Dick Stephens is a colorful denizen of English folk clubs and festivals who has turned an amused eye on the maritime music scene. Learn more about him on his MMDI listing here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/dick-stephens/
They call Cliff Haslam "the Happy Man" - he is a transplanted Englishman who has been a tremendous influence in the folk music scene in Connecticut. You can learn more about Haslam on his MMDI listing here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/cliff-haslam/
Red Feather's Fellow is an extremely rare Mediterranean maritime-themed musical act hailing from Genoa, Italy!
You can view their listing on the Maritime Music Directory International here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/red-feathers-fellow/
Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama becomes the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrives at Calicut on the Malabar Coast on May 20, 1498.
Da Gama sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, in July 1497, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored at Malindi on the east coast of Africa. With the aid of an Indian merchant he met there, he then set off across the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese explorer was not greeted warmly by the Muslim merchants of Calicut, and in 1499 he had to fight his way out of the harbor on his return trip home. In 1502, he led a squadron of ships to Calicut to avenge the massacre of Portuguese explorers there and succeeded in subduing the inhabitants. In 1524, he was sent as viceroy to India, but he fell ill and died in Cochin.
You can read the complete article on History.com: https://www.history.com/this.../vasco-da-gama-reaches-india.
There is an up-tempo song about this explorer's exploits by Hugh Masekela released in 2001. It can be viewed on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXBd_hPWs5k.
The Quantock Sea Shanty Crew is an enthusiastic group from Stogursey, Somerset that came together as recently as 2023. They are a great example of how new groups bring great community spirit to the genre!
Read more about them on their MMDI listing here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/quantock-sea-shanty-crew/.
Stan Hugill (19 November 1906 – 13 May 1992) 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". [Wikipedia]
He first went to sea aged 16 in 1922 and spent 23 years on the high waves before retiring to land in 1945.
He was the last shantyman to sail on the last British commercial sailing ship the "Garthpool".
His love of the sea never dimmed, in later life he became an instructor of an Outward Bound Sea School and a marine artist producing more than 250 oil paintings of ships and the sea.
He also penned five books on sea shanties as well as appearing on radio and television.
And he spoke numerous languages, he was fluent in Japanese and Spanish as well as speaking Maori, Malay, Chinese plus various Polynesian dialects. [BBC Liverpool]
When laid up with a broken leg in the 1950s, he began to write down the shanties that he had learned at sea, eventually authoring several books and releasing several LPs of performances later in coordination with a Merseyside folk group called Stormalong John. Although "shanty" is also spelled "chantey", Hugill used the former exclusively in his books. [Wikipedia]
Jack [Coutts, a member of Stormalong John] remembers travelling to Krakow in Poland with Stormalong John and Stan, when the shantyman was in his eighties, and being in awe as he entertained an audience of more than a thousand young people.
Stan died in 1992 in Aberystwyth in Wales. [BBC Liverpool]
April 14th, 1941 - May 10th, 2022
Ed was a well-loved musician in the folk music community. He appeared on over 40 recordings, most of them with Folk Legacy Records, now part of the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. His discography includes 4 solo records, 11 as a trio with Gordon Bok and Ann Mayo Muir, and countless recordings with other artists. Despite persistent pressure early in his academic career to give up music and focus exclusively on psychology, he remained steadfast in his commitment to doing what he loved on his own terms. Musicians in the folk community cite his influence as an interpreter of songs who always put the song first, filling in harmonies without becoming the centerpiece. [From his biography: https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/EdisonTrickett/.]
Smithsonian Folkways has also published a heartfelt tribute to Ed Trickett here: https://folkways.si.edu/news-and.../remembering-ed-trickett.
Read more about Trickett on his MMDI listing here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/ed-trickett/
Paul Read has been a pioneer on the folk and maritime music scene in Toronto, Canada. In addition to his solo work he recorded with the local group, Sweet Felons All. Paul's son, Stefan Read is a member of the notable maritime group, Pressgang Mutiny.
You can learn more about Paul Read on his MMDI listing here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/paul-read/
I am delighted to share with you that I was interviewed by Joy Powers the host and producer of Milwaukee's Lake Effect program on WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR. The program will air tomorrow, Wednesday 6 May 2026 at noon and 7:00 pm. You can hear the program online here: https://www.wuwm.com/show/lake-effect. We will be discussing both my maritime music group Bounding Main as well as my marketing project, the Maritime Music Directory International.
Here's a shanty chorus from Germany that has been making maritime music since 1989 at domestic and international venues! Discover more about them on their MMDI listing here: https://seashanties4all.com/groups-artists/odenwalder-shantychor/.
After traveling three-quarters of the way around the globe, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan is killed during a tribal skirmish on Mactan Island in the Philippines.
There is a Philippine "novelty song" about this event! Read more here:
https://seashanties4all.com/ferdinand-magellan-killed-in-the-philippines-27-april-1521/