With over 15,000+ views and rising, multi-award winning Canadian world music collective Sultans of String continue to share their latest (and completely crowd-sourced) video for “I’m Free” with the masses.
The latest single from their award-winning, critically acclaimed most recent album, Refuge — a project centred around the positive contributions of refugees and new immigrants — “I’m Free” features Sudanese-Canadian musician, educator, and filmmaker Waleed Abdulhamid. The video also highlights exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the studio recording process, and was most recently featured during the Luminato Festival Virtual Edition.
Speaking of masses, that goes for video participation as well; the band received hundreds of entries for their casting call, including many familiar faces — Fred Penner, Chris Birkett, Dalannah Gail Bowen, to name just a few.
“For this video, we asked our fans and the public to send in photos and depictions of what they are missing the most,” Sultans of String bandleader Chris McKhool says. “We wanted to know what they really, really want to do when COVID-19 restrictions lift.
“We were totally overwhelmed with the response,” he laughs. “And it was a fun jigsaw puzzle to shoehorn in all the beautiful, quirky, and heartwarming messages.”
What makes the bulk of the messages most memorable is their consistency, despite the entries coming from tens upon tens of sources; signs throughout the video share an overwhelming dream to hug and hang out with family and friends, travel, and enjoy live music again.
“COVID-19 has been pretty rough for a lot of people, and we wanted to create something that helps connect us all. We wanted to provide some hope and joy, and help us envision the future we can create when we get past this pandemic.
“We hope you enjoy it.”
“I’m Free” and Refuge are available now.
