My Shanty Scene
I thought for many weeks what the best way to write this article would be and for some time it has been a distant but ongoing thought in my mind. I feel that anyone can only really write what they know and have seen with a few wild accusations and assumptions based on experience thrown in. Because of this I have decided to call the article 'my shanty scene' as opposed to 'the shanty scene'. It is for this reason also that I have decided to write this article over the course of a four week tour in mainland Europe where I will travel through Holland, Germany and Poland playing various festivals and club gigs. I will also be attending various other shows and performances throughout my time away in all the countries I am visiting.
I am currently sat on my first leg of the journey on the plane over to Amsterdam, from there I will travel over to Rijssen to watch a shanty choir performance before my performances in two clubs and at the Lullaby festival. This will be my second experience of a festival in Holland, the first being a lovely quaint festival in Appingedam called Bie Daip (by the canal). After this festival I will travel over to Germany for a couple of club gigs and the international association of shanty singers annual festival, where I will be performing with a shanty choir called Stowaway, I have no idea what to expect from this event. I then go on a gruelling 14 hour trip to Krakow and 9 hour bus trip where I will attend the Stzynort shanty festival, here I will be singing with Polish shanty sensation Banana Boat. After this and the final part of this extended tour I will travel back down to South East Poland where I will play in the Polanczyk shanty festival, on the Solina lake, again I do not know what to expect from this.
First of all one main point I need to make is that all the festivals I am visiting and performing at are specialist Shanty festivals, which are work songs used for the varying jobs on board a tall ship that would of ventured the seven seas. That sounds more adventurous and glamourous than it Would of been. I will probably experience various foc'sle songs as well, these were the songs sang on board for pleasure by the sailors other than for work. Sailors were very suspicious beings and they would not of sang work songs unless doing the job it was needed for. The club shows are not necessarily sea song orientated but again I will get to see the various different reactions from varying countries.
The shanty form of music is a massive passion of mine and I feel very strongly that these songs NEED to survive because of the important heritage not just to Britain but the rest of the world. I have stressed many times that shanty music is the largest form of 'world music' because of it's world renowned reputation and accessibility. There are shanty festivals all over the world and from my experience the same songs and tunes can be heard at these specialist festivals, whether it be a translation of 'Bully In the Alley' or a re-wording of 'Old Maui'. This in my opinion is a glorious thing and certifies the need for the survival of these wonderful songs within our own culture.
It is here I must leave this first chapter or section due to the plane about to land. I look forward to writing the rest of the article and sharing my experiences with you over the next month.
Chris Ricketts
http://www.chrisrickettsmusic.com/