By Jennifer Napier-Pearce
Salt Lake City, UT – A camp filled with refugees from a bloody civil war may seem an unlikely place for music to flourish. But when Reuben Koroma and Franco met one another in the Kalia Refugee Camp, the sounds they made provided a welcome distraction for their countrymen. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars played from camp to camp, back in their home in Freetown, and eventually in the United States. The band will be in Salt Lake this Sunday, and Jennifer Napier-Pearce is joined by Koroma and filmmaker Zach Niles to talk about music and its unique power to tell a difficult story.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars will perform Sunday, August 5 at the Red Butte Garden Outdoor Concert Series. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7:00. For more information, click here or call 587-9939.
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More music from Sierra Leone suggested by KEXP's Jon Kerzer