Sierra Leone's Refugee AllStar
Throughout the 1990s, the West African country of Sierra Leone was wracked with a bloody,horrifying war that forced millions to flee their homes that forced millions to flee their homes. The musicians that would eventually form Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are all originally from Freetown, and they were forced to leave the capital city at various times after violent rebel attacks.
Sitting in a dusty refugee camp in Guinea in 2004, Reuben M. Koroma, the founder of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, could not have imagined what the near future would hold for him and the members of his band. In just six whirlwind years, the group has gone from being unknown musicians languishing in various refugee camps to being the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, touring the world to support a critically revered album, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and sharing the stage and studio with Aerosmith and other international stars. Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have risen like a phoenix out of the ashes of war and enflamed the passions of fans across the globe with their uplifting songs of hope, faith and joy. The band is a potent example of the redeeming power of musicand the ability of the human spirit to persevere through unimaginable hardship and emergewith optimism intact.
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