It’s exciting and inspiring for us to see Sierra Leonean sounds featured in a prominent paper such as the LA Times. We read a piece today talking about music and its political role in Sierra Leone, a country where the divide between the educated elite and the masses leaves little room for effective criticism. Singers sometimes play a significant role in tilting the opinion through their engaged lyrics. Rather than simplify and paraphrase, read Scott Kraft’s great piece here.

New track from Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars available via Cumbancha, download it here for free.

So who are the Refugee All Stars? From refugeeallstars.org:

The film ‘Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars’ tells the remarkable and uplifting story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians who came together to form a band while living as refugees in the Republic of Guinea. A brutal civil war (1991-2002) forced them from their homes in Sierra Leone. Many of their family and friends were murdered in the violence, leaving them with physical and emotional scars that may never heal. Despite the unimaginable horrors of civil war, they were saved through their music. Through music they find a place of refuge, a sense of purpose and a source of power. The film follows the band over the course of three years as they make the difficult decision to return to their war-torn country and realize their dream of recording an album of their original music.

At last! Eden Roots Liberation’s album Genesis comes out this month. The Sierra Leonian duo recorded at Manjul’s Humble Ark studio in Bamako, and the album has only been released in Mali and Sierra Leone. Classic Wailers style African reggae, enjoy! The album is available for download in the iTunes store.

I had a chat with Lloyd today, half of Sierra Leonian duo Eden Roots lIberation. We chat about music and how he became a musician. Here are some of his words:

“From the very begining, I loved music, in particular reggae music. I was also living with musicians. When I was looking at them playing, I wanted to be able to do the same. In the same time I was learning to play bass, I began creating my own songs and singing them. It was something obvious for me. I was here to be a musician, a composer and a singer.”

Growing up in Sierra Leone, Lloyd was subject to many new world influences, in particular Caribbean music:

“My most important inspiration comes from Joseph Hill from the Jamaican group Culture, who died recently. They came to Sierra Leone and I saw their concert in Freetown, it was a big moment. I was also inspired by Don Carlos, who was a member of the 12 tribes and who taught me to play music.”

Eden Roots Liberation now has an album under their belt, they’ve been playing consistently throughout West Africa and are eager to spread their message of awareness – as in the song “Open your eyes”, peace and love, especially for the younger generations. Lloyd hopes to play and push his message as far as the US, especially “because the reggae doesn’t seem to be very popular [there]“.

Through Bamako’s French Cultural Center I met Lloyd Tommy, half of Eden Roots Liberation. He and his partner Patrick Kousi are originally from Sierra Leone, the met in Freetown in 1990 through Massive Roots Band, a local reggae group. They started touring West Africa playing for Malian reggaeman Askia Modibo in the late 90s before settling in Bamako, Mali in 2000. After collaborating with many other regional artists, Eden Roots Vibration released its first album, Genesis, in 2006 in Mali, and eventually in Sierra Leone in February 2008. Akwaaba will release the album worldwide in late 2008.