Festival Groups

ACapella Moonshine is an all –female shanty group living in and around Falmouth.

We have been singing together for many years and, in 2013, were the first all-female group to appear at the Falmouth International Shanty Festival – inspiring other female groups to do the same!

We are very proud to say that we are “multi–generational”; our line – up of ten lovely ladies spans all the ages from 20 somethings to 70 somethings, and all the decades in between, but what unites us is our love of singing rollicking, rousing shanties and telling the tales of our nautical heritage, often from the woman’s perspective.

We sing a blend of shanties, Cornish songs and songs of the sea – many of which we “Moonshine” by adapting the locale and the gender to personalise the songs and set them in our beloved Cornwall. We also sing songs that are unique to us, written by ourselves or close friends to tell a personal story about our love for Cornwall and the sea.

One of our favourite things is to meet other groups and sing along with them. There is no surer way to forget your woes and worries than by a hearty rendition of rumbustious sea shanties!!

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The Aggie Boys Choir are your go to metamodern shanty ensemble, mixing traditional nautical folk with poetry, instrumentals and a benign attempt at comedy, the group are like none you shall see in Falmouth this year. The band has had many incarnations and were once described as a ‘Swiss army choir’. They have performed at Celtic festivals in Ireland and Brittany, turned their hand to a bit of theatre, managed a Ted Talk and featured on Channel 5’s Cornwall: A Year By The Sea.

Formed ‘neath the low beams of a Goonbell cottage, St Agnes’ unique architecture was key in shaping the resonating tones of the choir. Originally meeting with no intention on public performance a bagus* was bonded, with none bothering to enquire whether ‘twas a sensible act or no. Sam Stephens, who writes the majority of the songs, was inspired to tread this new path after one too many pints at Perranporth shout over a decade ago. Within 12 months the Aggie Boys Choir were thrust into the limelight with their debut cover, Row Row Your Boat.

Sam’s lyrics pay witty homage to the working class legacy of the region, whilst gently mocking outsiders interpretation of what is perhaps perceived as twee Celtic culture. Indeed pasties and jam, mine-stack and harbour, and of course the order of the cream, well it may well seem a postcard provincial novelty reduced to call and response to you and me, but for the choir, the line between humour and heritage is as clear as mizzle on the moor. If you asked them to explain their songs you may well hobble away, brain frazzled, wishing you hadn’t tread that particular cobbled path in the first instance. Forgive them for they know not what they shanty.

*Kernewic for group of friends

Aggie Boys Choir Facebook

All At Sea are fourteen women from Salisbury, where five rivers meet to run to the sea. We love to sing shanties and songs of the sea, particularly those that tell stories from women’s point of view. Our repertoire includes the classic shanties that audiences love to sing along with, but  also sing original songs that we have written, or that have been written for us, which tell personal stories of women’s lives in and around the sea.

Contact us via our  Facebook page – All at Sea

Putting a smile on people’s faces for 11 years!
Teignmouth’s Back Beach Boyz shanty & maritime folk crew are named after our famous “Back Beach” where everyone meets to watch the sunsets and socialise. Our Hawaiian shirts are inspired by the 60’s group the Beach Boys.
The band was formed on the 1st of February 2013 and so 2024 sees us celebrate our 11 year anniversary!
We believe in having fun whilst we are singing and we perform at suitable charity events for free – our 1st album, “Good Libations”, released in 2019, raised £1,000 for Macmillan. Our second CD “Captain Baarman’s Dog” was released in June 2024, along with an accompanying promotional video called “The Monk Of Lidwell Chapel’, which can be found on our You Tube channel. Our next CD, “Captain Jack Spratt” will be released soon. Many of the tracks on these 2 latest albums were written by several members of the band. We have had three new members join us at the start of 2024, so we are back up to our fighting strength!
E-mail: info@backbeachboyz.co.uk

Website: https://www.backbeachboyz.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBackBeachBoyz

Instagram: backbeachboyz2022
Twitter (X): @backbeachboyz
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@BackBeachBoyz

Bandcamp: https://backbeachboyz.bandcamp.com

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/back-beach-boyz

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Baldrick’s Plan Website

The Barnacle Buoys is a group of a cappella sea shanty singers based in North Somerset.  We exist to enjoy our craft, entertain our audiences and raise money for our chosen charities.  Our principle charities have been the Childrens Hospice South West and the RNLI.  These organisations rely upon donations in order to provide their invaluable services to those in real and often desperate need.  We thank all of our supporters and audiences for their contributions.

As for our input, we give our time freely and in return have a great time; we hope our audiences do too!

We are building an exciting new line-up for 2024.  The same old stalwarts are still here but we are adding some new, young singers giving both depth and vitality to our performances. Lets hope you agree.

In recent times we have consistently completed over 40 performances each year; this has enabled a significant contribution to the organisations we support.  So, if you might be considering a community, social, corporate or charitable event which may need a bit of swagger and song, why not consider a shanty or two to help you and, in turn, help others at the same time? We would be very pleased to hear from you.

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YouTube

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The Barrel Seagals are an all-women shanty crew from Bude.
Having only formed in April 2023, it was straight in at the deep end as their debut performance was broadcast on BBC as part of the Kings Coronation celebrations from around the country.
From there, they’ve been in demand both locally and further afield including some prestigious events – Widecombe Fair, Clovelly Herring festival, Port Isaac Shanty Festival and Plymouth Pirate festival, and with a full bookings calendar in 2024 they are enjoying their moment.
Their songs include unique takes on traditional shanties to represent the female perspective, original material based on local Bude legends, songs written by Cornish women such as Brenda Wootton and some humorous surprises.
They’re delighted to be at Falmouth Festival this year and can’t wait to sing for you all.

Formed in early 2020 in the village of Kennford, just south of Exeter, Bow Movement inject passion and energy into the West Country shanty scene.

Expect singing with gusto, instrumentation, interesting harmonies and arrangements of shanties, sea songs and folk ancient and modern.

Also expect raucousity, high jinks and off-the-wall humour from an upstart crew that have become a regular and unique feature on festival bills.

Come and enjoy a Bow Movement with us! “

‘It’s nice to have some eye candy around’

Woman in pub

‘The best shanty crew……from England!’

