David HB Drake

Wisconsin songsmith and maritime folklorist DAVID HB DRAKE presents songs from the Great Lakes, Midwestern rivers, and the work songs of salt-water and freshwater sailors. His concerts have been called “a sailor’s love song to the sea”. David presents authentic and historic sea shanties and fo’castle songs combined with original and contemporary sea songs by Gordon Bok, Tom Lewis, and Stan Rogers and more.  He performs on concertina, banjo, dulcimer, Native American flute, and guitar. David was named “Folk Music Artist of the Year” by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Arts Wisconsin. David HB Drake has been a resident musician, educator, and crew for Wisconsin’s “flagship” the schooner “Denis Sullivan” since 1992 at his home port in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has served as shantyman, interpreter, and performer aboard tall ships on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes including the HMS Bounty, as seen in the Brando version of “Mutiny on the Bounty”, the environmental sloop “Clearwater” with Pete Seeger, the showboat “Rhododendron” on the Mississippi, schooners “Nor ’wester”, “Inland Seas” and the “Maryland Dove”. Videos of David can be seen on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidHBDrake. (Click on “Playlists” and go to “Maritime /Sea Songs” and “The Rose and Dragon”) David’s not-for-profit organization, Organic Arts, is the sponsor of the Maritime Music Directory International.