Shanty Sings All Over – Mystic, New York, San Francisco, Port Townsend & Washington DC

Posted on by January 5, 2012

William Main Doerflinger Memorial Sea Shanty Sessions at the Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor

This Saturday night, January7th, the Mystic Seaport will be hosting a “Chantey Blast and Pub Sing” from 1-5 PM in the Frohsinn Hall (aka the German Club), 54 Greenmanville Avenue, in Mystic CT as a fundraiser for the 33rd Annual Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival  coming up in June.  The suggested donation is $15.

Around New York harbor, we have been fortunate to have had a monthly shanty (or chantey, if you prefer) sing for over a dozen years. In its current incarnation, it is called the William Main Doerflinger Memorial Sea Shanty Sessions at the Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor.  William Doeflinger, who died in 2000, “collected” many well known sea shanties at the Sailor’s Snug Harbor retirement home in Staten Island, NY.  The shanty sing is held in one of the buildings where the old sailors sang their shanties for Doeflinger.  The acoustics are great and there is a sense of magic as the old songs are sung again where sailors from the great age of sail lived out their final days.  The shanty sessions are held on the third Sunday of every month.   from 2 to 5 PM, at the Noble Maritime Collection at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center at 1000 Richmond Terrace, building D, in Staten Island New York. For a short video see our post: The William Main Doerflinger Memorial Shanty Session, 5/15/11

Fortunately Mystic and New York City are not the only places where folks regularly get together to sing sea songs. In San Francisco, there are monthly shanty sings from 8pm to midnight on the first Saturday of every month on a historic ship at the Hyde Street Pier.   Admission is free but reservations are required. Call 415-561-7171.

Tonight in Port Townsend, Washington there will be a Sea Shanty Song Circle and Sing-Along  from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m at the Northwest Maritime Center Cafe located at 431 Water Street.  The shanty sing is held the first Thursday of every month.

In the Washington DC area, the Ship’s Company Chanteymen host multiple monthly public chantey sings.  These are held:

  • On the first Tuesday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m., the Royal Mile Pub, 2407 Price St. in Wheaton, Maryland (near University & Rt. 97). (301) 946-4511.
  • On the second Wednesday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m.,at the Wharf Rat, 801 S. Anne Street, Baltimore, Maryland (Fells Point) (410) 276-9034
  • On the third Wednesday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m., at Galway Bay, 63 Maryland Avenue in Annapolis, Maryland 21401 410.263.8333
  • On the fourth Tuesday of the month, from 8-10PM at Laughing Man Tavern 1306 G St NW, Washington DC 202-737-1797

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing along the news about the Mystic Shanty Blast.

 

 

 

Comments

Shanty Sings All Over – Mystic, New York, San Francisco, Port Townsend & Washington DC — 10 Comments

  1. Thanks for the link to our Song Circle in Port Townsend this evening. What a fantastic and fun night, with nearly 90 turning out for our shanty sing-along from as far away as Olympia, Seattle and Whidbey Island, WA.

  4. The SF Maritime chantey sing celebrated it’s 30th anniversary in October of 2010. Note the spelling, BTW.

  6. Hello all, Down here in New Orleans we host a Shantey Session generally on the second Thursday of the month at the Irish House at 6:30 PM till. Upcoming are May 9 and June 13th 2013. We invite you all to an evening of song and fellowhsip. All ages, no admission and in a chraming way a little disorganized. Par for the course for our shaggy lot. Hope to see you all there.

  8. Greetings from the deep south.
    Would you all mind announcing the kickoff of our website. We have included your webite in ours. We welcome all to our monthly open sea shantey singing session and love your website/blog.

    Thanks so much,
    Keith Fawcett

  9. Regarding the St. Paul Minnesota sea shanty sing that Nat mentioned above, at The Dubliner on 2nd Mondays, over 100 songs sung at our pub sing are posted on YouTube at saltydogshanty. Feel free to peruse our videos or come join us when visiting the Twin Cities.

  10. Ahoy from Port Townsend. Our sings have moved from Thursdays to the second Wednesday of each month. The only exception is September when the sings will be held on Port Townsend Wooden Boat Show weekend…the second weekend in September. Check the http://www.singshanties website for updates and possible schedule changes. Be well, sing like the person next to you is deaf.