A Cornishman

‘The Take That of the shanty world’

An adoring fan.

‘Not bad for a bunch of bouncers from Mothercare’

Some fella called Brian.

Bow Movement Facebook

Bow Movement Twitter

We are the maritime folk band known as “Brise-Glace” hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Canada

BRISE-GLACE represents the fusion of two Bretons and two Quebecers, bringing together four distinct musical backgrounds that result in our performances being truly one-of-a-kind and enriched with diverse styles. Our roots and traditions are deeply embedded in Breton shanties and Quebec folk music. However, our influences extend far and wide, encompassing Cajun, American folk, Irish, Scottish, , Eastern European, and even Pacific musical elements.

Our performances are a vibrant mix of instruments, including the 5-string banjo, chromatic accordion guitars, washboard, foot rhythm, , Bodhran, bones and spoons all  of which contribute to the storytelling aspect as much as our four-part harmonious vocals. Our repertoire is versatile, spanning a wide range of rhythms from heartfelt laments to lively polkas and even frenetic Cajun beats, along with Celtic dances. In a nutshell, our music has something to offer for everyone.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve been on tour across Canada, Brittany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, bringing our energetic performances to the stage, pubs, festnoz events, and jam sessions. We’re passionate about sharing our music with audiences wherever we go.

https://briseglace.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/BriseGlaceShanties

https://brise-glace.bandcamp.com/

Our new Album “MARE LIBERUM” on Spotify: Also available on Deezer, Apple music….

We are also the broadcasters and producers of the sea shanty podcast and network https://bordeldemer.com/podcast/  and we are very involved in the Shanties/shanties/maritime folk community (networking, festivals, mutual support and sharing among shanty groups/bands).

Since 2017, Bryher’s Boys love of the folk repertoire, both Nautical and Cornish, have proved a hit with audiences both local and international, with over 300 performances clocked up to date in venues as diverse as crowded pubs, weddings, community events, fundraisers and large scale concerts.

The group are particularly proud to have represented Cornwall abroad at the 2019 Festival Interceltique and the 2022 Celtic Gathering and being asked to compose a “G7 Shanty” for the 2021 G7 Summit – performing it live on BBC News, reaching an audience of millions worldwide.

Contacts:

Bryher’s Boys Facebook

Bryher’s Boys Instagram

Bryher’s Boys You Tube

Bryher’s Boys Website

We are a group of 10 women shanty singers who formed in 2022, following a friend’s request for locals to sing at a village fete. We had minimal experience of performing, and for some of us the only singing we ever did was in the shower. Spurred on by the challenge, we practised and practised and nervously ventured out to face the audience, and had a whale of a time.

Bolstered by the experience, we decided to continue with our group and to see where it took us. If nothing else, a weekly meet-up over a glass of port, supporting each other through the ever-changing tide of life, seemed a good reason to carry on.

We constantly look into new songs, sometimes tweaking the words to match our style. We have enjoyed practising traditional shanties and songs about strong Cornish women and have been fascinated when looking into the meanings of the lyrics and the stories behind them.

Since our first gig, we have rehearsed in some unusual settings such as a preaching pit and a campsite’s laundrette! We have performed at many local events, in several pubs and twice at the Crantock Folk Festival. We have sung at a wedding and have also had the honour of singing at a friend’s funeral.

We are extremely excited about performing at the Falmouth Shanty Festival in 2024 and look forward to seeing you there.

C Birds Facebook

The Cadgwith Singers started many years ago in the Pub at Cadgwith with Buller and Hartley. The singing has changed over the years and many of the original singers are now gone, sadly missed, and their voices too. Their parts have been passed on to others who keep the traditional songs going. The songs are also changing a little. What has not changed is the Friday night gathering to sing, well, anything and everything really but always in the same unrehearsed and unique style. Long may this tradition continue.

These days the Cadgwith Singers are to be found singing in clubs, pubs, theatres and rugby matches all over Cornwall, wherever there is a convivial atmosphere and an audience that enjoys the unique, full blooded style of singing that never fails to please. Further afield there have been tours to various S.W. Counties, London, Ireland, France, and the Czech Republic.

All this from a group of people who just get together for the pure enjoyment of singing, and as their late great leader David Muirhead once said “You must remember we’re not a choir, we’re just a group of friends who just get together to sing the songs we love to sing”.

The Cape Cornwall Singers were formed early in 1997 in an attempt to resurrect the singing tradition in the local pubs around St Just. A very familiar sound at weekends and especially during St Just Feast, singing in the town had declined in recent years due mainly to the closure of our local tin mines.

The first of many public appearances came in April 1997, followed by a guest appearance at the Tall Ships concert at Falmouth Castle in July and the Cornish Gorsedd in September of 1998. Brief television appearances, the release of our first CD/cassette tape “Our Beautiful Land” followed by our second CD “Men of Cornwall” in 2000 and the local radio exposure have kept Cape Singers in the public eye. Much of our success is due to the efforts of singer songwriter Harry Glasson who continues to write many of our most popular songs about Cornwall, our people and our traditions.

The Singers have been on many “tours”, the first being the Isles of Scilly in April 1998. In October 1999, we sailed from Swansea to Cork and on to Listowel for three days, then on to Kenmare. On our return to Cornwall we had a request to sing at the Kernewek Lowender (world’s largest Cornish festival in South Australia), so in May 2001, 26 singers with their wives and friends set off for Australia.

Cape Cornwall Singers

Formed as a one-off for a talent contest in late 2008, Captain Cat and the Sailors are a shanty loving folk band that just keep on going.  Based in South Wales, they draw on a range of musical traditions including shanties, working songs, Welsh, Irish and American music to create immersive and engaging musical experiences with their audiences.  If you like stories, singing along and sinking beers then they are the band for you.

Twitter: @capcatsailors

Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/captaincatandthesailors/

Some of their music is available on iTunes and Spotify.

http://www.captaincatandthesailors.com

Culdrose Military Wives Choir was formed in 2012, inspired by Gareth Malone’s TV series ‘The Choir’; one of the first in the network that today comprises 72 choirs and nearly 2,000 members at British military bases across the UK and overseas.

