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JUNO nominee Sultans of String coming to region
Canada’s revved up roots string slingers Sultans of String are set to raise the rafters with their genre-hopping Subcontinental Drift CD Release and 2017 JUNO nomination tour, with stops Fernie, Kimberley and Invermere.
Joining them on disc ‘n’ stage for a feast of raucous reels, ragas ‘n’ rumbas is special guest/sitar master Anwar Khurshid whose music is featured in the Oscar winning Life of Pi, and The Love Guru (Mike Myers).
“We are honoured to receive this JUNO nomination for our new CD! We could not have made this recording without the support of the whole Canadian roots community, and our special collaboration with Anwar,” stated bandleader/violinist Chris McKhool. “There is something magical about joining world music rhythms that we often play, but with pop sensibilities and forms and lengths, and blending that with the music of the East.”
Yet, Subcontinental Drift is more than a genre-hopping passport. It is a musical promise that embraces differences while finding common ground across culture, land, and time.
“Together we started writing songs about freedom and equality, and our hope of creating a better world. I feel in some way that these songs reflect our own personal hopes and journeys towards finding a world peace. This is a message that is needed more than ever at this time.”
The award nomination comes on the heels of the band’s whirlwind North American and UK Subcontinental Drift tours, including a special appearance organized by the High Commission at London’s Trafalgar Square. Distributed by Fontana North in Canada, the album hit number one in Canada on Earshot’s international charts, top 10 on the American CMJ charts and top 15 on Billboard’s World Music charts. It also got picked up for distribution in the U.S. by CEN/SONY and by Proper in Europe.
The band has been on the road non-stop, and will make their debut in The Netherlands and mainland Europe this summer.
Sultans of String are celebrating their 10th anniversary as a band, criss-crossing North America and performing at many taste-making forums such as JUNOFest, legendary jazz club Birdland in NYC, and California’s hip music scene, including the San Jose Jazz Festival.
They recently performed with Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Maryland’s Annapolis Symphony Orchestras. Sultans of String were filmed by MPBN’s Maine Arts in a feature concert, and performed live on BBC TV, Irish National Radio, and the internationally syndicated shows WoodSongs, World Cafe, and on SiriusXM in Washington.
They are currently recording a festive, world music-inspired Christmas Caravan CD featuring shimmering guest vocalist Rebecca Campbell (Bruce Cockburn, Alanis Morissette, Emmylou Harris), five times Platinum selling Nikki Yanofsky, The Chieftains’ very own Paddy Moloney, JUNO winner Alex Cuba, Cameroon’s Richard Bona (Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock), Panamanian seven time Grammy winning Ruben Blades, a Turkish orchestra, and more!
The Sultans of String are performing at three venues in the East Kootenay:
April 4 – Fernie, at The Arts Station, 8 p.m.;
April 5 – Kimberley, at Centre 64, 8 p.m.;
April 6 – Invermere, at Pynelogs Cultural Centre, 7 p.m.
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