Ancient Mariners Chanteymen

The Ancient Mariners Chanteymen are a sub-group of the Ancient Mariners Fife and Drum Corps founded in 1959 by Roy Watrous with the idea of utilizing a nautical flare. The tunes were soon sung by the corps and with Cliff Haslam and Dave Tiezzi at the helm. Soon thereafter, Kevin Brown blossomed and fine tuned the sound with Dr. Howard Hornstein’s arrangements – alas the “wall of sound” emerged and entertained audiences from Maine to Texas, Mystic Seaport to Basel Switzerland. Today, the Chanteymen include Dave Tiezzi, Neil O’Brien, Steve Johnson, Dillon Johnson, Section Chief Scott Redfield, and our mentor, Cliff Haslam.

Music of the sea came in two forms: the work songs called chanteys and leisure-time songs and instrumental pieces.

As the sea connected cultures, during the 1800s these songs developed to combine aspects of Irish and African musical traditions. “Chanteyman” was not an official position on board ship, but a sailor with a good voice and a quick wit was valuable in keeping the crew happy and efficient at its work. The chanteyman often improvised to make light of conditions, food, or other crew members, giving the sailors a little control over their situation.