A registered charity, the Military Wives Choirs bring women with a military connection together to sing, share and support one another.

The Helston-based choir has collaborated on three Military Wives Choirs albums and enjoys performing a diverse repertoire at a variety of occasions, from community events to large-scale venues.

Culdrose Military Wives Choir Facebook 

Culdrose Military Wives Choir Twitter

Culdrose Military Wives Website

Known as the Roseland Shantymen, after a couple of busy years following our evening with the World Leaders at the G7 in St Ives, this year is a bit more relaxed, although we still have a fairly full programme which suits five old men plus the youngsters, Simon and Jim.

Having fun and raising money for our charities, Childrens Hospice SW and the RNLI still keeps us busy and we now have an Electric Pirate that brings fundraising up to date.

A mix of traditional and our own shanties provides a great evening out and every week brings something new. Looking forward to Falmouth 2024!

The Dutchman, Hans Weehuizen “Dutch Uncle “ gives his workshop How To Play Bones, during  the Falmouth International Sea and Shanty Festival Weekend. 

Hans is also active with singing sea songs and playing on his one row squeezebox and concertina. One of the oldest instruments to make rhythm are “bones” (bone).

On board ships, there were not many instruments, so the men searched to make simple instruments themselves, from wood or bone.

During the whale fishing there was enough material on hand to make bones (rattle-bones). Today you can’t get whalebones so easily, so people use wood, which works very well. It gives you an extra opportunity to make additionals sounds. To play with bones is divergent of old-fashioned “rattles”. The difference is, how to hold the bones, it gives greater possibilities to play additional rhythms. You often hear bones being played during shanty festivals.

One of the promotors in Europe is Shanty Jack, who uses bones as an accompaniment on his songs.

In America it goes much further, if you visit the Festival in Mystic Seaport, you hear many bone players.

There is even a Rhythm Bones Society, who organize their own Bones Festival. They have members all over the world.

*) The workshop teaches you the first steps of how to play the bones

*) How to hold the bones

*) The first movement with music

*) There is enough learning material to practice

*) On sale, there is a complete course with a coursebook in English, tape and practice bones

*) But you can also make your own bones!

For the workshop schedule, view the festival programme and try ‘HOW TO PLAY THE BONES’. The workshops are of course free of charge.

To find out more about the Bones workshops see:How to Play the Bones Website 

Contact: hweehuizen@freeler.nl

Dutch Uncle Website

The Shout was born in the back room of the legendary Seven Stars in 2002.  Having sadly lost some friends and happily found new members in recent years, we are rejuvenated and looking forward to this year of the shanty festival we started in 2004.

We are, as ever, a group of friends who enjoy a song and a drink and raising funds for our charities, notably the RNLI, Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen and the Cornwall Air Ambulance.

Falmouth Shout Facebook Page

Femmes de la Mer are a group of women hailing from across Cornwall. Each individual member brings a unique sound to the group, yet it’s their blend of a cappella voices that has gained them recognition amongst the folk and sea shanty communities.

Led by musical director, Claire Ingleheart, this women+ group are known for their rich harmonies and bold interpretations of well known traditional songs as well as newly written shanties celebrating the lives and stories of Cornish women.

As well as launching their first album, Today’s Haul, a beautiful collection of shanties and songs of the sea, they recently appeared on the latest BBC series of Rick Stein Cornwall!

Femmes de la Mer Website

Femmes de la Mer Instagram

Femmes de la Mer Facebook

hellofemmesdelamer@gmail.com

Figurehead are an all female shanty group from North Cornwall who share a love of songs with a traditional, nautical and maritime flavour. In fact if it contains a reference, however slight, to water, we consider it fair game.!

The group originally formed as a bit of fun around a kitchen table for 5 women who shared a love of sea songs and harmonies. Over the years the personnel have changed but the love of singing in harmony together and entertaining people with foot stomping songs and shanties remains constant.

 Currently the members are Cath, Rachel, Sharon and Gill. As well as singing at local events, they can be seen performing at a wide variety of festivals around the South West. In 2023 they also enjoyed performing on Radio5 Live Sunday breakfast and appearing on CBeebies!

Figurehead Facebook

‘Flash’ comes from Georgian slang for a person living on the edge of ‘decent’ society but with a certain style which endeared them to their comrades if not to the authorities. ‘Jack’ is slang for a sailor.

We sing not only ‘straight’ shanties but also ballads, new songs and tunes, songs which show women’s experience of the sea (and seafarers) and songs and tunes reflecting the wider influence of coastal life and the resulting back and forth of songs and tunes between land and sea.

Flash Jack Website

Flash Jack Facebook

Flash Jack Twitter

Flash Jack Instagram

Formed in 2018 The Freddies have played at shanty festivals and events from Norfolk to Cornwall raising a smile and a song where we go and money for the RNLI. We’re a friendly trio and we play shanties, folk and singalong classics. We’re often described as ‘different’ which we’re very happy about !

Freddie’s Barnet Facebook

Freddie’s Barnet Website

Hit and Miss are a young, vibrant, local singing group who keep Cornwall’s musical heritage alive through song.

​Hit and Miss were formed after five school friends were heard singing with the regular singers of the Blue Anchor Inn, Helston one Spring evening in 2017. It was pointed out to us that we should form a group to perform for the ‘Helstonbury’ festival in the coming August of that year. This we duly did and after being very well received, we entered in to ‘Helstonbury’ 2018 with a little more rehearsing under our belts. Since then we have gone from strength to strength taking on many other engagements across West Cornwall. We throughly enjoy singing together and are proud of our reputation for rich four-part harmonies.”  Samuel Trounson

Hit and Miss Website

Jeff swain in a performer from the port of Fremantle on the west coast of Australia. He has recently retired from his day job of almost thirty years working on the Fremantle docks and nowadays he is found as part of the lost quays shanty crew who have been floating around
for quite a few years now having performed all around Australia and have also been fortunate enough to have performed in the Netherlands Germany and Britain in the past . Jeff now finds himself on a short solo expedition back to England where he is thrilled to be able to perform at the amazing Falmouth festival

Kessenyan are a three part harmony group made up of, Harry, Olly and Ruby, based in Redruth, Cornwall, singing sea shanties, sea songs and songs from the English/Irish/Scottish folk circuit. Kessenyan means harmony and it represents us perfectly as we are a group of young singers who sing the songs we want to sing and enjoy ourselves whilst doing it!!

