Hello! We are Sultans of String & Friends. 3x JUNO Award nominees (Canada’s Grammys) and 6x CFMA winners. Two of our recent albums have hit the BILLBOARD World Music charts and we have been a New York Times feature pick, with many Grammy winners joining us as special guests over the years.
We are now embarking on the most ambitious and important project of our career. We’re recording our ninth album called "Walking Through the Fire", a powerful collection of collaborations with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists across Turtle Island/Canada.
You can check out our YouTube playlist of videos here https://tinyurl.com/WTTFvideos
And come see Walking Through the Fire LIVE in Concert! https://sultansofstring.com/calendar/
Why is this album important?
We want to make a difference in the world with the music we play.
We’re making this album in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, and Final Report that asks for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to work together as an opportunity to show a path forward.
We have taken Point #83 (Commemoration) of the report to heart: “We call upon the Canada Council for the Arts to establish, as a funding priority, a strategy for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to undertake collaborative projects and produce works that contribute to the reconciliation process.”
Also Point #63:iii (Education) “Building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.”
We know that as a society we can’t move ahead without acknowledging and reflecting on the past. Before reconciliation can occur, the full truth of the Indigenous experience in this country needs to be told, so we’ve been calling on Indigenous artists to share with us their stories, their experience, and their lives, so we settler Canadians can continue our learning about the history of residential schools, of genocide, and of intergenerational impacts of colonization.
One of our collaborators, Chippewa/Anishinaabe Elder and poet Dr. Duke Redbird, was involved in our last project, "Refuge/Sanctuary”. (You can see our video with Duke and an orchestra HERE
In fact it was Duke who said to bandleader/producer Chris McKhool “When are you going to do for awareness of Indigenous people what you did for refugees?” that propelled this project into being. It was an honest question and a call to action. We know that this is a challenging project to do properly and that it needs a lot of consultation, so we have been consulting with Indigenous artists, as well as Indigenous designer Mark Rutledge working with our usual team.
As settlers, we understand the great responsibility involved in collaborating with Indigenous artists, and we do not take the creation of this project lightly. Duke Redbird says:
"The place that we have to start is with truth. Reconciliation will come sometime way in the future, perhaps, but right now, truth is where we need to begin the journey with each other.”
As an example, the song “Lost and Found” by Shannon Thunderbird is devastatingly honest and confronts the listener with the truth of the residential school system:
"I wrote the song on June the 11th, 2020. By this time, the news had gone across Canada about the finding of the bones of our children from residential school horrors. And the first ones were the 215 from a residential school in Kamloops. Since then, it's a little over 10,000 now have been found … I was in a lot of tears thinking about my grandmother, thinking about my mother, thinking about what happened to me. All of these things that came out of this horror"
We are honoured to share in the arrangement of this music to accompany her words, listening to this important message:
Thousands of children’s bones in the ground
Deep reaching pain for so many
Lost to the ravages of evil
Cries unheard for years and years
Apologies won’t save the day
Death of babies far outweigh
Pale words that came a hundred years
Far too late
One of the frustrations we keep hearing from our collaborators is how the news cycle gives a little bit of airtime to residential schools, everyone becomes outraged for one news cycle, and then the media move on. One of the benefits of this type of musical expression is that we can keep engaging audiences with this issue, as with the lyrics from Raven Kanatakta (of Digging Roots) in “Take Off the Crown”:
News blackout on the lost ones
100,000 souls singing loud
How many more little bodies will be found…
Bind hearts and minds, take action now
In both these songs, our job as settlers is to hear these truths and engage with them and we have been working very hard at that.
There is also a lot of joy and uplifting beauty expressed in the songs, including The Rez, written by Crystal Shawanda, Black Winged Raven by Shannon, Tkaronto Reel with the Métis Fiddler Quartet, and more.
