Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars Bring Uplifting, Personal Music to Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday

When a group of Sierra Leone refugees were displaced to Guinea during their country’s civil war, they brought their deeply personal but uplifting music with them and formed the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. The band’s debut album, Living Like a Refugee (stream it below), along with an accompanying documentary, arrived in 2006, impressing critics around the globe. According to the Guardian, “It’s a story made all the more remarkable by the strength of their songs. The Refugees play West African styles from highlife to soukous, but their main influence is reggae, with the light, melodic approach of Jimmy Cliff matched against lyrics in English that would have impressed Bob Marley.” The Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars (below, performing “Treat You Right”) have since played big stages across the world, including Bonnaroo, SummerStage, and the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan while continuing to produce new music — filled with roots, reggae, soul, and Afrobeat — including the band’s fourth album, Libation (stream it below), out last year. And while all of their recorded work is terrific, the best way to experience the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars is live and in person, which you can do on Thursday night at Brooklyn Bowl.