Sultans of String Come to North Carolina | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Canada's multiple award winning string slingers SULTANS OF STRING take their genre hopping musical passport to North Carolina this Spring, with stops in Asheville, Montreat, New Bern, Beaufort, and Black Mountain!

    Touring non-stop in support of their latest CD, Subcontinental Drift , this "energetic and exciting band, with talent to burn!" (Maverick Magazine, UK) serve up revved up Celtic reels, Flamenco, Gypsy-jazz, Arabic, and Cuban rhythms, while fiery violin dances with kinetic guitar with unstoppable grooves. Throughout, acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound.

    Celebrating a milestone 10 years together, Sultans of String have hit #1 across Canada on Top 10 national radio charts, #15 on Billboard (world music), top 10 on CMJ (world), and received multiple awards and accolades, including 1st place in the ISC (out of 15,000 entries), 3 JUNO (Canada's Grammy) nominations, 3 Canadian Folk Music Awards, a Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal for bandleader Chris McKhool, plus invitations to perform/record with such luminaries as The Chieftains, Sweet Honey In The Rock, and David Bromberg.

    Led by 5-string violinist McKhool (Jesse Cook, Pavlo) who was raised in a Lebanese-Egyptian household just bursting with music and diversity, Chris was fed a steady diet of delicious musicality alongside Middle Eastern cuisine and violin lessons. At the core of their sound is his bold and fiery fiddle, melded seamlessly with founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté's (Jesse Cook) rumba rhythm. Together their musical synergy created Sultans of String's signature sound - the intimate and playful relationship between violin and guitar.

    Their US manager and acclaimed promoter David Wilkes (Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Jeff Walker) states, "Over the decades, I've worked with numerous top ten and #1 Billboard artists. In all that time, I have not worked with composers more talented than Chris McKhool and Kevin Laliberté from Sultans of String. Not only are they a superb writing team, they are also amazing arrangers & musicians.



    Sultans of String have been criss-crossing North America for the last several years at many taste-making forums such as the legendary jazz club Birdland in NYC, Boston's Scullers, and California's hip music scene including the San Jose Jazz Festival. They recently sold out Koerner Hall (Toronto's Carnegie Hall), and performed with Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Stratford symphonies, as well with Maryland's Annapolis Symphony, and Kingsfield POPS in Maine. Sultans of String were recently filmed by MPBN's Maine Arts! in a feature concert, and performed live on BBC TV, Irish National Radio, and the internationally syndicated shows WoodSongs, World Cafe, and on SiriusXM in Washington.

    Career Highlights:

• 2017 JUNO nominees - World Music Album of the Year
• 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards winners- World Music Group of the Year
• 2016 Global Music Awards- World Music / Beats
• 2015 JUNO nominees - Instrumental Album of the Year
• 2015 TIMA winners - Best World Album
• 2014 SiriusXM Independent Music Awards Winner- World Group of the Year
• 2014 IMA Independent Music Award Winner - Instrumental
• 2013 ISC International Songwriting Competition Winner- Instrumental
• 2013 Festivals & Events- Performer of The Year
• 2013 Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for bandleader Chris McKhool
• 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards winners- World Music Group of the Year
• 2012 Festivals & Events- Entertainer of The Year
• 2011 International Acoustic Music Awards Finalist - Instrumental
• 2011 Independent Music Award 2x Finalist - Instrumental Album & World Beat Album
• 2011 ISC International Songwriting Competition 2x Finalist- Instrumental & World Music
• 2010 JUNO Award Nominees - "Instrumental Album of the Year"
• 2010 Canadian Independent Music Awards nominees- Favourite World Artist/Group
• 2009 International Songwriting Competition (ISC) First Place Winners - Instrumental
• 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award triple nominee winning Instrumental Group of the Year (also nominated for Ensemble of the Year and Pushing the Boundaries)
• 2008 International Songwriting Competition Winner (ISC) - Instrumental
• 2008 Festivals & Events Ontario- Best Variety Act

    When:

    May 17 -- Asheville - 7:00pm -- Isis Music Hall - www.isisasheville.com/event/sultans-of-string

    May 18 - Montreat - 10:00pm -- SERFA Official Showcase -- www.serfa.org

    May 19 - New Bern - 7:30pm -- Down East Folk Arts @ Trent River Coffee Company -- www.downeastfolkarts.org/Concerts.html

    May 20 - Moorehead City- 7:30pm -- Joslyn Hall, Carteret Community College

    May 21 - Black Mountain - 8:00pm -- White Horse Black Mountain -- www.whitehorseblackmountain.com

• Contact: Lisa Weitz
•     lw@lwcommunications.ca