Joe Whittaker

Born in Plymouth into a naval family and raised in Plympton, where Rosemary and Cyril Tawney opened their first folk club, Joe has been singing and playing, mostly folk music, since his teens. For the past 15 years he has also been involved in sea shanty crews in Kent including Swinging the Lead and Dazzle and also holds participative talks on the history and development of sea shanties to community groups in Kent, Essex, Devon and Wales. 

His 2025 presentation, ‘The Cyril Tawney Songbook” was an exploration of the songs written by that great singer/songwriter.