 in Germany.

They then performed at the Worldwide Music Expo 2021 2 (WOMEX 21) in Portugal as part of the WOMEX 21 official Showcase Selection , a jury-selected list of performances from around the world celebrating musical diversity.

This performance would earn the group even more exposure, leading them to the Holland Festival 3 in Amsterdam, the Roskilde Festival 4 in Denmark, the Forde Festival 5 in Norway, the Bourse de Commerce 6 in Paris, the Brecht Festival 7 in Germany and more.

The troupe were the first traditional acts to perform at the legendary German electronic music nightclub , Berghain alongside Indonesian artists Gabber Modus Operandi and Harsya Wahono 8 , who feature on the troupe's debut eight-track album.

Nassar Kinobe ,one of the troupe's members says the journey to some of the world's biggest music stages began with an invitation to perform at the 2017 edition of Nyege Nyege by Albert Ssempeke Bisanso, a traditional instrumentalist and music scholar who also happened to be friends with the founders of Nyege Nyege, Derek Debru and Arlen Dilsizian.

This journey, he says, has transformed the lives of the troupe's 24 members, many of whom are full-time farmers, herders and boda boda riders among others for the better.

"From the time Nyege Nyege entered our lives, we were not known not even here in Uganda. Since then, we have travelled the world and had our lives changed for the better. Many of us have started businesses, bought boda bodas and so on. We are very proud to say we are part of the Nyege Nyege family," Kinobe says.