Whateverly Brothers to Lead November 11th Shanty Sing. ARRGH!

Dan Roberts and Chris Glanister of the Whateverly Brothers will lead the next second Wednesday Song Circle on November 11th.

Video: "Son of a Son of a Sailor" with Pint and Dale and Jan Elliott- Glanister at the Conway Muse, October, 2014

Dan Roberts - "As the eldest brother, Dan has the most experience in music and performing. Raised in the Bay Area and coming of age in Berkeley (he swears he has no memory of that), he also studied opera and received the training that makes his voice one of the most notable and powerful in the folk music community. A true folkie, Dan’s repertoire spans decades. It also spans three octaves which allows him to sing lead, bass, or make strange noises. He also plays a mean set of spoons and admits to being a recovering elementary school teacher."

Chris Glanister - "Chris has been hanging around folk music for too many years and it shows (mostly in the waistline...). He grew up in England listening to Burl Ives, Pete Seeger and the popular British folk group, The Spinners, along with Led Zeppelin, the Monkees and lots of classical music. As the
co-founder of the local Seattle celtic band Watch the Sky! he has been entertaining audiences with his whistle playing and vocals for many years.

He started his musical career as a recording and live sound engineer and at some point had to play the music he was hearing. He's since added bohdran, cittern and cowbell and banjo to his musical lineup, and loves the Scottish and maritime influences in the music he plays."

Have another listen - "Haul Away Joe."

JW Sparrow leads August 12th Song Circle!

Lots of entertaining information here about JW Sparrow in a blog post from September 12, 2013, when John led his first Sea Shanties Song Circle here in Port Townsend. This will be John's 3rd visit to Port Townsend to lead our Sing Shanties Song Circle. Be sure to save the date and help us spread the word - invite your family and friends!

Mike James Leads May 13th Song Circle at NWMC in Port Townsend!

Co-Founder of Sing Shanties Song Circle, local shantyman Mike James leads May's Song Circle with robust rounds of singin' shanties with gusto! "Singin' is encouraged by knot required." Be sure to invite your family and friends to this free community event for a fun-filled evening.

Robin Dudley Leads April 8th Shanty Sing!

"Here it is nearly April already.  Robin Dudley writes the community arts column for the PT Leader.  When she interviewed us a few weeks ago I asked her if she would be interested in leading a sing.  She jumped at the chance.  She has sailed numerous tall ships from as many ports around the world.  We’re looking forward to her leading and are hoping that some of the Adventurous crew will join her." ~ Mike James

Join Shantyman Chris Gilbert for the March 11th Shanty Sing at the NWMC

Chris hails from London, England and has participated in various folk traditions in “the old country” since his college days. He spent many a happy hour singing in folk clubs and pub song circles. He also became very active in the quintessential English frivolity known as Morris dancing. Rumor has it that he is thinking of bringing the Morris dance tradition to Port Townsend soon. Let’s face it, PT is just the place!

In '92, he emigrated to the US where he lived first in California, then Vermont and finally settled in Washington State. During this time he became steeped in the US folk scene, and is keen to highlight the parallels between the US and the UK folk song revivals of the 20th century. Both of these revivals were stoked by the traditions of Celtic music, and the sea-faring ways that led to Shanty songs.

Join Shantyman Jim Scarantino for our February 11th Shanty Sing!

WHERE?...The Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water Street, Port Townsend, WA

WHEN?…2nd Wednesday, February 11th, 6:00 to 8-ish

WHY?… Free, Phun, and Family friendly. The February sing will be led by Jim Scarantino, the man with the voice and energy of a “bully first mate.” Aaaaargh! Whether you sing or “knot,” come rant and roar for a fun evening that’s filled with songs, stories, and nautical tales that once echoed across Port Townsend’s waterfront…and still do!

Got a concertina or fiddle? Bring it!...and don’t forget your in-laws! 

Thanks to: The Courtyard Café, Judy Courtwright Studio, Northwest Maritime Center, and Pippa’s Real Tea.

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.

