background image band band logo

single default

Walking Through the Fire – Indigenous Collaborations

Indigenous Artists and Sultans of String – Walking Though the Fire

A Trailblazing Musical Response to the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action

Title: Walking Through the Fire
Artist: Sultans of String
Category: Roots / Global Music Album

Release date:  September 15, 2023

Stream Album:  https://sultansofstring.lnk.to/WalkingThroughtheFire
Physical CDs: https://merchmrkt.com/collections/sultans-of-string
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/sos-spotify

YouTube Playlist https://tinyurl.com/WTTFvideos

Watch our Video EPK

 

What do Crystal Shawanda, Leela Gilday, Northern Cree powwow group, a dozen other Indigenous artists, and Roots band Sultans of String have in common? They have all come together in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and Final Report that calls for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to work together to show a path forward, and together have created Walking Through the Fire. This album and live show are a powerful collection of collaborations between the roots group and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists from across Turtle Island.

 

Fire can be destructive, as we have seen with the unprecedented forest fires still burning in Canada. But what we see right afterward is interesting, as collaborating Indigenous art director Mark Rutledge explains, referencing the title and cover art of Walking Through the Fire. “You’ll see the burnt-out husks of trees and the ash and the charcoal on the landscape. But fireweed is the first plant after a forest fire that emerges, and you’ll see rivers and fields of magenta within the barren landscape, and those nutrients are going back into the soil for the next generation of trees and flowers and regrowth.”

There is fear instilled within the very notion of fire because it can be so destructive, not just to the landscape, but to the lives of people. But what lies beyond fear that holds people back from achieving what they want to achieve? “The other side of fear is growth and potential with collaboration between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people,” Mark continues. “When we drop the word reconciliation on people, there’s a large group of people who don’t understand what that means. And when you don’t understand something, you are fearful of it. But if we go through the same experience together, we walk through that fire together, and we come out together on the other end and have that unified experience together, that’s the power in this album.”

 

 

Together these artists are making a safe, creative space where new connections can be dreamed of – not in the Western way of thinking and problematizing – but instead a deeper sharing and understanding, with music being the common ground to help cultures connect and understand each other. “We are opening doors for each other, as Indigenous peoples, as settler peoples. This project is about creating connections and spaces to learn from each other” explains collaborator Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, violist with Métis Fiddler Quartet.

Nine-time Grammy-nominated Northern Cree and community organisers in Kettle and Stony Point welcomed Sultans of String to their annual powwow for one of these collaborations. Steve Wood, drummer and singer, explains, “When you’re collaborating with mainstream music, it shows that we can work together to bring out the very best in who we are as human beings, and we can bring out something very beautiful.”

A central theme running through Walking Through the Fire is the need for the whole truth of Residential Schools and the Indigenous experience to be told long before reconciliation can possibly take place. Grammy-nominated Elder and poet Dr. Duke Redbird, who in many ways provided the initial inspiration for this project, explains, “The place that we have to start is with truth. Reconciliation will come sometime way in the future, perhaps, but right now, truth is where we need to begin the journey with each other.”

Sultans violinist Chris McKhool, who was recently awarded the Dr. Duke Redbird Lifetime Achievement Award by Redbird and JAYU Arts for Human Rights for working to amplify these truths through collaborations, says, “This country has a history that has been ignored, distorted, twisted to suit colonialist goals of destroying a people. We are so fortunate for the opportunity to work with Indigenous artists, sharing their stories, their experiences, and their lives with us, so we can continue our work of learning about the history of residential schools, genocide, and intergenerational impacts of colonization. Music has a special capacity for healing, connecting, and expressing truth.”

McKhool leads the 3x JUNO nominated, 6x CFMA-winning band, who recorded the bed tracks at Jukasa Studios, an Indigenous-owned world-class recording facility on the Six Nations reserve south of Hamilton, Ontario. “We were so fortunate to be able to work at Jukasa, as well as consult with exceptional Indigenous artists on this project,” says McKhool. “We were lucky to be able to work with Indigenous designer Mark Rutledge, working with our usual team, to come up with a look and feel for the album.”

