David Coffin

Last updated
David Coffin
David-coffin.jpg
Born
Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation Folk musician
Years active1980–present
RelativesReverend William Sloane Coffin (father)
Arthur Rubinstein (grandfather)
Emil Młynarski (great-grandfather)

David Coffin is an American traditional folk musician specializing in early music and maritime music, based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. [1] He is the song leader for the Revels music programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] He also presents music enrichment programs for schools throughout New England. One program is based on the history of the recorder, and the other is called Life at Sea: A Voyage in Song.

Contents

Coffin has a bass-baritone voice and plays various types of concertinas, recorders, and whistles, in addition to archaic instruments like the shawm, rackett, or gemshorn. [7] He comes from a musical background: his father, Reverend William Sloane Coffin, studied to be a concert pianist with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, his grandfather was pianist Arthur Rubinstein, and his great-grandfather was Polish conductor Emil Młynarski. One of his ancestors was Tristram Coffin, an early English settler in Massachusetts and prominent part of the whaling industry of the 1600s who bought Nantucket Island in 1659 for thirty pounds and two beaver hats. [8] [9]

He leads several sea shanties, including the title song, onscreen in the 2019 Maine-set film Blow the Man Down . [10]

In 2010, Coffin posted to YouTube a version of "Roll the Old Chariot" recorded at that year's Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, featuring him leading a crowd singing the song. It has over six million views as of December 2025. [11]

Discography

In addition to contributing to a variety of collaborative CDs for Revels Records and North Star Records (both are local New England recording labels), Coffin has also recorded four solo albums: Flight of Time, Nantucket Sleighride, Safe in the Harbour, and Last Trip Home which he recorded with his daughter Linnea. All feature traditional and maritime music, some of which is taken from the singing of Ewan MacColl and Stan Rogers. During the pandemic he also recorded three digital albums: one is a virtual hymn sing, one is a live broadcast Maritime Concert, and the third is called The Sound of Time. This last album is a composite of songs requested on TikTok. Every song was recorded in one take with no editing.

He is credited on four songs on the 2020 soundtrack album for Blow the Man Down.

References

  1. ↑ Blagg, Chris. "David Coffin – Rockport Music" . Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  2. ↑ Sea Shantyman Brings New England's Seafaring History To Life Through Songs, NPR, 2017, retrieved 13 March 2023
  3. ↑ Through Song And Story, A True Sea Shantyman Offers A New England Maritime History Lesson, WBUR, 2017, retrieved 13 March 2023
  4. ↑ Enchanted by shanties? Revels revs up free online show, Boston Herald, 2021, retrieved 13 March 2023
  5. ↑ Musician visits Marston School, Seacoast Online, 2004, retrieved 13 March 2023
  6. ↑ Man Steps Into The Center Of A Crowd To Sing A Sea Shanty, Littlethings.com, 2015, retrieved 13 March 2023
  7. ↑ "David Coffin - David Coffin's Bio". David Coffin. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  8. ↑ Springer, Shira (June 16, 2017). "Through Song And Story, A True Sea Shantyman Offers A New England Maritime History Lesson". WBUR. Boston, Massachusetts. Retrieved 2025-12-12.
  9. ↑ Gardner, Frank A MD (1907). Thomas Gardner Planter and Some of his Descendants. Salem, MA: Essex Institute. p.  1.
  10. ↑ Juillerat, Rachel (March 15, 2021). "One Year Later, "Blow The Man Down" Deserves Another Chance". Independent Magazine. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  11. ↑ David Coffin - "Roll the Old Chariot" , retrieved 2025-12-12


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