Sounds of the Sea Resound by Robin Dudley PT Leader

I opened an email from Mike James to read: "Holy Mackerel!  Front page, section B.. Robin did a nice job."

I agree. Great article and photo. Thank you for telling our story, Robin!

Robin Dudley, reporter for the PT Leaders interviewed Mike James, Jay Hagar and friends... "Tug" Buse, Jim Scarantino and Steve Blakeslee, about our Sing Shanties Song Circle and songbook.

Sounds of the Sea Resound  - "The skies above Victorian seaports like Port Townsend are accustomed to loud and lusty sea shanties, which are sailors’ work songs. At the Northwest Maritime Center, 30 to 40 people meet each month to sing songs that “echoed across this waterfront like cell phone conversations do today,” said Mike James, one of the acknowledged leaders of Port Townsend’s Sing Shanties group.

People who just want to listen are also welcome at the monthly sing-alongs, and it’s free live music. Beware, matey: when surrounded by voices belting out familiar, repetitive tunes, even stalwart non-singers have been known to chime in. (Almost everybody knows the chorus to “What do you do with a drunken sailor?”)

“When it comes to shanties, you don’t have to sing well, just loud,” James said. “Number one, it’s not a talent show.”

Shanties were developed and sung by sailors who did physical labor requiring concerted effort, often lined up pulling hand-over-hand on a rope, or pushing the bars of a capstan around and around in a circle, raising the anchor.

James has sung shanties at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, astonished that the 900-seat theater was filled to overflowing when his group took the stage. The songs are so old, people just seem to know them, and performances turn into sing-alongs.

“That’s the crazy thing,” he said. “You sing through one verse, and after the first three words, everybody knows the refrain.” For the full article click here.

High on the sounds... and happy faces

How wonderful to receive this beautiful card enclosing a handwritten note from Barbara Miles, on behalf of the Sage Club and the Quimper Unitarian Universalist  Fellowship Cares & Concerns Committee, with such appreciation and thoughtful words. Thank you!

It was a genuine pleasure for the four of us from our Sing Shanties Song Circle, Mike and Val James, Mark Olson and Lee Erickson, to be their guests at their monthly luncheon of the Sage Club on February 1, 2013. Following lunch, the four of us engaged those who were able to stay for entertainment in a rousing round of sea shanties. We thank them for their kindness, hospitality and participation in song.

For more about this gathering with photos and a video, click here.

For the Adventuress! - Paddy Lay Back

On February 1, 2013, while 150 or more friends gathered at the Schooner Adventuress' stern at Haven Boatworks with the crew and the team of Sound Experience in Port Townsend, to participate in the "World's first Flash Shanty", in celebration of the Schooner Adventuress' 100 years of life... heartily singing the sea shanty "Paddy Lay Back"... "and wishing the Adventuress a happy historic "splash" day"... four members of the Sing Shanties Song Circle, Mike and Val James, Lee Erickson and Mark Olson led the members of the Sage Club in singing shanties, starting off with "Paddy Lay Back". Mark Olson, retired port captain, explains what a sea shanty is and why rhythm is so important to the task at hand. Happy Birthday, Adventuress!

Best viewed if you change quality to 360p (gear icon on bottom task bar)

Mike, Val and Mark

Mike, Val, Lee and Mark

The rafters resounded!

Anchors were firmly aweigh at the inaugural gathering of the Port Townsend Sea Shanty Song Circle, when an estimated 90 shanty loving folk filled the Northwest Maritime Center Café to bursting. For two rousing hours the rafters resounded with the echo of sea songs past and present as the community shared their passion for maritime music.

The event was attended by many well-known local and regional singers including Matthew Moeller of the Whateverly Brothers, The Shifty Sailors from Whidbey Island, Tugboat Bromberg and Hank Cramer. The evening also brought to light many fantastic voices from the local community as the song circle format ensured that nearly everyone had the opportunity to sing, request a song or pass along to the next in the circle before Mark Iler brought the session to an end with a delightfully moving melody.

The success of the evening was made clear not just by the sheer number that attended, but also by the camaraderie felt within the room, the old bonds renewed and new friendships that were made. I am fairly sure that the majority of folk arrived with songs they knew and left with at least one they hadn’t heard before. 

Of course, none of this would have come to pass without the stalwart organization and time put in by Lee Erickson and the fearless Mike James who did a fantastic job of keeping the circle on track.  I’m sure I speak for everyone when I offer our heartiest thank you to them for making the evening, and every one hereafter, possible. 

by Helen Gilbert

If you were at the Sea Shanty Song Circle and Sing-Along on January 5, you will remember Helen and her rich voice, as she led the song General Taylor and sang a duet with a member of the Shifty Sailors. Thank you to Helen for her wonderful support and help spreading the word.

Port Townsend to Revive Songs of Yore

Local musician Mike James (photo) and Lee Erickson, organizers of the Port Townsend Sea Shanty Song Circle and Sing-Along, were recently interviewed by Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County reporter, Charlie Bermant.

The January 4 front-page story reads: "Port Townsend to revive sea songs of yore - Series of shanties begins Thursday at maritime center."

Bermant's interview quotes James as saying: 

"Shanties speak to the life before the internal combustion engine.... It comes from a time when people did work by hand doing whatever required muscles and power, and the songs gave them a sense of unity.... Workers on a ship would sing the songs as a way to stay focused on the task, and to build a sense of camaraderie among sailors. You would sing the song until the task was done.... If you finished the task with three verses to go, you wouldn't sing those verses.... The shanties also were a way for workers to speak out against abusive bosses. Sometimes you could sing what you really felt about your boss. You were doing the work while you were singing so they couldn't really object as long as your weren't too insulting.... Many of the songs are call-and-response and are easily learned."

Erickson comments: "People who can't sing can always bellow out a shanty.... People who don't have good voices and never sing will still have a good time when they join in."

To read the full article, click here.