Wayne Palsson Returns to Launch Sing Shanties Song Circle's 4th Year!

Chanteyman Wayne Palsson from Seattle will be back to kick off our New Year celebrating our 4th Anniversary at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend on Wednesday, January 14th from 6:00 to 8:00ish p.m. Bring yer mates for a rousing, family-friendly good time, and it's FREE!

"Wayne has been singing chanteys and maritime songs for over a decade, focusing on songs with rich tones reflecting the fishing and maritime trades. Wayne is the host of Northwest Seaport’s Chantey Sing Series and sings in the local group Strikes A Bell. His own nautical experience on the high seas and local waters helps to anchor his interpretations of traditional chanteys, new and local sea songs, and even a few overlooked classics by Gilbert and Sullivan." - Northwest Seaport

Deck the Hulls with Bows of Jolly - Captain Daniel (Dano) Quinn Returns to Lead December 10 Song Circle!

 

Climb aboard with award-winning storyteller Captain Daniel (Dano) Quinn as he leads us in song and maybe spins one of his colorful and original seafaring yarns, collected over 30+ years at sea!

When asked to share his bio with us, Dano writes, "I was born at a very young age, in fact I was an infant at the time, to two parents; my Mother & Father... I grew up in Mystic, CT. I fell in the water while crabbing when I was 5 years old and never came back out! I'm a licensed Captain of both sail and motor vessels and have been working aboard ships for over 30 years. The first half of my career was all in tall ships so I come by my shanty singing honestly. I'm also a story teller with a unique spin. I recite original humorous sea stories in ballad style. I've performed at the Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria for the past 6 years, I've won the Seattle Maritime Festival "Stories of the Sea" Contest 4 times, and have also won the Northwest Folklife Festival Liar's Contest."

For more about Dano Quinn, here's the link to a recent article about Dano on Three Sheets Northwest by Deborah Bach: Salty stories and tall tales on Dano Quinn CD.

Please share this link and flyer with your family and friends. Holidays are a busy time, so be sure to save this date, Wednesday, December 10 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30ish p.m. to join us at the Northwest Maritime Center (upstairs) for a fun and festive gathering. Please bring your favorite holiday finger foods and sweet treats to enjoy with hot cider, coffee and tea. 

Aye, Mateys! The Whateverly Brothers be leading our November 12th Shanty Sing at the NWMC in Port Townsend!

Join us for another FREE, family-friendly community song circle, where "singin' is encouraged but knot required." Wednesday, November 12th from 6pm to 8pm. Coffee and tea provided.

The Whateverly Brothers Chris Glanister (left) and Dan Roberts (back)

As the eldest brother, Dan has the most experience in music and performing. Raised in the Bay Area and coming of age in Berkley (he swears he has no memory of that), he also studied opera and received the training that makes his voice one of the most notable and powerful in the folk music community. A true folkie, Dan’s repertoire spans decades. It also spans three octaves which allow him to sing lead, bass, or make strange noises. He also plays a mean set of spoons. He also admits to being a recovering elementary school teacher.

Chris has been hanging around folk music for too many years and it shows (mostly in the waistline...). He grew up in England listening to Burl Ives, Pete Seeger and the popular British folk group The Spinners, along with Led Zeppelin and the Monkees and lots of classical music. As the co-founder of the local Seattle Celtic Band Watch the Sky! He has been entertaining audiences with his whistle playing and vocals for many years. He started his musical career as a recording and live sound engineer and at some point had to play the music he was hearing. He's since added bohdran, cittern and cowbell to his musical lineup, and loves the Scottish and maritime influences in the music he plays.

Ahoy, Mateys! The 38th Annual Wooden Boat Festival

The 2014 Wooden Boat Festival is coming up September 5-7 in Port Townsend. Check out the Festival Schedule including the Shanty Sings on Friday and Saturday nights.

Good Times with Matt, Dan and Chris - Center Stage

JW Sparrow returns for August 13th Song Circle

JW Sparrow returns to lead the August 13th Song Circle at the Maritime Center in Port Townsend!