Many of our collaborators have spoken about the importance of using Indigenous languages, so these do not become lost. That is why our song with Leela Gilday is sung in Dene. In the song Quviasuliqpunga we feature Kendra Tagoona and Tracy Sarazin singing in Inuktitut. The Black Winged Raven song with Shannon Thunderbird is in Sm'algyax. And in our first single we released with Northern Cree called Nîmihito (Dance), they share their lyrics in Cree. Steve Wood, Northern Cree drummer and singer, says:
“A big, strong component of it is to teach our people and other First Nations people about the Cree language. It's the very tip of who we are and of our ceremonies… It brings other people into our circle. When you're collaborating with mainstream music, it shows that we can work together to bring out the very best in who we are as human beings, and we can bring out something very beautiful”
You can hear Indigenous programmer Jarrett Martineau speak about the song in the first 5 minutes on RECLAIMED on CBC
And you can see the video we created with Northern Cree HERE
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We also met with the Honourable Murray Sinclair, former chair of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, to speak about the project, who reflected;
"The very fact that you're doing this tells me that you believe in the validity of our language, you believe in the validity of our art and our music and that you want to help to bring it out. And that's really what's important, is for people to have faith that we can do this... That's really good”
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And what happens next?
We are excited for the opportunity to be presenting "Walking Through the Fire" live with our collaborators. The concert lineup consists of the core Sultans of String members (Chris McKhool on violin, Kevin Laliberté on guitar and Drew Birston on bass), as well as Indigenous collaborators Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan), Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk of the Métis Fiddler Quartet, and Coast Tsm’syen Elder Shannon Thunderbird. For some shows we are also joined by Don Ross, The North Sound, Leela Gilday and many others. We are on tour in 2023/2024 as both a smaller and larger ensemble, as well as performing these works with symphonies including Winnipeg, Niagara, Brantford, and Stratford Symphonies, and the CBSO.
We also have incredible multimedia technology to bring in virtual guests on the big screen, including Dr. Duke Redbird, the Northern Cree Pow Wow group, and more!
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Who is on this recording anyway?
Crystal Shawanda - Ojibwe Potawatomi Singer-Songwriter
Don Ross - Mi'kmaw Guitarist
Dr. Duke Redbird - Chippewa/Anishinaabe Elder and Poet
The North Sound - with Forrest Eaglespeaker - Blackfoot Singer-Songwriter & Nevada Freistadt
Kate Dickson - Ts'msyen Singer
Kendra Tagoona - Inuit Throat Singers
Leanne Taneton - Dene Spoken Word
Leela Gilday - Dene Singer-Songwriter
Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan) - Ojibwe/Finnish Singer-Songwriter
Métis Fiddler Quartet
MJ Dandeneau - Métis Bassist
Northern Cree - Pow Wow group
Raven Kanatakta (of Digging Roots) - Anishinabe Algonquin / Onkwehón:we Mohawk - Songwriter, Singer, Guitar
Shannon Thunderbird - Tsm’syen Singer-Songwriter
Tracy Sarazin - Inuit Throat Singer
And Sultans of String band regulars Chris McKhool (violin), Kevin Laliberté (guitar), Drew Birston (bass), Rosendo 'Chendy' Leon (drums and percussion) and Rebecca Campbell (vocals)..
The album version is available for pre-order right now, using the various perk links. We cannot wait to share the results of our collaborations! Please check out the rewards and see if there is a way you would like to be involved. If there is a Perk you are looking for but don't see to the right, don't hesitate to get in touch. And of course come see us live in concert when we are in your area.
Together we can create beautiful music — THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
"We are opening doors for each other, as Indigenous peoples, as settler peoples. This project is about creating more connections through being a conduit, and creating more spaces to learn from each other."
- Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk - violist -Métis Fiddler Quartet
For those who like to read the small print:
- Sultans of String (SOS) have received some arts council funding from regular steams, and are using this money to pay Indigenous artists. We are not touching any Indigenous funding streams.
- SOS will not use this recording to apply for Indigenous awards. SOS will only be applying to mainstream awards.
- SOS has been consulting with Indigenous artists on all aspects of production, as well as consulting with Indigenous designer Mark Rutledge working with our usual team.
- We recorded the bed tracks at Jukasa Studios, an Indigenous-owned studio on Indigenous land. Record there, it is awesome!
-SOS has paid the Indigenous artists for their performance for the recording, and will be paying mechanical royalties for every pressing. For Neighbouring Rights royalties with SiriusXM though SoundExchange we are giving the entire share of performance royalties to the Indigenous collaborators, rather than keeping any for SOS as would be industry standard.
