The Sojourners close this year's Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, November 10

Juno Award-winning group weaves doo-wop, R&B, country, and blues with themes of social justice and human dignity

SPONSORED POST BY Vancouver Moving Theatre

The Sojourners.

Vancouver Moving Theatre welcomes The Sojourners back to the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood to close out the 21st-annual Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival in a celebratory evening at St. James’ Anglican Church on November 10 at 7 pm.

The Sojourners formed when blues artist Jim Byrnes invited gospel artist Marcus Mosely to bring a talented group of friends to sing back-up vocals on a recording session for Byrnes’s Juno Award-winning album House of Refuge. Mosely then formed The Sojourners with Will Sanders and Ron Small (whose place was later assumed by Khari Wendell McClelland).

The ensemble recorded its first album in 2007, and has been performing and touring ever since. The Sojourners’s spiritually uplifting music crosses generations and genres, drawing influence from church gospel songs; quartets and jubilee ensembles from the 1930s and ’40s; anthems of resistance from the American civil rights movement; and 1950s and ’60s tunes. The group weaves doo-wop, R&B, country, and blues with themes of social justice and human dignity.

The Sojourners performed at the DTES Heart of the City Festival in 2010 and 2018. Their connection to the celebration dates back to 2001, when Mosely and Sanders sang at a Strathcona Artist at Home Festival concert hosted by Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling, cofounders of the DTES Heart of the City Festival.

The group’s show at this year’s festival honours a thread of connection to the land. From 1918 to 1985, the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel cofounded by Nora Hendrix—located at 623 Jackson Street just outside of Hogan’s Alley—was a cultural hub for the Black community up until its displacement. Now, decades later, plans are in place to restore and revitalize the two hundred block of Hogan’s Alley. Folks of Black ancestry are settling into East Vancouver once again, including The Sojourners member McClelland, who is originally from Detroit and now resides in Strathcona.

At the upcoming closing night concert, additional features to look forward to include a poetry reading from Typewriter Tales, guest speakers, and celebratory surprises.

Tickets to see The Sojourners are available here, and more details can be found at the DTES Heart of the City Festival.

Post sponsored by Vancouver Moving Theatre.

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