Click here for more about John Sparrow. You won't want to miss this Song Circle. Sparrow is an amazing and entertaining storyteller and balladeer!

 

Thank you to our sponsors: Northwest Maritime Center, Courtyard Cafe, Pippa's Real Tea and the Pizza Factory

First Shanty Sing of the Summer at the Northwest Maritime Center

Northwest Maritime Center Sponsors May 14th Song Circle with Wayne Palsson!

Wayne Palsson has been singing chanteys and maritime songs up and down the West Coast for almost a decade, focusing on songs with rich tones reflecting the fishing and maritime trades. His own nautical experience on the high seas and local waters helps to anchor his interpretations of traditional chanteys, new and local sea songs, and even a few overlooked classics by Gilbert and Sullivan. Wayne is the host of Northwest Seaport’s Chantey Sing Series.

Wayne will lead the May Sing Shanties Song Circle at the Northwest Maritime Center (upstairs, above the Chandlery and across from the offices) on the second Wednesday in May - May 14th - from 6:00 to 8:00p.m. The best maritime venue on the Peninsula, and one of the finest shanty singers in the Pacific Northwest - not to be missed!

FREE, family-friendly community gathering, and songbooks available to sing along... coffee, tea and cookies provided.

February 6th - The Shifty Sailors Lead Song Circle at the Northwest Maritime Center!

The Shifty Sailors are a male singing group from Whidbey Island, Washington, well known in the Pacific Northwest for their enthusiastic singing and crowd-pleasing presentations. They are unique in that they are one of the only large groups in the U.S. dedicated to a nautical repertoire.

Their main mission is to make sure the surrounding maritime communities understand their own nautical history, by singing where ever they are invited to have fun with the public. The Shifty Sailors consider themselves Ambassadors of Whidbey Island, the State of Washington and the United States when traveling here and abroad.

Save the Date! On February 6 from 6-8 p.m., the Shifty Sailors will be here in Port Townsend to lead a rousing and entertaining Sing Shanties Song Circle!

This is a free, family-friendly community event. Invite your friends. Come early to get a seat. You are welcome to bring a snack. Coffee, tea, cookies and songbooks provided.

The Port Townsend Pizza Factory will also deliver pizzas to the NWMC shanty sing, and give a 10% discount (menus available).

We meet on this first Thursday of February upstairs at the Northwest Maritime Center in the Maritime Meeting Room West, above the Chandlery and across from the office, library and restrooms.

Sing Shanties Song Circle Returns to the Northwest Maritime Center in 2014!

Do you remember? Did  you attend our very first Song Circle where we gathered in the Chandlery/Cafe area of the Northwest Maritime Center back on January 6, 2011? Nearly a hundred folks crowded together, sitting on chairs, on the floor, standing where ever they could. Good times!

Though crowded, anywhere from forty to a hundred folks, everyone loved that we were able to sing in a maritime environment.  This was the perfect venue for such a community event and most certainly fit the mission of the Northwest Maritime Center - "to engage and educate people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery."

When the cafe management changed, we moved upstairs to the Maritime Meeting Room, a room with a sweeping view of the bay and more space to create a true song circle. Even of a warm summer's night with Concert on the Dock happening across the park new folks trickled in out of curiosity, wandering upstairs following the wave of robust singing filtering out through the doors. Seventy-five folks filled the chairs and joined in the singing. More good times!

I am very pleased to announce that starting on February 6 of 2014, we will once again be holding our Sing Shanties Song Circle upstairs at the Northwest Maritime Center in the Marine Room - West, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. We will also be hosting a Sing Shanties Workshop from 5:00-6:00 p.m. just prior to our group shanty sing. Anyone is welcome to attend - this is the perfect opportunity to learn along with others some of those traditional maritime songs in our songbook that no one ever seems to know! 

