The Shanty Show

SEASON 2 PREMIERE We're finally back after a long haitus! In this kickoff to Season 2, we welcome folklorist and musician Bob Walser to the show to discuss his journey into the world of shanties and, particularly, his work uncovering new shanties in the recordings and documents of 1930s collector James Madison Carpenter. We also discuss the historical significance of dreg songs, the influence...

Our guest is Canadian folk music icon Fergus O'Byrne. Fergus is an incredible singer and was part of the legendary Newfoundland band Ryan's Fancy who were awarded the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.  In this episode, we explore the early days of English and Irish folk music communities in Toronto and the East Coast, discuss Ryan’s Fancy’s popularity and TV shows,...

Poland has one of the world's most vibrant shanty scenes. In 2023, we performed at the Port Pieśni Pracy festival in Tychy, Poland where we were introduced to Marek Szurawski. Marek is a former merchant mariner and journalist who was instrumental in introducing shanties to Poland in the 1980s on his radio program Kliper siedmiu mórz . He still performs regularly as a solo act and with Stare D...

We bid farewell to the last living shantyman, George "Tall 12" Frederick. Tall 12 sang the shanties of his home town of Barrouallie as a whaling gunman and kept the tradition alive until his death on May 6, 2025 at the age of 79. He performed around the world in the early 2000s as part of the Barrouallie Whalers. We are joined by his friend Vincent Reid, film maker and producer Akley Olt...

The good people at CBC Radio One's 'Fresh Air' invited James and Stefan on to chat all things shanties as well as about the upcoming new Pressgang Mutiny album 'Departure'. We discuss the origins of shanties, connections to other musical projects, how 'Departure' came about, and premiered a version of 'Haul Away Joe' off the new album.

Tom Lewis is a brilliant singer and songwriter, and has written so many well-known and loved songs including “The Last Shanty”, “Marching Inland” and “Sailor’s Prayer”. Like Cyril Tawney before him, Tom is also a former submariner with the Royal Navy having spent years circling the arctic in diesel-electric submarines during the Cold War. We caught up with Tom in between performances on his recent...

We were invited onto Music from Studio 2 on CIUT89.5FM to sing some songs and chat about shanties. We cover a lot of what we've learned through our discussions on this show, share some music from our upcoming album Departure, and talk about some of our projects to further promote, preserve, and progress shanties.

Jack Coutts is a member of the legendary shanty group Stormalong John. We sat down with Jack and his daughter Hannah aboard the Pilgrim at the world's largest sea music festival in Paimpol, Brittany for a chat and a sing in between sets. We discuss the origins of the band, what it was like touring in Poland in the 80s behind the iron curtain, and performing with Stan Hugill. And of course we...

As part of our European tour, we stopped in at Whitby Folk Week to do a few concerts and sit down with our favourite shanty singer, Jim Mageean, or “Shanty Jim”. In a wide-ranging chat with plenty of singing and a wonderful live audience, we discuss the burgeoning shanty scene in Poland, Jim's 1983 victory with Johnny Collins at the Eastern Bloc's answer to Eurovision, the growing consen...

We're back with another special live episode, recorded in front of an audience at St. John's Church as part of the Connecticut Sea Music Festival.  Our guests this time are David Jones and Joseph Morneault.  David is a stalwart of the shanty scene in the North East US, moving there from London in 1965 and becoming deeply involved with the NYC folk music scene. He sings solo and with many...

Brise-Glace (Icebreaker) is a Montreal-based quartet who sing maritime folk from Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes, Brittany and North America. Comprised of Quebecers Jean-Francois and Antoine and Bretons Gwenn and Alexandre, they have a fascinating take on shanties as an international music and one that intersects many other musical genres. They're also the hosts of (...ahem) the world's s...

In our first ever LIVE episode, we took the stage in front of the wonderful Fundy Sea Shanty Festival audience to sing some songs and chat all things shanty with UK singer-songwriter-shantyman Chris Ricketts . We hear all about how he first fell in love with shanties, his time performing on cruise ships, as well as his approach to arranging and song-writing that came to life most recently on his a...

