Music heals. It unites, it strengthens and enlightens. And more so than almost any other art form, it can be a force for change. The cynics out there might scoff, but I have living proof: the remarkable story of the Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, a collective of musicians who will play on Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Strand Theater in Rockland.

A civil war raged through the West African nation through the 1990s, killing an estimated 50,000 people and displacing half a million, with uncounted thousands injured and maimed at the hands of rebels. It was in this setting that the musicians that make up Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars met. In 2001 they were living in a camp in the neighboring country of Guinea, having fled their home city of Freetown, the capital.

“Musicians don’t hide. It’s easy to find each other,” said Reuben M. Koroma, lead vocalist and frontman for the band. “We had to entertain ourselves and everyone else in the camp, so we kept playing. Eventually, people started joining us. That’s how we got together.”

The initial band was just Koroma and Francis “Franco” Langba, but later grew to include the teenage rapper Black Nature, as well as percussion players Arahim and Mohammed Bangura, both of whom suffered amputation during the war. While violence wracked their nation, the musicians offered at least temporary relief to their compatriots in the camp, through their infectious, grassroots blend of traditional West African music and roots reggae.

During one of those jam sessions, American filmmakers Banker White and Zach Niles, along with Canadian musician Chris Velan, encountered the group.

“These guys came in, and they said ‘We are not working for UNICEF. We are just musicians. We heard about you, and we have come to hear you play,'” said Koroma. “So we played our music, and they really enjoyed it. They told us, ‘we really want to make a documentary film about you guys.'”

Fast forward five years. That documentary was released in 2005, titled “Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars,” now available on DVD. It’s received numerous accolades, and was backed by people like Keith Richards, Paul McCartney and Angelina Jolie, and it spawned appearances on Oprah and CNN.

An accompanying album, “Living Like a Refugee,” was released last year, featuring the final lineup of 12 Sierra Leone musicians. Though the subject matter on the songs deals with the horrors of war and the plight of their nation, the music is uplifting and deeply funky. Koroma hopes that it can help people to deal with the problems in their own lives.

“What I want people to take away is to encourage them to have the courage to get over obstacles,” he said. “No matter what situation someone finds themselves in, we should have the courage to overcome it.”

In 2002, the war ended. Koroma and the rest of the band have been able to return home, and though they have lost loved ones and endured unspeakable tragedy, there’s a message of peace, hope and survival permeating their music. The band has toured all over the world, spreading that message.

“The other thing I want people to take away from the music and the film is that war can never be a problem solver,” he said. “We have seen it. We have seen the consequences of war, and it can never be good. It made us live like refugees. We can stop war.”

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars will play at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Strand Theater in Rockland. Tickets are $25 in advance (available at 594-0070), and $28 at the door. For more information, visit www.sierra

leonesrefugeeallstars.com. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.