Through the end of this year, 2013, we will continue to meet at the Uptown Community Center on Tyler Street from 6:00-8:30 p.m on November 7 (Dan Roberts leads) and December 5 (Dano Quinn leads) [Calendar]. Although we won't be meeting every first Thursday of the month in 2014, as we have for the past couple of years, we will continue to meet on the first Thursday of the month on February 6, May 1, August 7 and November 6. Thank you to the Northwest Maritime Center for continued support and sponsorship for our maritime community gatherings. If all goes well, the NWMC will remain our permanent home for our seasonal shanty sings, four times a year! Our song circles will continue to be free, family-friendly community events, where "singin' is encouraged, but knot required!"

Please take a moment to read what Jake Beattie, Executive Director of the NWMC & Wooden Boat Foundation, wrote as the foreword to our Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea songbook, published in 2012.

Nearly every book of shanties includes a well-written passage that describes the value of work songs for traditional ship’s work. I’ve read that shanties were as good as having an extra crewmember on the halyard, and that shanties were the only way that sailors could publicly express discontent with the officer ranks. This could be true, and likely is, but while I have given an enthusiastic voice to these old songs more than a few times as crew on traditional ships, it was always as much as a re-enactment as the vessels themselves. While I’ve been onboard more than one vessel with a captain whose lack of ability was only surpassed by their ego, I’ve never faced capital punishment for saying so. As much as I read, and as close to the original experience as I’ve gotten sailing and working in traditional maritime education, for me the true value of shanties in our modern times can be boiled down to a single word: community.

It’s been years since I’ve given up the quarterdeck and began managing maritime programs from the office. They don’t make shanties extolling the arduous navigation of a tough budget year, but as the first Thursday of the month rolls around, voices from the shanty sing downstairs rise up through the floorboards and lift my spirits. Downstairs, on good nights, there are as many as 80 people sharing in the community of song. Even on the nights where there are fewer each person is connecting to the simple melodies in their own way, out of their own experience, but doing so in a way that draws them closer to those around them. Outside of church services and baseball games, sharing in song is increasingly rare in a world full of social media, guarded irony, and entertainment largely left to professionals. You can connect with multitudes of online “friends” through short updates about your cat, but I would argue that song is more a powerful way to build community since it draws people together through the celebration, courage, and vulnerability of looking your neighbor in the eyes and offering your voice alongside of theirs. Shanty circles are a chance to do just that.

Shanties are songs of hardship, of victory, of toil and mockery. They are songs of participation that are better to sing along with than to watch performed. For better and worse, the age of sail is an echo of a memory generations removed from anyone who actually worked under the conditions in which these songs were created. We can't possibly connect with their original meaning and purpose. Yet, despite that they are a vestige, despite that for all of the scholarly research, I will never as a modern individual understand them in the same context as the sailors who created them. When a heartfelt group gathers to join in the fellowship of songs of the sea, at that moment at least a part of me is part of the crew that is bound for South Australia.

Jake Beattie

Keep on Singin' Shanties!

Come Sing Shanties with us at Pocket Yacht Palooza in July!

Sing Shanties Song Circle will be sing shanties at the NW Maritime Center plaza on July 21st, sometime between noon and 3pm. Please join us. Songbooks will be available to sing from. Check back for an update as the event gets closer. 

Join Tugboat Bromberg for our October 4th Song Circle!

Welcome back Tugboat Bromberg, who returns to lead our October Sing Shanties Song Circle. Our new songbook Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea is available through October 4 at the NW Maritime Center Chandlery and the evening of our October Song Circle (cash/check only) at a special 15% discount to shanty enthusiasts. So don't miss this opportunity to purchase a songbook for yourself at our introductory price. We do have songbooks to loan out during our shanty sings as well. We want everyone to be able to sing from our songbook - and all be on the same page, thanks to the grant we received from the Friends of the Arts. Take a look inside. Enter our contest to win a songbook!

Please print and share this flyer and link with others you suspect might be or have the potential of becoming a shanty enthusiast too!

Where can I buy meself a songbook, maties?

Our new 141 page Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea songbook of sea shanties and maritime song lyrics is currently available at the Northwest Maritime Center Chandlery, Crossroads Music, the Jefferson County Historical Society, Wandering Angus Celtic Traders and the Mad Hatter & Co. The Chandlery is offering an extended Wooden Boat Festival discount of 15% through October 4, as well as songbooks being available with the same discount at our October 4th song circle at 6:00 p.m. or emailing us at singshanties (at) gmail (dot) com (cash or check only). 