SEASON 1 FINALE: Canadian shanty singers Pressgang Mutiny talk to Martin Hugill the son of "the last shantyman" Stan Hugill who authored the seminal shanty tome Shanties from the Seven Seas. Martin is also a talented musician and singer in his own right, performing in a shanty duo with his brother Phil and with the concert and ceilidh band Canol. In this episode, we explore Stan's l...

Michał is a member of the Polish shanty group Perły i Łotry and a sitting Member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. Shanties play a special role in the Polish music scene, which is surprising given the country is largely land-locked! Michał talks to us all about how shanties came to be so popular in his country and what makes shanty singing in Poland different from anywhere else in the world....

Jon “JD” Darley is a member of the chart-topping shanty group The Longest Johns, based out of Bristol, UK. Their rendition of “Wellerman” went viral on TikTok in the early days of 2021 and launched them into stardom. But even prior to that, The Longest Johns were innovating new ways to reach new audiences with their music online. In this episode, we talk to Jon about the whirlwind of the last two...

Heather Wood first rose to fame as part of the legendary 60s traditional vocal harmony group The Young Tradition, alongside Peter Bellamy and Royston Wood. In this episode, Heather shares her story from deciding to leave the army to take up singing, through the formation of the YT, her adventures around the world including singing with Janis Joplin at the Newport Folk Festival, and Peter’s suicide...

Kimber's Men are shanty legends.  John, Neil, Gareth, and Steve joined us from Gareth's kitchen in West Yorkshire to sing a few songs and have more than a few laughs. We talk about how they got their start, some of their biggest highlights and fondest memories, and the joys of singing together. After 20 years, 4 albums, and hundreds of concerts there's not much they haven't see...

Ian Robb and James Stephens are singers and musicians based near Ottawa who have had a front row seat to the evolution of the Canadian folk music and sea music communities since the ‘70s and have played with groups such as The Friends of Fiddler’s Green and Finest Kind. They have just released a new album, Declining with Thanks that contains a mix of traditional and composed songs and, of course,...

In August of 2022, St. Martin's, NB will host the very first Fundy Sea Shanty Festival. Featuring concerts, workshops, children's programming, and even a pirate march, the Festival will be the only shanty festival in Eastern Canada. Gary Caines is the principal organizer of the Festival and is also member of shanty group Before the Mast. In this episode, he talks to us about how the idea...

Miguel Perez is a singer and multi-instrumentalist and a member of El Pony Pisador. Based out of Barcelona, El Pony have been making waves in the shanty world with their irreverent and fun interpretations on classic shanties, including on their latest album "It's Never Too Late for Shanties". Miguel talks to us about how the group first found shanties, how they've been received...

Coda are a County Mayo-based group of seven singers and musicians who have developed their own unique and richly-harmonised approach to vocal performance from diverse vocal and instrumental backgrounds, including folk, trad, blues, rock, pop music and of course shanties - all uniquely complemented by their multi-part vocal harmony experience gained from classical choral music. We talk to them abou...

Séan McCann is a founder of the iconic Canadian band Great Big Sea and an Order of Canada recipient for his advocacy for people living with mental health and addiction issues. His latest album, Shantyman, is a powerful return to the music of the sea that he grew up with. We speak to him about his first encounters with these songs, recording with Great Big Sea, his journey through addiction to reco...

The town of Barrouallie on the leeward side of the island of St. Vincent has a long history of longshore whaling. Taking to sea in 25-foot wooden whaleboats powered by rowing and sails, the whalers of Barrouallie developed a rich tradition of a capella work songs, many of which share their roots with well-known deepwater sea shanties.  In this episode, we talk with George “Tall 12” Frederick, one...

Ian Bell is a brilliant singer and songwriter from Southwestern Ontario with a deep fascination and passion for the traditional music of the Great Lakes. We met up with him at the Port Dover Harbour Museum to sing some songs and chat about the history of Great Lakes maritime trade, the songs it gave rise to, and how all that music would have been lost to time were it not for the efforts of one man...

In the late 1800s, ships from Yarmouth, on the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, could be found in every major seaport in the world. Many people in Yarmouth today can trace their heritage back generations to sailors, shipbuilders, traders, fishermen, and port workers – including members of the Yarmouth Shantymen. They’ve been belting out shanties around the East Coast for almost 40 years and it was...