Since 1991 the band of five from The Côtes d’Armor have strolled along with their songs related to the sailing world from The North to the South, from Iceland to Italy , Quebec to Estonia, not to mention The British Isles, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium or The Nethherlands.

The Souillés have already skimmed the stages of many famous sailing folk festivals in France or Europe.

Coming from various and different musical backgrounds, the members of the band succeeded in creating a group with its own identity full of friendship and complicity.

They play folk tonic songs and melodies flavoured with emotion, humour and laughter inevitably capturing their audience along.

Set the sails and weigh the anchors ! The Souillés will take you along to a trip on the  Coasts of Brittany, across the Channel and on a  cruise across on the World’s seas !

Such a fine mix of traditional songs pickled with a very special Celtic sauce !

Loose Cannons is a group of five friends who have many years experience singing with other shanty groups. We decided to get together in 2023 to get back to singing some of the songs we love in a smaller acoustic group, able to rock up and sing in smaller venues without the need for lots of PA gear, a kind of shanty Flying Squad! We hit the ground running in 2023 wiith successful gigs at Falmouth, Weston, St Ives and Mevagissey, as well as many smaller venues. Since then we have adopted the Fisherman’s Mission as our charity and have been lucky enough to attract sponsorship from the Harbour Tavern in Mevagissey. Our style is entertaining with lots of audience participation but, as our name suggests, you never know what to expect from Loose Cannons! We hope to see you over the weekend and make you smile!

Loose Cannons Facebook

Appearing at Falmouth for the 16^th consecutive year, Dartmoor-based Mariners Away is well known across the South West for performing traditional sea shanties and other maritime numbers at various events across the region.

Established in 2007, our name pays homage to ‘The Mariners’ Way,’ an ancient route frequented by sailors travelling between the ports of Bideford and Dartmouth. Situated along this route is South Zeal, where the King’s Arms inn, our rehearsal space, is believed to have hosted these seafaring travellers.

Comprising typically eight or nine members and occasionally ten, Dartmoor’s sole shanty crew entertains audiences not only at pub gigs and private functions but also at all the major shanty and folk festivals such as Falmouth, Port Isaac and the renowned Sidmouth Folk Festival.

Since our enjoyable sets at Falmouth last year, we’ve broadened our reach by staging exclusive solo concerts at prestigious venues such as The Plough Arts Centre in Great Torrington for example which has attracted a new wave of followers.

We also organised a special fundraising concert which we headlined at Exeter’s celebrated Corn Exchange in support of the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital. The event which was generously supported by our many friends from the world of music, raised an impressive £2500 for the hospital’s charity.

Prior to the concert, we were featured on BBC Spotlight, where presenter Natalie Cornah interviewed us, and we had the opportunity to serenade the South West TV audience as the regional airwaves were handed back to the national network. This memorable moment can be found on our YouTube channel.

For more information please visit our website https://www.marinersaway.co.uk
our dedicated YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@marinersaway9093
or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marinersawaycrew

Mel Babb was a founding member of Figurehead and has recently set out on a solo adventure; she has been described as a powerful singer and interpreter of songs with a unique style.

An irrepressible character who is well known on the folk and shanty circuit, Mel loves to share songs with singers and audience alike with a hint of Cornish passion and fun.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mel.babb.shanty

Following the success of ‘The Provident’ play in Brixham Theatre in 2015, a group of lads decided, as they had had so much fun singing together they would form a shanty group. Thus, ‘Missin’ Tackle Shanty Crew’ came together. With very varied backgrounds in singing it is the camaraderie of it all that draws them together. Their love of the sea and the very different way of life in days gone by is brought to together in shanties and sea songs including some old favourites that everyone will want to sing along too. Four of the crew are members of local male voice choirs. In the past twelve months, they have enjoyed singing in Brixham and beyond singing for many local charities and good causes. Like many shanty crews, their free annual quay concerts in the summer down under the Old Fish Quay on Brixham Harbour raise funds for local charities and good causes and are always very well received. This year they are appearing in shanty festivals in Cockwood – Starcross, Port Issac, Barry Island – South Wales and Mevagissey. Missin’ Tackle Shanty Crew are looking forward to appearing in the Falmouth International Shanty Festival for the first time.

The Molgoggers are a five-strong, a-cappella, all male group that hail from the town of Cobh. This pretty town is located on Great Island in Cork Harbour and it was from here that the RMS Titanic sailed on her ill-fated voyage in 1912.

The group was formed eleven years ago by a great local character, Jim Halligan, who sadly sailed for Fiddler’s Green in 2021.

We meet weekly in the Mauritania Bar to sing a few songs and lower several pints of stout. Our repertoire is a mixture of traditional sea shanties and contemporary maritime songs, all given the Molgogger treatment!  As long as the word sea is mentioned once in the song, it’s in our set list… We sing for fun and enjoyment and don’t take life too seriously so it’s quite normal to see us take the mickey out of each other, and the audience, during a performance!

Falmouth is the highlight of the year for us and we are delighted to have been asked back for the seventh time. Hope to see you all there. All Aboard!

Email:  themolgoggers@gmail.com

Events organiser:        Jerry O’Driscoll            + 353 (0) 86 8891973

General enquiries:      John Crone                   + 353 (0) 86 8329188

Molgoggers Facebook

Molgoggers Instagram

The Molgoggers TikTok

Molgoggers Website

Foot-stomping, carousing, singalong – with voices AND instruments (including a percussive box housing the bones of one of The Longest Johns)! Come be in the crew, have a laugh. We do old sea songs, folk songs, a couple of modern-ish covers, and salty drinking songs too! We pride ourselves on gigs with an authentic atmosphere and fun times.

