Aggie Boys Choir

The Aggie Boys Choir are your go-to metamodern shanty ensemble, mixing traditional nautical folk with poetry, instrumentals and a benign attempt at comedy, the group is like none you shall see in Falmouth this year. The band has had many incarnations and were once described as a ‘Swiss army choir’. They have performed at Celtic festivals in Ireland and Brittany, turned their hand to a bit of theatre, managed a Ted Talk and more recently featured on Channel 5’s Cornwall: A Year By The Sea which aired earlier this year.

Formed ‘neath the low beams of a Goonbell cottage, St Agnes’ unique architecture was key in shaping the resonating tones of the choir. Originally meeting with no intention on public performance a bagus* was bonded, with none bothering to enquire whether ‘twas a sensible act or no. Sam Stephens, who writes the majority of the songs, was inspired to tread this new path after one too many pints at Perranporth shout over a decade ago. Within 12 months the Aggie Boys Choir were thrust into the limelight with their debut cover, Row Row Your Boat.

Sam’s lyrics pay witty homage to the working class legacy of the region, whilst gently mocking outsiders interpretation of what is perhaps perceived as twee Celtic culture. Indeed pasties and jam, mine-stack and harbour, and of course the order of the cream, well it may well seem a postcard provincial novelty reduced to call and response to you and me, but for the choir, the line between humour and heritage is as clear as mizzle on the moor. If you asked them to explain their songs you may well hobble away, brain frazzled, wishing you hadn’t tread that particular cobbled.

*Kernewic for group of friends