The Honourable Murray Sinclair, former chair of the TRC, said, “The very fact that you’re doing this tells me that you believe in the validity of our language, you believe in the validity of our art and our music, and that you want to help to bring it out. And that’s really what’s important: for people to have faith that we can do this.” Sinclair also spoke about the importance of using Indigenous languages so these do not become lost. The recording and concert features lyrics in Dene, Inuktitut, Sm’algyax, Cree, and Michif.

 

Sultans of String is a fiercely independent band that has always tried to lift up those around them and has exposed many of their collaborators and special guests to new audiences at their shows, including at JUNOfest, NYC’s legendary Birdland Jazz Club, Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, and London’s Trafalgar Square. Led by Queen’s Diamond Jubilee recipient McKhool, they have collaborated with orchestras across North America and have played live on CBC’s Canada Live, BBC TV, Irish National Radio, and SiriusXM in Washington. They have recorded and performed with such diverse luminaries as Paddy Moloney & The Chieftains, Sweet Honey in The Rock, Richard Bona, Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Benoit Bourque, and Béla Fleck. Their work during the pandemic on The Refuge Project amplified the voices of new immigrants and refugees, earning them CFMAs and Best Musical Film at the Cannes World Film Festival.

Says Raven Kanatakta: “We have to move beyond ally-ship, and we have to move into relationships of being co-conspirators, get down into the dirt and start working together and start moving forward. We’re all equals here, and we all need to communicate as equals. We actually need Canadians to step up and take that first move.”

 

TRACK LISTING

1. A Beautiful Darkness       feat. Marc Meriläinen / Nadjiwan (Ojibwe)
2. The Rez                              feat. Crystal Shawanda (Ojibwe Potawatomi)
3. Take Off the Crown         feat. Raven Kanatakta (Anishinaabe Algonquin /Onkwehón:we  Mohawk)
4. Kǫ́                                      feat. Leela Gilday (Dene) & Leanne Taneton (Dene)
5. Nîmihito (Dance)             feat. Northern Cree (Cree)
6. Lost and Found                feat. Shannon Thunderbird & Kate Dickson (Ts’msyen)
7. Black Winged Raven       feat. Shannon Thunderbird (Ts’msyen)
8. Our Mother The Earth    feat. Dr. Duke Redbird (Chippewa/Anishinaabe)
9. Sweet Alberta                    feat. The North Sound (w/ Forrest Eaglespeaker – Blackfoot)
10. Humma                            feat. Kendra Tagoona & Tracy Sarazin (Inuit)
11. Highway of Tears             feat. Don Ross (Mi’kmaw) & M.J. Dandeneau (Métis)
12. Chanson de Riel               feat. Métis Fiddler Quartet (Métis)
13. Tkaronto Reel                   feat. Métis Fiddler Quartet (Métis)
14. Quviasuliqpunga              feat. Kendra Tagoona & Tracy Sarazin (Inuit)

 

WALKING THROUGH THE FIRE TOUR DATES:

2023 Tour

With Leela Gilday, The North Sound, Don Ross, Shannon Thunderbird, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan), Duke Redbird, and a multimedia extravaganza including Northern Cree, Kendra Tagoona, Tracy Sarazin, and more.

Sep 28 – Markham                   Flato Markham Theatre
Sep 29 – Stratford                    Stratford Symphony Orchestra
Sep 30 – St Catharines            Niagara Symphony Orchestra
Oct 1 – St Catharines                Niagara Symphony Orchestra
Oct 2 – St Catharines               FirstOntario PAC Education show
Oct 3 – Brantford                      Brantford Symphony Orchestra
Oct 4 – Lindsay                         Flato Academy Theatre

With Shannon Thunderbird, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, Marc Meriläinen (Nadjiwan), and a multimedia extravaganza including Northern Cree, Kendra Tagoona, Tracy Sarazin, Duke Redbird, and more.