- SOS is assisting some of the collaborators with creating SOCAN and SoundExchange accounts so they can access new royalty streams from these and other collaborations.
- Indigenous collaborators are free to use the newly created orchestral charts of their songs royalty-free at any time, to increase the capacity of Indigenous artists to work with orchestras.
- SOS has read the Statement on Indigenous Musical Sovereignty, and we are very sensitive to ensure that the Indigenous creators we are working with are granted authority and full oversight on how their Indigenous communities are portrayed. 100% of the lyrics in the recording and live show are written by the Indigenous collaborators, and all arranging and composition is done with tremendous respect for collaborating artists, who sign off on the songs at several stages.
Bio for Sultans of String
3x JUNO nominees and SiriusXM winners Sultans of String create “Energetic and exciting music from a band with talent to burn!” (Maverick Magazine UK). Thrilling their audiences with their genre-hopping passport of Celtic reels, flamenco, Django-jazz, Arabic, Cuban, and South Asian rhythms, Sultans of String celebrate musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar, while bass and percussion lay down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
Since releasing their debut album Luna in 2007, Sultans of String have continually strived to make each chart-topping album more original and meaningful than the last. That includes working with an orchestra (2013's Symphony), teaming with Pakistani sitarist Anwar Khurshid (2015's Subcontinental Drift) and even crafting a world-music holiday album (2017's Christmas Caravan), which landed them on the Billboard charts and the New York Times. Their ambition and work ethic have garnered them multiple awards and accolades, including three JUNO nominations, first place in the International Songwriting Competition (out of 15,000 entries), three Canadian Folk Music Awards and countless other honours, plus a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal (for bandleader Chris McKhool). Their 2020 release Refuge garnered awards including 2 Independent Music Awards for Instrumental Song of the Year and World Music Producer of the Year, as well as 2021 CFMA for Producer of the Year for Chris McKhool and John Bailey. The lead track from their followup Sanctuary was part of John Bailey's 2022 Engineering JUNO nomination.
McKhool has an Egyptian-born mother who happened to play piano, teach classical theory, and feed her young son as much Middle Eastern cuisine as she did music lessons. From there, the powerful violinist developed a taste for multi-genre string sounds and found a like-minded crew of all-world enthusiasts. When McKhool first heard founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté’s rumba rhythm, their musical synergy created Sultans of String’s signature sound – the intimate and playful relationship between violin and guitar. From this rich foundation, the dynamic duo grew, featuring such amazing musical friends as in-the-pocket bass master Drew Birston, and the jaw-dropping beats of percussionist Chendy Leon.
Their live resume is similarly stellar. Equally at home in a concert hall, folk and jazz club or festival setting, the Sultans have gigged at JUNOfest, the legendary club Birdland in New York, Celtic Connections Festival (Glasgow) and London’s Trafalgar Square. They have sold out Koerner Hall three times (Toronto’s Carnegie Hall), and performed with the Annapolis, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. They have played live on CBC’s Canada Live, BBC Radio, BBC TV, Irish National Radio, and the syndicated World Café, Woodsongs, and SiriusXM in Washington. Sultans of String’s musicianship and versatility are also showcased in collaborations with such diverse luminaries as Paddy Moloney & The Chieftains, Sweet Honey in The Rock, Richard Bona (Paul Simon), Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Yasmin Levy, Benoit Bourque, Béla Fleck, Crystal Shawanda & Ken Whiteley.
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Many thanks for the support of non-Indigenous funding streams at Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts for their support of this project.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2015/trc/IR4-8-2015-eng.pdf
Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course https://www.ualberta.ca/admissions-programs/online-courses/indigenous-canada/index.html
https://native-land.ca
The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides 24-hour crisis support to former Indian Residential School students and their families toll-free at 1-866-925-4419.
This Page https://igg.me/at/sultansCD
“Reconciliation must inspire Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to transform Canadian society so that our children and grandchildren can live together in dignity, peace, and prosperity on these lands we now share…”
- Excerpt from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Final report.
