Tag: sea-shanties

Interesting Folk…

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

Since our last post we have been keeping busy indeed! It seems a while ago since I got around to posting about our wee tour around the UK!

Back in te middle of July we were in sunny Exmouth – and I can tell you that they really put on a show there! If you haven’t visited Exmouth in Devon and you happen to be nearby get along and see the place – the folk there are friendly and will welcome you as they did us. We played our usual brand of folk songs of the sea, and a couple of shanties – and the audience were up for a party! They joined in and sang along. I’d have to add what a great community they are down that way. The festival was more of a general music festival with every type of music available so keep an eye out for next year’s offering – it will be well worth it!

The at the end of the month we made the epic journey to Withernsea. A lovely little place north of Hull but unfortunately rain stopped play! With the best will in the world there isn’t a lot of point in performing when the audience clear off home to take shelter! Still – nice people and good vibes even if we ended up a little damp!

In the meantime we have been busy on our YouTube channel and have uploaded a few new folk and traditional maritime tunes:

Check out this one for example – Bully in the Alley

This an old favourite with as many versions as there are shanty crews!

And here is a very old folk song – the Night Visitor – beautiful and mysterious in my view – and while you may think that is a song about infidelity, you may change your view when you learn that this is a folk ballad from a tradition of ‘night visitor ‘ songs that often describe a visitor from beyond the grave – and then the song takes on a far greater poignancy.

Anyway give it a listen and do please remember to subscribe to our channel and like/comment on any – especially if you have song suggestions that you would like us to perform – always happy to oblige!

Our next little outing will be next week – 16th August 2025 – when we will be trekking up to Morecambe for their annual maritime music festival. We will be playing three slots there so check out the programme and get along to see us if you can!

Tarra all and take care XX

Songs from the Birdcage

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

As you may know from previous posts we play a lot of songs of the sea and shanties and similar nautical and marine related pieces on guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bodhran so it is really welcome to get any feedback from our audiences.

So – as you might imagine – I’m absolutely thrilled to say that we received the following testimonial from the organisers of the Pirates in the Port festival in Newport Gwent.

“An excellent duo with brilliant and varied musicianship. Charismatic, energetic and original they harmonise very well and really got the audience going. Highly recommended. Bois Y Bryn”.

We had a fantastic time over in Newport and if anyone reading our page lives near enough to Newport South Wales and sees an opportunity to listen to Bois y Brin Shanty crew – just go and do it – you won’t be disappointed. They are accomplished and entertaining! Check out their facebook page here!

On other ship and shanty related matters we will be playing at the Birdcage in Brixham for an afternoon of shanties and songs of the seas organised by Andy from the local and highly respected shanty crew Missin’ Tackle – there will be several of us performing but as yet I am waiting for confirmation who will be there – as I know I will post it on Facebook and on the website here.

And the Venue for this illustrious concert will be …

The Birdcage. Hence the title of the post. See what I did there?

SO here’s a link to the Birdcage pub in Brixham – which is a great little venue. I performed there in another shanty crew, the always entertaining The Marldon Wonky Donkeys -back in May and really love the atmosphere there – if your near come and say hello!

Course Laid In, sir!

by Lucy Simister, posted in Blog

What can I say about the Pirates in the Port Festival in Newport, Gwent?

The festival started with a convivial gathering at the Mercure Hotel in Newport with many pirates, shanty singers and similar ne’re-do-wells and they were in fine voice!

For the next two days the streets and bars were full of so many great singers and musicians enjoying the sessions as much as we did! Shanties and songs of the sea were the order of the day.

These Shanty and Pirate festivals attract people far and wide and we bumped into others friends from Devon! (Check out the Teignmouth Mermaid here! A real life singing mermaid…) And all prepared to make sometimes very long journeys just to join in with the fun!

We were down for performing on Saturday at two venues – the Mercure Hotel at 1200 hrs and then McCanns Rock N Ale bar at 1400 hrs. We did our thing there – and then we were offered the opportunity to play at the Corn Exchange – a great venue – and performed a set there at 1900 hrs to a near full house. The audience was made up of lovely fun people up for a party – and we had an absolute blast! They joined in with the choruses and the daft action songs with gusto! Our sincere thanks to them that the evening was so successful.

Where next, Sir?

So now we are looking ahead to our next adventures and there are a few in the offing.

On Sunday July 13th we will be playing a set of songs of the sea at the Exmouth Festival. The Festival runs from the 10th to the 13th July and will showcase songs of the sea in all their manifestations. Its a fun for all the family event – and ecologically sustainable as well! check out their website to read all about it here. Trust me, free and fantastic and definitely not to be missed.

We’ve a few other things on the horizon too and I’ll post more in due course when we have more details. In the meantime keep a bright lookout me hearties and speak soon! Take care

Tony