Oct 10 – Sudbury                       Café Heritage – Education & Evening show
Oct 11 – North Bay                    Capital Centre
Oct 12 – Timmins                       Timmins Museum, O’Gorman HS
Oct 13 – Geraldton                    Geraldton Concert Series
Oct 14 – Thunder Bay                Sleeping Giant Folk Music Society
Oct 15 – Dryden                         Dryden Entertainment Series
Oct 16 – Sioux Lookout             Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series
Oct 17 – Red Lake                      Red Lake Entertainment Series
Oct 18 – Kenora                          Lake of the Woods Concert Group
Oct 19 – Fort Frances                 Tour de Fort Entertainment Series
Oct 22 – Burlington                    Burlington PAC
Oct 23 – Burlington                    Burlington PAC Education show
Nov 12 – Walkerton                   Victoria Jubilee Hall

2024 Tour

Jan 23 – Kingston                      Kingston Grand Theatre – Education & Evening show
Jan 25 – Brampton                    Rose Theatre – Education & Evening show
Jan 30 – Guelph                         River Run Centre Education show
Jan 31 – Guelph                         River Run Centre Education show
Feb 1 – Guelph                            River Run Centre – Education & Evening show
Feb 2 – Toronto                        Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra
Mar 2 – Winnipeg                      Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Mar 3 – Winnipeg                      Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
April 15 – Markham                   Flato Markham Theatre – Education Show
April 16 – Markham                   Flato Markham Theatre – Education Show
Apri 18 – Mississauga               Peel School Board
May 31 – Midland                       Midland Cultural Centre
June 9 – Hamilton                   Hamilton Arts Week Westdale Theatre
June 17 – Waterloo                    University of Waterloo
June 21 – Newmarket              Old Town Hall
June 22 – Toronto                   Hughs Room Live
June 23 – Kitchener               Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival

Aug 9-11 – Edmonton              Edmonton Folk Festival Main Stage
Oct 17 –  Burlington                    Burlington PAC
Nov 1 – Toronto                          Cecil Centre – Walking Through the Fire – Film Premiere
Nov 14 – New Hamburg           Walking Through the Fire – Film
Nov 17 – Hamilton                  Walking Through the Fire – Film
Dec 6 – St Catharines             Walking Through the Fire – Film

2025 Tour

Feb 22, 2025 – Montreal                 Folk Alliance International – Official Showcase
Feb 25, 2025 – Kitchener                Centre in the Square Education shows

 

ALL TIX LINKS AT: https://sultansofstring.com/calendar

 

 

 

We would like to acknowledge funding support from non-Indigenous funding streams of the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario, and Canada Council for the Arts.

 

 

 

For those who like to read the small print:

– Sultans of String (SOS) have received some arts council funding from regular steams, and are using this money to pay Indigenous artists. We are not touching any Indigenous funding streams.

– SOS will not use this recording to apply for Indigenous awards. SOS will only be applying to mainstream awards.

– SOS has been consulting with Indigenous artists on all aspects of production, as well as consulting with Indigenous designer Mark Rutledge, working with our usual team.

– We recorded the bed tracks at Jukasa Studios, an Indigenous-owned studio on Indigenous land. Record there, it is awesome!

-SOS has paid the Indigenous artists for their performance for the recording, and will be paying mechanical royalties for every pressing. For Neighbouring Rights royalties with SiriusXM though SoundExchange we are giving the entire share of performance royalties to the Indigenous collaborators, rather than keeping any for SOS as would be industry standard.

– SOS is assisting some of the collaborators with creating SOCAN and SoundExchange accounts so they can access new royalty streams from these and other collaborations.

– Indigenous collaborators are free to use the newly created orchestral charts of their songs royalty-free at any time, to increase the capacity of Indigenous artists to work with orchestras.

– SOS has read the Statement on Indigenous Musical Sovereignty, and we are very sensitive to ensure that the Indigenous creators we are working with are granted authority and full oversight on how their Indigenous communities are portrayed. 100% of the lyrics in the recording and live show are written by the Indigenous collaborators, and all arranging and composition is done with tremendous respect for collaborating artists, who sign off on the songs at several stages.