Rare Americans releases 'Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo' in it's entirety
The full film will be available for viewing in its entirety on July 10th, providing a revolutionary 33-minute, fully animated musical feature accompanying the album to create an immersive listening experience as Jongo goes on a journey of self-discovery on the Santiago De Camino, a 900km pilgrimage through Spain.
Searching For Strawberries: The Story Of Jongo Bongo has been rolled out in three parts, pairing the new music with the band’s signature animation and expert storytelling style.
Rare Americans’ lead vocalist James Priestner shares, "I think this album is important because it tells the story of a journey that nearly everyone goes on; the search for purpose, meaning, and happiness in life. What Jongo went through is a story as old as time. But the important takeaway, however cliché it may seem, is that it’s not too late to chase your dream. Jongo really was a cog in the corporate machine, he really did quit his job and take a spontaneous trip of self discovery down The Camino, and he really did become a rock star.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a kid in school wondering what it is you want to do in life, or an adult stuck in a 9-5. You really can pursue your dreams at anytime if you have the commitment Jongo did. And, you may not always know it right away. A lot of this album is about his journey rather than his destination.”
To date, Act I and Act II have already garnered over 2.2 million streams across platforms in just under a month with lead singles “Milk & Honey” and “2 U’s” landing on Spotify’s New Music Friday Canada and Ready To Rock playlists and Apple Music’s New In Alternative.
Hot on the heels of their recent international Milk & Honey tour, Searching For Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo follows the success of the band’s four previously released albums and EP, Songs That Don’t Belong, in addition to a nomination as Breakthrough Group of the Year at the 2023 JUNO Awards. Rare Americans — consisting of lead vocalist James Priestner, bassist Jan Cajka, drummer Duran Ritz, and brother and co-writer Jared Priestner — have established an identity as inventive storytellers since their debut in 2018. Their songs, paired with narrative-driven animated videos have garnered them their first Billboard 100 album, a JUNO award for their most listened track to date, “Brittle Bones Nicky,” over 500 million streams, more than 875K YouTube subscribers, and media support from the likes of Alternative Press, Clash, Under The Radar, Vancouver Sun, American Songwriter, and FLOOD among others.
Rare Americans has built a passionate fanbase with their positive message, relentless work ethic, diverse sound, and captivating visuals. The genre-bending act have gone all in on building an animated universe via their own award-winning animation company, Crooked City Studios, producing content for the likes of HBO Max, New Balance, Jessie Reyez, and Donald Glover in addition to their own releases to pair with their musical output, making their fandom unique among other contemporary artists when it comes to how they engage with the group’s catalog.