Ken Stephens

“Ken is the author of many well known modern sea songs and shanties. He is an accomplished concertina player.  He recorded “I Thought I Heard the Old Man Say…” with Shanty Jack in the Netherlands in 1997.

“With various groups he has toured Europe even behind the old Iron Curtain and played in the USA and Canada.

“2005 saw an Australian visit, but as a songwriter the songs had already travelled world wide.  Known for sea songs and shanties, Ken is a heritage musician who watches the seasons change and plays as a community entertainer to all kinds of people. With a philosophy that the ‘song is bigger than the singer’ Ken is never happier than when he can encourage fledgling singers – who usually ignore him when they get famous!”  [From the Miskinfolk website.]

Among the many songs that he’s penned are:

• Working on a Foreign Sea
• Rattle them Winches
• Drowned Horses of Ameland
• Herzogin Cecile
• One More Pull
  
• Survivor Leave

These links demonstrate the enormous impact Stephen’s work has had on the maritime music community!

Bounding Main has some interesting liner notes on One More Pull and Ken Stephens’ collaboration with Ian Woods.