The Monkeyfists are the UK’s most landlocked shanty band, hailing from central England, and this year is our tenth anniversary! So, shout, “10 already? You look so young!” when you see us, we’ll get the drinks in! Here’s to the next ten years of honest raggediness!

www.monkeyfists.co.uk

“We answer to the name of Month’s Advance!” Josh and Emily have played together since 2009. While living on an historic ship, they discovered a shared love of sea shanties and combined Emily’s folk fiddle with Josh’s irreverent double bass to underpin their versions of the Age of Sail’s finest salty classics, mixed with originals which they write, as often as possible, at sea.  Month’s Advance love Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, the Dreadnoughts and hanging out in maritime museums, so if you love those things, we hope you’ll love Month’s Advance, too.

Join us on:

Month’s Advance Instagram

Month’s Advance Facebook

Nankersey Male Choir – based just across the Penryn River at Flushing.

A male choir composed of individuals from differing jobs and homes, with varied temperaments yet united in their love of music, and when the baton is raised, they are ‘as one”. They sing a varied repertoire of popular, classical, sea shanty and folk songs.  Accompanied by Michael Uren and led by their Musical Director, Elaine Tangye.

New members always welcome, Monday 7.30pm Church Hall Flushing.

This year will be the twelfth time Nordet have participated in the “Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival”. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the festival, in addition to many new songs, uilleann pipes will accompany the accordion, the bouzouki, the guitar, the banjo and the violin.

For this occasion, Nordet will be made up of five crew members: Philippe Falquerho, Francis Arzul, Hervé Chevrolier, Pierre Guillemot and Didier Allain, all of them used to having their sea-legs on big stages as well as at parties and cabarets. For about 35 years Nordet has been performing traditional sea shanties and its own creations. The crew knows how to make people dance or sing in a festive spirit or be moved by a lament.

Nordet have sailed from Lorient, their home port, to New York; from Paimpol to Liverpool and from Hoorn to Douarnenez. Nordet’s energy, voices and instruments will sweep you away in a gale. These five sailors, exuberant and joyful, will embark and allow the public on board, from dead calm seas to storms, from the middle of oceans to the docks, and from Breton taverns to Cornish pubs. Nordet is a warm wind, a friendliness and an ability to mobilize the public. So welcome on board you sailors.

Nordet Website

Nordet Facebook

Odds n Sods are as the name implies are a group of like-minded friends who enjoy singing together, over the last three years we have raised over £6500 for various local charities.
This will be our second visit to Falmouth and if it’s anything like last year, will be a blast.

Odds & Sods Facebook

Newquay’s rehearsed acapella chorus “Oll an Gwella” has wowed audiences with 4-part Cornish, folk, seasonal & shanty songs since 2010. Representing Cornwall live on ITV, BBC & German channel ZDF; on the deck of the Cutty Sark; from the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, Brittany; and from Newquay’s Boardmaster’s stage, their passion for Cornish culture & heritage resonates through their performances at home and abroad including annual appearances at Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival, of course, and other shows and festivals.  Fees, donations and CD sales have raised more than £55,000 for their adopted Cornish charities since 2015 and their 3 charity albums mix 4-part Cornish singing with culture & smiles – 3 key elements of an Oll an Gwella performance!

Find out more at Oll an Gwella’s Website: https://ollangwella.co.uk

Or Facebook – Oll an Gwella

This Bristol crew are the stuff of legend, singing traditional working sea shanties and songs of the sea, often celebrating Bristol’s renowned maritime history.  Join crewmates Rev, Nobby, Skipper, Art, Fish, Paddles, Chuffer, Doc, Ol’Bill and Ash for some rollicking entertainment, ship-shape and Bristol fashion.  Fun and friendship, melody and mirth.  Guaranteed.  They don’t claim to be the best or brightest shanty crew in Bristol.  We just know that they “Arrrrgh!”

www.pobshantycrew.co.uk

Facebook

Press Gang Facebook Page

Press Gang Website

Saturday 15^th June 10am Indidog Stage

Primary Sea Shanty Singers accompanied by members of the Cornwall Youth Folk Ensemble.

Children from Penryn Primary Academy, Mylor Bridge Community Primary School, Bosvigo School, Truro and Threemilestone Primary School will be performing at Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival at 10am on Saturday 15th June at the Indidog Stage.  Possibly some of our youngest shanty singers in the Festival and this year they’re singing some in Cornish.  They’ll be joined on stage by members of the Cornwall Youth Folk Ensemble. Come along and show them your support!

The River Notes have been singing since 2016. They are a mixed choir of 40 members who sing for the joy of it and always have fun both rehearsing and performing. They still hold weekly practise sessions at the Falmouth Cricket club which also gives the singers a chance to refresh their vocal cords at the bar!

As well as Shanty and songs of the sea, the River Notes sing pop, well-loved rock oldies, Cornish and other folk material as well as original material by local composers. Essentially anything that is cheering, rousing or toe-tapping!! Last year was an exciting year for the River Notes with new performance opportunities including a wonderful gig with many local Cornish choirs on the King Harry ferry accompanied by a brass band ensemble. They sung a new choral piece, A Candle Shines music composed and conducted by Gareth Churcher and words by Bob Willmot. The River Notes also sang at the Source FM Parklive in June and some choir members took to the stage for the first time in the cast of the new musical Bal Maiden Musical produced by Cobb Riddle and Spall Music Theatre and written by Lucetta Radcliffe. This year the River Notes are part of the Princess Pavilion Summer Sessions festival. Their next performance date singing in the Garden room at the Pavilion is on Monday 14th July We are so happy to have been invited back to sing at the 20th Falmouth Shanty Festival.

The River Notes are conducted by Lucetta Radcliffe and accompanied by Nicki Tumbridge and perform in a variety of local settings and events. Please get in touch if you would like us to sing for you. We can be contacted through our facebook page, River Notes choir. https:// www.facebook.com/rivernoteschoir New members are always welcome.

We are a group of traditional singers from Cornwall with a worldwide reputation for lively singing of shanties, sea songs and folk songs. Performing together since 1991 from the Eastern seaboard of the USA to many places in Western Europe as well as national TV work and many more local events, we take our name from a well-known local drink reputed to have been enjoyed by smugglers and of course we are always delighted to allow you the opportunity to buy us a sample for you to try!

