A Look Inside the Sing Shanties Songbook

We thought you might like to take a look inside our 6"x9" spiral-bound Sing Shanties songbook to check out the style and format of the book and lyrics. You are viewing pages 18 A Note about Song Formats and 19 the maritime song According to the Acts. 

Our Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea songbook is 141 pages, which includes tributes to Port Townsend shantyman Stephen Gottleib Lewis (1941-2011), an alphabetical list of lyrics, a familiar verse index and glossary. Contributing writers include: Jake Beattie, Mike James Phimster, Wayne Palsson, Vern Olsen and Capt. Norm Stevens. Among the traditional shanties and maritime songs there are a few contemporary songs included by permission from Tom Lewis, Matthew Moeller, Vern Olsen, David Lovine and Gordon Bok. 

Our Sing Shanties songbook is Wire-O bound. The cover is Cougar Natural 80# paper and the text and lyrics are printed on Cougar Natural 60# paper.

Songbooks are available at the Northwest Maritime Center Chandlery at a 15% discount through October 4. You can order online by emailing us at singshanties (at) gmail (dot) com. Retails for $11.95, plus shipping and handling. We will also honor 15% discount via email order.

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). 

No "Sing Shanties" Song Circle during WBF - Support the Two Scheduled as Festival Events

Reminder - no Sing Shanties song circle tonight at the Maritime Center as is usually scheduled on the first Thursday of the month, during the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. Every years there are two shanty sings during the Wooden Boat Festival hosted by shantyman Wayne Palsson from Northwest Seaport. We encourage all shanty enthusiasts to support and attend one or both of these free, family-friendly song circles. Both sings are held in the Marina Room at Port Hudson Marina. 

Keep on Singin' Shanties!

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!

15% Discount on New Songbook for Shanty Enthusiasts thru 10/04/12

Ahoy, mateys! Get your 15% off coupon to purchase your very own copy of our newly published Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea songbook, valid through October 4th at the Northwest Maritime Center and at our October 4th Sing Shanties Song Circle at the Northwest Maritime Center (6:00 p.m.). 

This handbill, with our special offer, is available to save as a file on your computer and print here at singshanties.com, and available to pick up at the Port Townsend's Wooden Boat Festival and the NWMC Chandlery in Port Townsend (8/26/12-10/04/12). Our songbook will be available to purchase online at the retail price of $11.95 with PayPal after October 4th (applicable tax, shipping and handling not included). If you see this announcement on our site, but live out of area, and wish to purchase a copy at the introductory discounted price thru 10/04/12, send us an email at "singshanties (at) gmail (dot) com" with "Limited Offer" in the subject line before October 4th.

Don't forget to enter our What Do We Do with a Drunken Sailor contest to win a FREE copy of our songbook!

What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor - win a songbook!

Calling all shanty enthusiasts to enter our contest to win a copy of our new songbook Sing Shanties and Songs About the Sea - Special Expanded Collection of Stephen Gottlieb Lewis!

On page 48 of our Sing Shanties and Songs About the Sea songbook are the most traditional lyrics and common verses sung to Drunken Sailor, as follows:

What shall we do with a drunken sailor (3x)

*Early in the morning

Weigh heigh and up she rises
Patent blocks o' diff'rent sizes
Weigh heigh and up she rises
Early in the morning

Put him in the longboat 'til he's sober (3x)*

Put him in the scuppers with the hose pipe on him (3x)*

Pull out the plug and wet him all over (3x)*

Heave him by the leg in a runnin' bowline (3x)*

Put him in bed with the captain's daughter (3x)*

Make him scrub the bilge with a sawed-off toothbrush (3x)*

Shave his belly with a rusty razor (3x)*

Contest:

The number of original verses you submit will be how many times your name is entered in the contest. Email your entries to: singshanties(at)gmail.com. Put "Drunken Sailor" in the subject line. Along with your original verse(s), include your name and phone number. 

If you win, but are not present at our October 4 Sea Shanty Song Circle & Sing-Along, we will notify you by phone. The drawing for the winner will take place at our October 4 song circle at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend (6:00-8:30 p.m.) If the winner is present, he or she is invited to lead Drunken Sailor, featuring your original verse(s). A sheet with all the original verses submitted for the contest will be handed out during the October Sea Shanty Song Circle & Sing-Along for a rousing sing of Drunken Sailor with additional new verse options. 

Deadline: Wednesday, October 3.

[Note: the verses you submit must not contain any curse words, inappropriate language or sexually explicit content, as our song circles are family-friendly. Any verses submitted with such content will be disallowed.]

Click here to hear the tune to Drunken Sailor.

Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea

Sing Shanties is pleased to announce the publication of Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea. First available for purchase at the 36th Annual Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend - September 7-9, 2012. This special collection, compiled by the Sing Shanties songbook committee, has over one hundred traditional and contemporary lyrics about songs of the sea and the working songs of the sailor. The songbook is dedicated to the memory of Pacific Northwest shantyman Steve Lewis (1941-2011). Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea is a beautifully crafted 141-page collection in a spiral-bound 6”X9” formatted book, with a clear Mylar protective cover. The retail price is $11.95 + tax, but for a limited time only, the Chandlery is offering a 15% discount that is valid through October 4, 2012 with the coupon they will have on hand during and after the festival. If you are a member of the Northwest Maritime Center, the September newsletter will link a coupon you can print to redeem at the Chandlery. 

Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea - Special Expanded Collection of Steven Gottlieb Lewis includes the Foreword by Jake Beattie (executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation), the Preface by Lee Erickson (founder of Sing Shanties and songbook project coordinator), an Introduction by Mike James Phimister (local musician and shantyman), Remembering Steve - a conversation with Deborah Gottlieb Lewis, tributes to Steve by Wayne Palsson (host of Northwest Seaport's Chantey Sing) and Vern Olsen (director of the Shifty Sailors), A Brief Port Townsend Maritime History lesson by Captain Norm Stevens (courtesy of the Jefferson County Historical Society), a familiar phrase index and glossary. 

Sing Shanties & Songs About the Sea will also be available for purchase on this site using PayPal after October 4th. Please check back to order online.

For new visitors to our site, Port Townsend’s Sing Shanties Sea Shanty Song Circle & Sing-Along, is our free, family-friendly, community gathering of shanty enthusiasts, which meets the first Thursday of each month, except in September*, from 6:00-8:30 p.m. at the Northwest Maritime Center. Check our Song Circle Calendar for updates. "Singin' is encouraged by knot required!"

*During the Wooden Boat Festival (September 7-9), circle up and sing history with Wayne Palsson, host of Northwest Seaport's monthly Chantey Sing in Seattle, on Friday and Saturday night. The sing takes place in the Marina Room at Point Hudson, starts at 8:00 p.m. and ends when the last singer warbles. This year's sing remembers Steve Lewis.