A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term shanty most accurately refers to a specific style of work song belonging to this historical repertoire. However, in recent, popular usage, the scope of its definition is sometimes expanded to admit a wider range of repertoire and characteristics, or to refer to a "maritime work song" in general.
The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally within communities, but print and subsequently audio recordings have since become the primary means of transmission. The term is used to refer both to English traditional music and music composed or delivered in a traditional style.
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either one sung while conducting a task or one linked to a task that may be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. An example is "I've Been Working on the Railroad".
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous subgenres.
Paimpol is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwest France.
Thomas John Lewis is a British singer and writer of nautical songs and sea shanties, some of whose works have become "folk standards." He's been recorded by over 40 other artists including Nathan Evans and has been called one of the finest exponents of contemporary nautical songs.
Johnny Collins was an English folk singer based in London, England, specializing in traditional maritime music and sea shanties.
Stanley James Hugill was a British folk music performer, artist and sea music historian, known as the "Last Working Shantyman" and described as the "20th century guardian of the tradition".
"South Australia" is a sea shanty and folk song, also known under such titles as "Rolling King" and "Bound for South Australia". As an original worksong it was sung in a variety of trades, including being used by the wool and later the wheat traders who worked the clipper ships between Australian ports and London. In adapted form, it is now a very popular song among folk music performers that is recorded by many artists and is present in many of today's song books.
The Fisherman's Friends are a folk music group from Port Isaac, Cornwall, who sing sea shanties. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with Universal Music in March 2010. Whilst essentially an a cappella group, their studio recordings and live performances now often include traditional simple instrumentation.
Bounding Main is an a cappella quintet focusing on traditional sea shanties and maritime music. They are located in the United States.
Salty Walt & the Rattlin' Ratlines is a sea shanty performing group based in San Francisco, originally formed in 2003. The group consists of Walter "Salty Walt" Askew, Daniel Briggs, Griff Nelson, and Jon Richardson. On occasion, they also perform Celtic music and since at least 2005 have been performing a show of traditional carols and wassails on Boxing Day. They were voted San Francisco's "Best Sea Shanty Band" in 2006. The group appeared at the "Festival Maritim" in Vegesack, Germany in 2007.
Tom and Chris Kastle are a maritime music performing duo based in Chicago. They first began performing maritime music in approximately 1977. In the mid-1980s they were known for running "whale watching" concert cruises on Lake Michigan on the sailing schooner Charlotte Ann.
The Johnson Girls are an all-woman a-cappella song group based in New York City. They specialize in maritime music and perform songs from a melange of cultures including the United States, Britain, Ireland, Italy French-Canada, and the Caribbean. Named after a traditional African-American sea shanty, "The Johnson Girls," they formed as a quintet in 1997. The original members were Joy Bennett, Maggie Bye, Alison Kelley, Bonnie Milner, and Deirdre Murtha. Bye left the group after following the release of The Johnson Girls' second CD. Each of The Johnson Girls is also a member of the official maritime group of South Street Seaport Museum, The New York Packet.
Banana Boat is a Polish a cappella sextet, authoring and performing original songs representing the genre of neo-shanties. Being one of the pioneers of the new genre, the group retains its simultaneous focus on contemporary interpretations of traditional sea shanties and maritime music. Owing to its characteristic six-part, jazzy harmony, departing from the traditional sound of the music of the sea, the group has become one of the emblems of what the international artists of the maritime stage have informally come to dub as the Polish style maritime song. With maritime music constantly in the focus of its activity, since 2004, Banana Boat has also been experimenting with other musical genres, including popular and jazz compositions, inviting other artists to participate in individual projects. The group is a Member of International Seasong and Shanty Association (ISSA).
The Chicago Maritime Festival is a maritime music and culture festival held in Chicago, Illinois, every winter, usually the last weekend in February, usually at the Chicago History Museum. It is not uncommon for over 500 people to participate. It has existed in its present incarnation since 2003 and is the only wintertime festival featuring maritime music in the United States. The main organizers are performers Tom & Chris Kastle.
The Longest Johns are an English folk musical group from Bristol, England, consisting of Andy Yates, Jonathan "JD" Darley, and Robbie Sattin. They are known for performing folk music and sea shanties in the English tradition, and they also compose and record their own music. They gained popularity from their rendition of the folk song "Wellerman", which went viral on TikTok in early 2021.
"Soon May the Wellerman Come", also known as "Wellerman" or "The Wellerman", is a folk song in ballad style first published in New Zealand in the 1970s. The "wellermen" were supply ships owned by the Weller brothers, three merchant traders in the 1800s who were amongst the earliest European settlers of the Otago region of New Zealand.
El Pony Pisador is a musical group from Barcelona that mixes various styles of folk and traditional music from around the world, including Celtic music, sea songs, bluegrass, tarantella and yodel. The band's name refers to the J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings inn The Prancing Pony, called «El Pony Pisador» in the Spanish translation.
