Sea Band, The

The Sea Band focuses on the musical heritage of the coasts and sea routes of the Celtic Sea.

Formed in 2017, The Sea Band is a rip-roaring and colourful combination of well-established and virtuosic, traditional singers and musicians based on the River Severn on the English/Welsh Borders and the River Vilaine in Western Brittany. Their long-term love affair with the sea and the songs and music of Europe’s North Atlantic Seaboard, create performances rich in musicianship, character, passion and humour. The band’s mix of songs and fast-paced jigs and reels has proved popular with festival audiences across Europe. In July 2020 we launched a second album, “Tall Ships and Taller Tales“, and in 2022 are booked for festivals in France, Holland, and England, so look out for a Sea Band performance near you

Based in the Welsh Marches, but with Irish and West Country roots, Sea Band founders Alan Lamb and Penny McCarthy focus on the musical heritage of the coasts and sea routes of the Celtic Sea. Melodies from less well-known old cornish, Welsh and Irish collections form a unique repertoire that includes well-known sailor songs as well as reinterpretations of more well-known songs. Some of her fast-paced jigs, reels and polkas have been providing wild parties for three hundred years. Songs of shipwrecks, naval battles and doomed young lovers connect us to the emotional landscape of our ancestors, with joys, worries and passions that often come very close to our own. The instrumentation ranges from the mediaeval lyre to the euphonium and the unmistakeable arrangements take you on a truly unique musical journey through time and over the wild Celtic sea.