After years of performing as a member of Animal Collective, Josh “Deacon” Dibb took an indefinite hiatus from the group in 2007. During that time, Dibb has mostly shied away from playing and writing music, but he will venture out under his own name in 2010. Dibb was recently invited to play the Festival in Desert in Mali, Africa and has started to work on music for the performance. He will test out the material this Friday, January 1, at Baltimore, MD’s Ottobar. The show is billed as Deacon’s first solo appearance.

Dibbs also plans to release a book and CD bringing awareness to the flight in Africa. He is currently soliciting donations to help make a difference in the country.