We always look forward to the International Sea Shanty Festival, it’s such a wonderful event and having performed at every single one there is always plenty of good singing to listen to with a terrific atmosphere and an opportunity to meet friends and colleagues old and new.   We want you to enjoy our singing so find our venues for the weekend on the programme or festival website and come and watch the show or buy CD’s from the group and from record stores. We’ve even mastered the art of making our music available electronically!

We look forward to making new friends and hearing new songs wherever we go, and we very much hope that you enjoy our singing as much as we do. Just follow the contact links for enquiries and bookings.

Rum and Shrub Website

In his lifetime, he has been known by a few names and faces. But now, just Sam seems to do it. After spending most of his adult life in London (someone has to), he chose to do the correct thing, and move across the country to Cornwall, where he now has lived happily for the last few years. Not quite local, but local enough to live just up the road.

He had his passion ignited for singing and playing various musical instruments from LARP, or Live Action RolePlay. Normally, this involved heading into woodlands and beating the hell out of each other with foam swords wearing plate armour, whilst pretending to be someone else. But also included singing in various styles, from Folk and Celtic, to traditional Sea Shanties.

For many years during these events, Shanty Nights were his favourites. Hours upon hours of the best of the best. Through his many many solo performances, he’s also written his own music, inspired by some of the greatest, from Stan Rogers, to The Longest Johns, with also various forms of modern music.  He has been overthinking every last detail for months to provide some of his favourite music, for his first proper appearance! (At least this one has electricity)

Soundcloud Link: https://on.soundcloud.com/cWQg4

In 1885 a whale was found on a bank of the River Severn, and more than a century later the Severn Whalers are still looking for another….                                                            

A group of four friends from villages along the banks of the Severn, the Whalers came together six years ago over a shared love of sea shanties and songs of the sea.

Highlights from 2023 were the numerous Shanty Festivals they were able to attend, including Falmouth, Mevagissey and their first trip into France for Festival du Chant de Marin in Paimpol, together with the recording of their first CD, Moves on the Water.

They are delighted to be returning to the fantastic Falmouth International Shanty Festival again in 2024.

Shantymen Kaap Hoorn is a polyphonic shanty choir from Hoorn (NH). Hoorn is an old V.O.C. city ​​on the Markermeer. The choir sings shanties, seasongs and nautical folk. The choir has existed since 1995. Instrumental accompaniment is provided by a combo. This combo consists of musicians who play various instruments, such as accordion, guitar, violin and bodhran (Irish drum). The bar is high at Shantymen Cape Horn. Our goal is to create the best possible musical product, we are amateurs but with a professional ambition.

You can find more information about our choir and performances via www.Kaaphoorn.nl.

The Sheringham Shantymen were launched in 1990 and in 2024 they celebrate their 34^th Anniversary.  They support the RNLI performing at lifeboat stations around the United Kingdom and Ireland and purchased a lifeboat for the RNLI at Wicklow in 2007. They have travelled widely throughout the UK, Europe, and the USA. The Shantymen have completed over 1,300 public performances, made three videos and recorded seven CD’s. This year they are concentrating on helping the RNLI mark its 200^th anniversary by undertaking a ‘Sail of two Centuries Tour’ to various RNLI & local Theatre venues to help celebrate the occasion.

The Sheringham Shantymen Website

Youtube

Facebook

Having just celebrated our 20^th anniversary with a sell-out theatre concert, Short Drag Roger continue to bring shanties and sea songs to the landlocked people of Oxfordshire and further afield.  With our unique close harmonies, we have performed at shanty and folk festivals all over the UK and Europe as well as pubs, theatres, village shows and other venues closer to home.  We not only sing traditional shanties to our audiences a capella but also more modern sea songs and a growing number of self-penned numbers.

Short Drag Roger Facebook Page

Short Drag Roger Website

So your hopes have all but withered, sunk in Essequibo River,
Yes, you’re in too deep and drifting out too far;
Well there are times in all our lives, when there’s nothing will suffice
But Simon, singing shanties with a harp.

‘Haul away boys,’ cries the mate, ‘Too all it cometh, soon or late,
That moment when he’ll Leave Her Johnny, Leave her!’
Then, only harpists who sing shanties, can relieve you of such fancies
And such terrors as the ravages of fever.

If all about you now are losing theirs and blaming it on you
It’s fair to say there’s only one hope you have left;
So, when your day is at its darkest, call upon a shanty harpist
Through the hurricane though it be your last breath!

So when The Rosabella sinks, and John Kanacka takes to drink,
And Tom has Gone To Hilo in a cart;
Then through the storm and the tornado, who will fly to serenade you?
Simon, singing shanties with his harp!

The Steamboat Mutineers are a musical, Steampunk themed,  performance group from Exmouth. Formed in 2023 and including experienced musicians and singers, from around the Exmouth and Exeter area, SBM always perform a variety traditional and original sea songs, presented with a good deal of humour.

Stuns’ls  were formed in Mevagissey, Charlestown and Truro Cornish Pilot Gig rowing clubs and named from one our earliest songs “Old Maui”. Stuns’ls is sailors slang for the Studding Sail, an extra sail that can be hauled out on a square-rigged vessel’s yardarm to run in light winds.  

We are a light-hearted bunch, who doesn’t take life to seriously and have a lust for harmonies, always seeking out that extra note. Over the last two years we have had the honour of singing for King Charles and the Queen consult, played a part in Rick Steins Cornwall (2021), and are the voices for Visit Cornwall’s G7 campaign, whilst also performing for German TV and singing at the Bremen International Shanty Festival in Germany. 

We strive to make those chords ring and to put a smile on spectators faces, whilst ensuring that we promote Cornish harmonies and songs of the sea.       

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The Suitcase Singers – are a 50 strong community choir led by Musical Director, Claire Ingleheart and based in Penryn.   Being by the sea, they have a love for shanties and folk songs, old and new and have a rich repertoire of traditional Cornish songs and contemporary songs that reflect the incredible stories of our Cornish heritage.

Facebook Page

Swinging the Lead began singing shanties and maritime folk songs in 2010 and are based in North West Kent on the banks of the tidal River Thames.

They have been the resident Shanty Singers on the famous tea clipper ‘Cutty Sark’ at her dry berth in Greenwich since 2011 and regularly perform at festivals in the UK on overseas. Simon, Andy, Pete, Paul and TC have cemented their reputation and place in the worldwide sea shanty community.

