Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars

Über Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars formed in 2002 in refugee camps in Guinea, where singer and songwriter Reuben Koroma, guitarist Francis "Franco" Langba and Grace Koroma had fled the civil war. Their sound sits on reggae but draws on older Sierra Leonean forms: the baskeda rhythms Reuben Koroma learned from his father, goombay (gumbe) and palm-wine guitar. The debut album Living Like a Refugee was recorded in the Guinean camps and in Freetown between 2003 and 2004 and released by Anti in 2006, after a 2005 documentary about the band. Later albums Rise & Shine, Radio Salone and Libation came out on Cumbancha between 2010 and 2014.