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New Video, Remembering Murray Sinclair, Film tour in the Hammer and more

1 – NEW VIDEO ALERT!

Here is our new video with Métis Fiddler Quartet to lift our hearts, a love letter to #indigenous Tkaronto (Toronto)! “Tkaronto Reel” is written by Nicholas Delbaere-Sawchuk, and arranged with everyone in the video. Sister and violist Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk has been a keystone player Sultans of String this season as we toured #walkingthroughthefire across the country.

Alyssa: “I think that the way that we can use entertainment to educate is really powerful. As artists, we get to move the needle in ways that politicians will never, ever be able to. And we can bring people together through that power of resonance, through the power of sound. And then when you just add on this movement of getting people to move together, whether it’s us as a collective, on stage, or an audience, you build that collective energy. And I think that that’s a really important thing to be doing together these days, to find places of common ground of coming together and people of all kinds of backgrounds and abilities. To me, that’s what music can do. It has that power. ”

Watch it here https://youtu.be/4KYh1OkE2Ys

2 – Remembering Murray Sinclair

This week we lost a wonderful and courageous man, Murray Sinclair. Among his many contributions, he chaired the Commission on Truth & Reconciliation, and introduced the corresponding 94 Calls to Action. Meeting him was such an important moment in my life. I was blessed to spend time with him at a powwow in Southern Ontario two years ago, along with my co-producer and videographer. He set me on a personal and professional path that helped fuel Walking Through the Fire, and a chance to work on one of the 94 Calls to Action.

I was pretty blown away by how very generous he was with us, with his time and his teachings, spending almost an hour in conversation with us. I was taken aback by his gentleness, his generosity, his sharp wit, and his incredible intellect. He spoke about the history of the initial relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and with time how badly Indigenous people had been failed by the government. He spoke about the work that has to be done within Indigenous communities to correct self-perceptions that have crept in over the years. He impressed upon us the importance of music in cultural revitalization, and the critical nature of our work, cooperating and collaborating with Indigenous artists, and using our platform to share the Indigenous art we have made contact with, including using Indigenous languages in our project so they don’t become lost.

We went on to work on our project – a recording, live tour, and now a film we are touring. Here is a trailer: https://youtu.be/wWSZUduo5Kk

This is an except of what he said:

“Reconciliation is not just about forgiveness and let’s get on with life. Reconciliation is about needing to correct all of those mistakes of the past, showing that we’re never going to do them again, committing ourselves to ensuring we don’t do them again, but also to ensuring that we live in a relationship that honors that initial idea of what our relationship should have been.

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, is for people to have faith that we can do this, that we should be allowed to do this, that we should be able to do this. “

3 – Our film in Hamilton next Sunday!

Come see our Feature Film Hamilton Screening: Walking Through the Fire next Sunday Nov. 17!

Tix here http://www.thewestdale.ca/event/sultans-of-string-walking-through-the-fire-2/

This special film brings the magic of collaboration to the screen, with award-winning First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists from across Turtle Island joined by Billboard charting/6x CFMA winners Sultans of String!

Film will be followed by a Q&A panel with artists from the film – Shannon Thunderbird, Marc Meriläinen, and Sultans of String producer Chris McKhool. Pictured here is co-producer/engineer extraordinaire John Bailey who mixed the film in Surround Sound!

4 – Our film in New Hamburg this Thursday!

Thanks to The Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette for this in-depth article, highlighting our Thursday film screening in New Hamburg, as well as local audio genius John Bailey! Tickets are almost gone for this one, hosted by The Wilmot Ecumenical Working Group on Indigenous/Settler Relationships. Looking forward to seeing you in a few days!
Shannon V Thunderbird: “If you don’t have truth, you can’t reconcile. … We have busted the door open on a lot of people’s very narrow interpretation of who an Indigenous person is and what they do. That’s why I think a show like this has just opened the eyes of the average public.”

Tickets here

4 – a look at our Toronto show

Here are a few photos from the Toronto premiere – Thanks a million to all who came to our sold-out screening!

And we could not have done it without the incredible support of Bara Brown and Redbird Therapy Centre, Cecil Community Centre, Prologue Performing Arts. But especially thanks to the tremendous indigenous artists who trusted us to work with them with their personal stories. It really means the world to us in Sultans of String that we could work together to amplify these truths. We have walked through the fire together and created friendships that will last us our entire lives!

The entire door ($3000) went to Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto to aid in their programming.

Thanks as well to the non-indigenous streams of Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council, as well as Yamaha Canada, and Shure for the amazing wireless mics for the Q&A. And Doug Banwell for the gorgeous cocktail piano playing and Charger Foods for the delicious First Nations treats.

Also big hugs and thanks to Rick and Marianne Chester for helping us get over the finish line on our film budget! We love you!