The band have their own unique style and perform traditional shanties and contemporary maritime songs – but with an upbeat, foot-tapping twist!

Most of the members have sea going experience including on tall ships and all have a keen interest in the sea and maritime matters.

www.swingingthelead.com

The Five Men Not Called Matt say hi to all our friends old and new. It will be great to see, hear and sing with you again at good old Falmouth.

We will be singing around the town, in pubs, on stage, on the pavement, in the shower, wherever !.

So, see you at Falmouth join in, raise the roof, lets make it a great weekend out

Mine’s a pint or three of whatever’s going please. (Singing is very thirsty work)

We are:

• Tim Hauge
• Andy Powell
• Michele Welborn
• Ian Welborn
• Brian Peckett
• Rob Scott
• John New

Brian for the Five Men Not Called Matt.

 The Five Men Not Called Matt Facebook

The 85ers are a shanty group made up of 6 active sea going lifeboat crew from RNLI Portishead. Fully acapella, we sing a wide range of shanties. We formed during a lock down in 2021, and have been performing at various shanty festivals and pubs across the south west ever since. Last year we were very honoured and proud to represent sea shanty singers and the RNLI on a national stage, singing for the King in the Coronation Choir at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle.

The 85ers Facebook Page

The Chantry Buoys, the original and youngest East Devon shanty group, singing for fun and local charities, originally formed in 2016. We keep on going through storms, monsoons, viruses, nothing stops us!

The Chantry Buoys Website

It’s difficult to find a musical genre that would fully describe The Countrymen, but Folk Rock Harmony comes close.

A five-piece band featuring tight four-part vocal harmony and strong instrumentation. Primarily performing original songs and their own arrangements of known contemporary folk, the band’s lyrical inspiration is drawn from life in Cornwall, the demise of local industries and other rural issues that resonate throughout the country. The Countrymen are accomplished performers, engaging the audience with light-hearted banter and back-stories to their songs.

The Countrymen perform up to 50 live gigs per year including spring and autumn concert tours, festivals and other folk events. These include Little Orchard Festival, Rock Oyster Festival, Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival, Falmouth Oyster Festival and Falmouth Week.

“These guys are really entertaining. The musicianship, vocal harmonies and the humour all come together to provide a great evenings entertainment” – Graham Bunney.

They’ve also appeared at Looe Saves The Day, supporting Paul Young’s Los Pacaminos, headlined at Bridport Folk Festival and are looking forward to appearing at Bie Diap in TheNetherlands, Europe’s largest folk and sea song festival. More recently, The Countrymen have been shortlisted for Glastonbury’s Pilton Stage 2024. The Countrymen have also made several appearances on West country Television, BBC Radio Cornwall and numerous online folk radio stations.

“If you get the chance to see these guys (The Countrymen) in concert then take it, you will not be disappointed” – Harry Glasson.

To date, the band have released two albums, Trees on the Hill and The River Rolls On, both available on CD and all major streaming/download sites. They are currently working on a third album to be released later in the year.

Website: thecountrymen.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/countrymenband

Instagram: @thecountrymenbandcornwall

Video Clips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_yXiVqHLdU

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1vckoqyyf88afn5/The%20Wreckers.mp4?dl=0

Back in the day the Fisherman’s Friends, then unencumbered by fame and fortune, came down from Port Isaac and took part in the joyous very first-ever Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival. Our old mate Trevor was still with us then, and as a fair-sized crowd gathered around us singing on Custom House Quay I remember him dryly remarking, ‘Here, I don’t think we’re as bad as we think we are’. I think that apart from the dreadful Covid years, we’ve only missed one festival, and it really is one of the highlights of the year for us.

The Fisherman’s Friends musical has been touring the country, and we had a cracking weekend with them over in Toronto when the company embarked on a seven week run over there. We’ve been all over the UK since November, and the tour’s been sold right out (no accounting for taste eh!) – excitingly we’ve had a former member re-join us to beef the vocals up a bit, and with the addition of another new talented musician as well as loads of new material, hope that you find that we sound stronger than ever.’

So, all round, the sea shanty is a bit viral at the moment, which for those of us who’ve loved these old songs for years is just the best news possible. With our group members’ long standing connections with the Port Isaac and Padstow RNLI, we are so looking forward to supporting the Institution and performing at Falmouth again, and maybe even getting a sly kiss on the cheek from Betty Stoggs, a proper maid if there ever was one!

Fisherman’s Friends Facebook

Fisherman’s Friends Website

The Following Seas shanty group was formed in 2022 to provide music for the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Fairwinds Mission Centre and more generally to the Shanty Festival of that year. In the end, he didn’t show up, but the choir still sang. Following this slightly ill-omened beginning, the group has reformed for this year, but now to take part in the festival more generally.

The group ranges in age from 20s through to 70s, and while many of its members are associated with music-making in King Charles the Martyr Church in the centre of Falmouth, not all are. The group’s unique selling-point(s) are its inclusion of new arrangements of existing shanties that combine a folk and Jazz vibe, of classical songs with a nautical flavour (including solos) and a rigorous approach to harmony that sees the group split occasionally into as many as 8 parts.

The group is led by Richard Bailey, who also serves as Director of Music at KCM.

Having met and bonded over sea shanties across a kitchen table in their native Bristol a decade ago, The Longest Johns – Jonathan ‘JD’ Darley, Andy Yates and Robbie Sattin – have sailed the seven seas in the name of the “rock ‘n’ roll of 1752” to grace the stages of international folk festivals, tour the UK, Europe and North America, and appear on TV.

To celebrate ten years of pitching and rolling in brotherly harmony, in October the band are set to release a tin anniversary edition of their self-released debut EP Bones in the Ocean. That follows their latest tour of Canada in September as they build towards the release early next year of a new studio album – their ninth but the first as a three piece following the departure of co-founder Dave Robinson in May.

By any standard The Longest Johns have enjoyed a whirlwind of a journey these last ten years. As well as eight full length albums, they’ve released four EPs and nine singles, including the 2021 version of ‘Wellerman‘ that began a sea shanty craze on social media as a 150year-old folk song from New Zealand became a worldwide viral sensation, sweeping the group to the #2 berth on the US Spotify Viral Chart and #5 Global.

