Teresa Pyott

Teresa was a member of “America’s first all-female shanty group¹” Liverpool Judies.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has an extensive article about Pyot.

Although she plays guitar, a skill she learned as a Girl Scout leader, she often sings a Capella. She took guitar lessons during the “folk scare” of the ’60s, she says with a laugh.

“I’m not really a songwriter,” she adds, saying that she doesn’t consider herself a storyteller. “But I sing a lot of ballads, which are stories.”

In the late ’80s she and two other women in a group they called “Liverpool Judies” performed a children’s program with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune

This is a brief bio from the Phoebe website:

Teresa Pyott, a resident at Phoebe Richland, was one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Folksong Society. Founded in 1957 by a group of folk artists and enthusiasts, the Folksong Society offers programs and education throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. The Folksong Society has received international recognition and local acclaim through programs that include The Philadelphia Folk Festival, Fall Fling, and Spring Thing.

Pyott participated in The Philadelphia Folk Festival for many years as a programmer, meeting many famous singers. Some of her favorites were Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Pete Seeger, who, she explains, “would never accept payment.”

“One of my favorite people was John Denver,” Pyott recalls, and remembers first meeting him at a friend’s party.

She also performed at The Philadelphia Folk Festival, as she was a folk singer and musician. She was best known in Philadelphia for her sea chanty renditions in The Liverpool Judies and Outward Bound groups.

1 Chris Roche, of The Shanty Crew, in a letter dated 12 Feb, 2024.