Ships Company Chanteymen, The

For more than two decades, the Ship’s Company Chanteymen (est. 1996) have shared sea salts’ songs with tens of thousands, all over the East Coast. Aside from being scurvy-free, they portray the musical part of nautical life in the 1700s and 1800s. Many of their songs originally set a pace to keep ship crews rowing in time or doing rhythmic chores such as turning a capstan. Some just filled long hours or lonely nights at sea. Simple and direct, wild and spirited, salty and rough as a North Atlantic gale, they were a reflection of the sailors themselves. The practice of voicing rhythmic sounds while working may be as old as mankind and probably is intrinsic to human nature.

Since early sailors spent years away from home, first-time listeners should not be surprised that many tunes mention fair maidens, home, and “other” entertainments. With rollicking tunes and sing-along choruses, it’s also fun. This jolly band of merrymakers has been seen and heard all up and down the east coast of the United States.

“The Spirit of The Boarding Party lives on with The Ships Company Chanteymen who perform every couple of weeks in the DC area: and I think The Pyrates Royale may owe something to this connection too. Certainly got me interested in the genre of sea chanteys.  In my travels I have met one of the groups’ sons who is a singer in his own right doing good things in the NYC area with the likes of The Johnson Girls and the Mudcat’s own Dan Milner and Bob Conroy. In turn, the New Orleans area must be doing great things since KC King is down there and apparently influencing folks.
“Cheers, Allahamdalla, Brian” — from Mudcat Café