They’ve racked up more than 500 million streams across all platforms, signed up more than half a million YouTube subscribers and logged some 200,000 hours watched on Twitch. Their gaming partnerships include Sea of Thieves and Wanderworld and they’ve recorded the soundtrack to No Man’s Wife, a new film made by the co-producers of the Fisherman’s Friends films

The Longest Johns Website

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

The Navy Larks Facebook Page

If our history forms the people we are, then it is the places we inhabit that shape the people we become. Our love for the history and the community of our hometown, Falmouth, is intense but unsentimental. As we grew up, it was folk songs that bound us to this special place. Our fathers sung them in male voice choirs, our brothers sung them at Falmouth Working Boat regattas, our sisters sung them at Pilot Gig Races and we all tried to sing them down the pub…

For over a decade, The Oggymen have championed contemporary Cornish folk music and celebrated those songs that bind Cornish people to their community and to their past. We are known for our tight harmonies and rousing performances that convey the rugged beauty of the Duchy and celebrate her peerless industrial heritage.  The Oggymen’s performances at this year’s Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival will feature new musical arrangements that will captivate the heart of the every Cornishman or Cousin Jack.

http://www.oggymen.com/

The Perraners are a long established and eclectic group from Perranporth who sing Cornish songs and songs the Cornish love to sing.  With a huge repertoire including sea songs, shanties and lullabies in 5 part harmony, they can often be found  at The Seiners Arms by the beach in Perranporth on a Tuesday evening, with glass in hand and in full voice!

They have performed at festivals and concerts the length and breadth of Cornwall, including the Mediterranean biome at the Eden Project and Truro Cathedral.  Further afield they have sung in the grounds of Carmarthon Castle in Wales and in an oil drum on Orkney! They’ve even had to  take their passports to France!  The Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival will, however, be a first for The Perraners and they are excited to be taking part alongside so many other talented singing groups.

The Perraners Website

The Perraners Facebook

The Rusty Tubs are a mongrel band of 10 (or so) , A Cappella, sea shanty singing Jack Tars. We sing traditional sea shanties, songs of the sea, military songs, drinking songs and folk songs. All on traditional themes: being at sea, drinking, working and getting mistreated, fighting, tragedy, poverty and general skullduggery. We’re loud, rough and ready, with a punk attitude, but a certain style. Drunken revelry is a certainty!

The Sea Gals are an all-female sea shanty crew, formed in Totnes, bringing you traditional working songs of the sea and other nautical numbers. Our passion for the sounds and stories of the harbours, ships and voyages across the Seven Seas helps to keep these traditional songs from being lost to the deep..

Instagram: the_sea_gals_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theseagalsshanty

The Steepholmers formed in Weston-super-Mare in early summer 2018, with a little help from a certain popular video game with a nautical theme (seriously!). We are the organisers of the Weston-super-Mare Sea Shanty and Folk Music Festival https://www.wsmshantyfest.com

We meet every Wednesday for rehearsal and perform a range of popular sea shanties and sea songs, always remaining keen on learning new ones to enhance our repertoire.

We perform in public for community groups, in pubs, in bars, and at Sea Shanty Festivals around the UK. We play every 3rd Wednesday with invited friends our regular monthly ‘Shanty Night’ in Fork ‘n’ Ale, Weston-super-Mare.

The Steepholmers Twitter
 The Steepholmers Website

The Steepholmers Facebook

Toby Webb Facebook

Treizhadenn is a Breton group (Crossing in English) coming from Paris area.

It is composed of musicians (vocals, chromatic accordion, guitar, flutes, saxophone, Bombardes, bass and percussions). Treizhadenn is 17 years old. We perform through-out France and abroad in Wales and Cornwall. Our repertoire is almost exclusively composed of group creations (music and lyrics) it is dedicated to the sea, sailors and Brittany. Most of them are dance tunes from different terroirs of Brittany and Celtic countries.

We have recorded 4 CDs. For more details you can visit our website, where you will find videos and CD extracts.

Treizhadenn website

This year is the 20^th anniversary for the Wareham Whalers. We enjoy singing a wide range of shanties, songs of the sea as well as a number of songs composed by members of our crew. We adopt the style that sailors would have used nearly 200 hundred years ago when working. So we sing with no accompaniment and where appropriate put in the stresses that would have signalled a pull on the heavy ropes.

Whilst singing we raise money for local charities including the RNLI, regularly singing for their lifeboat naming ceremonies at their headquarters in Poole.

We enjoy performing our own concerts and have five this year raising money for the RNLI in their 200^th year. We love singing at festivals both in this country and in France. We also enjoy putting on workshops to explain the origins and practical uses of shanties and simply getting other people involved and interested.

Call us to book us. Most of our income goes to local charities, and not to ourselves.

Wareham Whalers Website

Hailed as ‘Sea Shanty Favourites’ in their native Shoreham-by-Sea, the Wellington Wailers were formed in 2012 by a small group of likeminded ‘sea dogs’ interested in singing traditional shanties. Their repertoire has expanded to include a number of ‘fore-bitters’ and some more bawdy favourites.

The Wailers regularly fundraise for the RNLI, contributing approaching £9,000 to-date.  At last year’s Festival they collected over £1500 thanks to the efforts of super collectors “Bucket Dave”, Val & Carly at their performances – Keep and eye out for them and dig deep!

Their performances focus on humour and enjoyment, with a harmonious and rousing sound that fans adore. Everyone is encouraged to join in with any mischief and shenanigans that the Wailers embark on.

Wellington Wailers Website

Will Keating’s passion for his home county of Cornwall shines through in his music. The award winning singer song-writer, also one of the members of popular Cornish male singing group The Oggymen, has wowed audiences far and wide since embarking on a solo career in 2017. Two sold out headline performances at the iconic Minack Theatre, cemented Wills reputation as one of Cornwall!s stand out performers. Will is also known for his involvement in various community projects, including organizing and performing at various events, workshops, and cultural festivals. His contributions to the community often extend beyond music, promoting Cornish culture and supporting local initiatives.