Sons of Freedom (band)

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Sons of Freedom were a Canadian alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band, consisting of vocalist James Newton, guitarist Don Harrison, bassist Don Binns and drummer Don Short, formed in 1987 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The band took their name from the Sons of Freedom, a controversial Doukhobor activist group first in Saskatchewan and later in British Columbia in the first half of the 20th century. Their self-titled 1988 debut album was emblazoned with a prominent slogan from Canadian social justice activist Nellie McClung, Never retract, never retreat, never apologise...get the thing done and let them howl.

The band's 1991 album Gump debuted on the Canadian campus radio charts (see Chart) at #1, ahead of Nirvana's Nevermind, which debuted the same week at #2.

The band broke up in 1993, although they briefly reunited in 1995 to tour in support of a rarities compilation, Tex. Binns, Short and Harrison subsequently joined with Lee Aaron in the band 2preciious.

In 2008, Jim Newton took a new project called Rat Silo public. The band currently includes Don Binns (bass), Finn Manniche (guitar), Dave Osborne (keyboards) and Sean Stubbs (drums).