Songbook, Song Circles and Wooden Boat Festival

Ahoy Mateys,

Lots of great news to share with you today with the Wooden Boat Festival coming up next week with our new book of maritime lyrics available in the Chandlery at a special discount from September 7 thru Oct 4!

September Song Circles and Our Long-awaited Sing Shanties Songbook

A friendly reminder that we will not be having our monthly, first Thursday, Sing Shanties Song Circle in September, during the week of the Wooden Boat Festival. Instead, we encourage everyone to support and attend one or both of the two, free and fun song circles held annually during the WBF on both Friday and Saturday nights, see more information below.

We've all very much appreciated having multiple copies of several of Steve Lewis' notebooks to circulate amongst our song circle to sing from these past months, filled with many of his favorite shanties and maritime song lyrics, but now we will quite literally "be on the same page" - singing from one songbook with a collection of over 100 song lyrics.

The Sing Shanties Songbook Committee is very pleased and excited to announce that the songbook our committee has been working on this past year Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea - Special Expanded Collection of Stephen Gottlieb Lewis will be available during this year's 36th Annual Wooden Boat Festival at the Northwest Maritime Center Chandlery and before, during intermission and after the two free song circles hosted by Northwest Seaport shantyman Wayne Palsson, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. in the Marina Room at Port Hudson. They are known to be well-attended musical gatherings.

Here are the links for more information and a printable handbill with a special 15% discount valid for a limited time only. After our October 4 Sing Shanties Song Circle with Tugboat Bromberg, the Sing Shanties songbook can be purchased for the regular retail price of $11.95 + tax. To receive the 15% discount through October 4, print out the handbill with coupon and present it to the cashiers either at the Chandlery or at the table set up at the Marina Room where the WBF Song Circles are hosted.

• Songbook cover photo and details
• Printable handbill with 15% off coupon

Note: (1) Thank you to Port Townsend's Friends of the Arts for funding our cultural maritime project to make this special collection of maritime song lyrics available to everyone during our song circles. (2) For those who are unable to or prefer not to buy a songbook, our Sing Shanties Songbook Committee will have songbooks to loan out during both WBF song circles and at our own monthly song circles. (3) A songbook has also been donated to each of our local, public and maritime libraries. The Jefferson County Historical Society and both Jefferson County high schools will each receive a copy for their library as well.

After Oct 4, songbooks can also be purchased online using PayPal. Songbooks are also available wholesale to retailers with a UBI number. We appreciate your financial support by buying one or more songbooks and participating at song circles to revive and keep alive the tradition of maritime music and the working songs of the sailor. 

Contest to Win a Songbook

Tell us, What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor? 

Submit your original, family-friendly response(s) to this popular song's question by emailing them to singshanties(at)gmail(dot)com, to be eligible to win a Sing Shanties songbook. You have as many chances to win as the number of entries you submit. Deadline is October 3. Type "Drunken Sailor" in the subject line with one or more entries in the body of your email along with your Name and Phone Number. Winner's name will be drawn and announced at our October 4 Song Circle.

For details click here.

Tune in to KPTZ 91.9FM

If you have your car, business or home radio tuned to our local community radio station KPTZ 91.9FM, tune in to Phil Andrus' show Tossed Salad at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, September 7 during the Wooden Boat Festival. Broadcast live from the Station, Phil will be talking with shanty singers Wayne Palsson, Helen Gilbert, Tugboat Bromberg, Mark Olson and Mike James about maritime music with an opportunity to sing some of their favorite shanties, and chat with Lee Erickson about the release of our songbook. You can also stream KPTZ (kptz.org) live from your computer.

Please share this post with other shanty enthusiasts far and wide.

Be sure to LIKE us on Facebook and join us on Twitter (right sidebar links) to stay connected. 

Keep on Singin' Shanties!