Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars
2010
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a band from Sierra Leone which was formed by a group of refugees displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
Surely no group has traveled as far, or endured as much, to grace the stage at the Life is good Festival as Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars. After escaping a violent civil war in Sierra Leone, the musicians ended up in a West African refugee camp where music proved to be the distraction they all needed. After evacuation from this camp resulted in a move to another in the Guinean countryside, the band was given a well-used sound system and some weathered electric guitars by a Canadian relief organization. A United Nations sponsored trip back to their home of Freetown confirmed that the war in Sierra Leone was indeed over and band leader Reuben Koroma reunited his refugee mates with his former band, the Emperors, to record the Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars debut, "Livin' Like A Refugee." Their live performances, and singular story, have touched hearts around the globe.