Dogwatch Nautical Band, The

Lively songs and tunes of the world’s oceans and rivers, and of those who work them.

The Dogwatch Nautical Band, hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, was formed in 1978 for the purpose of recreating a mid-19th century sailor band. Large sailing ships often had a number of musicians within the crew. During a long voyage they would entertain the crew and any passengers that might be aboard. The music would range from the chanteys (work songs) and foc’sl songs to hymns and popular music hall numbers. We performed for six years at the Dickens Christmas Fair and immediately found that there were other venues for traditional maritime music.

Over the years we have performed live on three Bay Area radio stations, including Sedge Thompson’s “West Coast Live” during the years it aired on KQED FM. We have performed for museum events, yacht clubs, festivals, weddings and a brief live TV appearance on KPIX, Channel 5, during the Golden Gate Bridge 50th Birthday Celebration. In addition to our land-based performances the band has also entertained many times on a variety of large sailing vessels on the bay, including the State of California’s official tall ship, The Californian, and the 1891 scow schooner, Alma, from the San Francisco National Maritime Historic Park’s collection of historic ships.

In addition to public performances, we’ve performed nautical music at weddings, fundraisers, rehearsal dinners, and cocktail parties. We’ve also released our first CD (more on that in a bit). Feel free to use the links above to contact us for more information about the band’s availability.

Simon Spalding co-founded the Dogwatch Nautical Band, a San Francisco-based group performing songs and music of the sea.  While he performed only rarely with the group after 1984, the group has continued up to the present day.