The Ganda Boys are an emerging international band, two-thirds Ugandan and one-third American, who have taken center stage with high profile organisations for championing global causes. Their music defies categories, but reflects the best of mainstream music yet anchored in their African and world music roots. Based in London, UK, they have given concerts on four continents, for heads of state, and for royalty. With their haunting song, “The Forgotten People” — presented here as a single release for fund-raising purposes to provide education to refugees, the homeless and displaced people everywhere — the Ganda Boys have expressed a powerful emotion, virtually giving a voice to thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who have had their voice taken away from them as refuges or the displaced. As Craig Pruess, songwriter, producer and arranger for the Ganda Boys says: “This song is so very special for us, we feel a great privilege to be carrying it and revealing it to fellow souls wherever we go, sharing it with those that feel deeply for the cause and understand its significance. It is a song from the heart of the Ganda Boys. In the recording of this song — the journey from England, Lithuania, Germany and New York to Los Angeles, California — was born from our collective desire to express solidarity with refugees and the displaced people of the world. As always with us, it starts with the music, the song itself. In the recording studio one day in 2011, creating our second Ganda Boys album, "Africa", we had been sharing stories with each other about people having to leave their ancestral homes with just a few of their possessions, and then having to walk/escape/trudge hundreds/thousands of miles to an unknown destination to escape chaos and death — often from civil war, disaster or conflict in their home lands. Many now are having to leave refugee camps along the way which are cruelly closing. Some come by boats. Many drown. On dusty roads, many give up and perish... and yet so few people in the USA or Europe are ever talking about this. Why the silence? The staccato phrase popped into my head: "the forgotten people" and then the rippling piano arpeggios started, like waves, describing the sheer numbers of the displaced flowing over borders and barren lands. The lyrics came to me very quickly, attempting in poetry to capture the feelings of despair and aloneness. "On a dusty road, with a heavy load, counting down the days, since our people betrayed, child oh child cries, 'I wanna go home', no mommy no daddy, lying still by the side of the road.." In many ways it is a story never told, as it is forgotten — it is far removed from our daily lives, currently even from the Western media, too, unfortunately. In the comforts of our modern, affluent homes, with all manner of conveniences, this story seems so remote to most, like from another planet. We too often tune it out. Yet, it does not take much to imagine the deep suffering that is experienced by our fellow human beings in these situations. It must be so very devastating for these people, having lived for many generations so close to their beloved lands, to be ripped asunder from them. Sadly, it usually happens in a general atmosphere of fear, death, uncertainty, sickness and terrible emotional pain. Anyone who has raised children will know that we will do anything for the safety and security of our children. Yet, any scenario of safety, comfort or continuity is shaken and violently removed at times of conflict, civil war or disaster. There are many indigenous traditions of the world, active and successful in their harmonious living on this planet, that rightly point out that we are all connected, that what we do to each other comes back around. In every spiritual tradition of the world, this is held dear — that thou shalt not kill or purposefully cause harm to others. It is beyond the scope of these humble album notes to fathom why it has been happening on such a grand scale in our world. But it is happening, and it has been happening over and over again these last centuries, even two or three millennia. As Warriors of Light, it is up to us to take back our world from the brink and establish a lasting peace, with caring, progress, expansion and love. That is our collective responsibility. As we finished and mixed this song and started sharing it, we quickly realised that others heard the call of our song. It was a sobering feeling that we had perhaps given a voice to hundreds of thousands of souls that had no voice. Step by step, our esteemed colleagues working in the field of human values and world peace — those inspired by the potential of music and song as a powerful tool of social transformation — also heard the message of "The Forgotten People" refrain. We are very grateful to our colleagues at the humanitarian organisation, World Peace One: Jeanne Holm, Claes Nobel, Joel Mills and David Honda, for officially making the song the spearhead for a world-wide campaign (in collaboration with UCLA) for raising aid for refugees, displaced people and the homeless — those displaced in their own backyards! #TheForgottenPeople We feel divinely inspired to use the full power and outreach of this song to accomplish key things: firstly, to bring the plight of these people to the world's attention; secondly, to donate funds from the sale of this song directly into selected programmes for delivering aid to refugees and rehabilitation for the traumatised and injured; thirdly, to achieve a direct intervention for refugees and homeless through the delivery of customised educational aid packages for those attempting to settle in a new country. We will not rest until this is done, and we are deeply grateful to the inspiration that came to us with the arrival of this song. We give heartfelt thanks to our helpers and supporters who enabled us to go to Munich, Germany, for filming and recording there with the refugees, particularly with the Syrian Ex-Patriot Orchestra (SEPO) and the inspiring childrens’ choir; to the African drummers, fresh off the boats on their perilous journey to Europe; and for the chance to record with so many talented GRAMMY artists in Los Angeles, with thanks to our vocalists in New York for their angelic voices; and, lastly, to the Lithuanian State Chamber Orchestra for their beautiful and haunting string playing on the song. It has been an incredible journey for us, feeling how the music, words and melody have ignited the hearts of those that have come into contact with the song. May these caring and prayerful vibrations reach those that need it the most, wherever these souls are.” — Craig Pruess, July 2016 ----- The Ganda Boys met in 2008 during their collaboration on the BBC-TV prime time drama series, “Moses Jones”, which soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Music in 2010 for Ganda Boys founder, Craig Pruess. The award-winning series featured four Ganda Boys songs, especially written for the series and performed live on the film set as part of the story and drama. Within one month, the Ganda Boys was formed, and within six months, their first album was completed with concerts staged, and within nine months of meeting, the three founding members established their UK charitable organisation, the Ganda Foundation, for establishing empowered and self-sustaining communities in rural Uganda. The Ganda Foundation now has key support in the Ugandan Parliament and is supported by both the hugely popular and respected Queen of Buganda, the Nnabagereka, and also Claes Nobel, senior member of the Nobel Prize family. The Ganda Boys have released three rich and varied albums, all on available on CD Baby, featuring highly polished productions and arrangements: “War of Love” (2009), “Africa” (2012) and “Mountains of the Moon” (2015). The latter has two collaborations with members of the multi-GRAMMY Award AFrican vocal group, Ladysmith Black Mombazo; one collaboration with East Africa's premier diva, Julianna Kanyomozi (multiple KORA Award winner); two collaborations with American singer, Carole Rowley (Sting, Peter Gabirel and Tom Jones); and one collaboration with Uganda's number one "smooth jazz" saxophonist, Isaiah Katumba.