Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room

Subject: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: curmudgeon
Date: 17 Sep 08 - 02:50 PM

What with all the last minute rearrangements for the Festival, I almost forgot to post this.

The monthly shanty/forebitter/balld session wil take place from 3:30 to 7:30 PM this Saturday at the Press Room in Portsmouth NH.

Come join us as we warm up for the   Portsmouth maritime Folk Festival.

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: SINSULL
Date: 17 Sep 08 - 02:57 PM

And for the Getaway.
I hope I can make this one.
Mary

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: GUEST,Peadar (formerly) of Portsmouth
Date: 17 Sep 08 - 03:02 PM

Peter predicts a perfect PMFF preview.

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Sep 08 - 10:32 PM

Tom-

We're certainly looking forward to attending.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble and JudyB

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: jacqui.c
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 10:13 AM

I'll have to give this one a miss, I'm afraid.

Weather allowing we have a date to go sailing - a first for me!

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Barry Finn
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 04:29 PM

"we have a date to go sailing"

It'll be "Kendall!!! to the bilge".

We want proof pictures.

Barry

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 18 Sep 08 - 07:06 PM

We have been invited to visit Mim and boyfriend (Curtis) at their new digs in Bangor for a home cooked meal........; she is settling in very well up there and just found a full time job (with NON CONTRIBUTORY BENEFITS -- YAHOO). Evidently the vet that she will be working with is highly advanced and has special equipment to do animal colonoscopies -- I have a hard enough time dealing with the thought of people colonoscopies but there you go. During the interview she got to assist in a procedure using this machine and indicated it was ..... and I quote . FREAKING AWESOME That's my girl.....

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Barry Finn
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 10:54 AM

Hopefully there'll be a tall blonde guy with a beard &* long hair who's a New Englander that's just moved back to the area from San Francisco who'll be there. Chanteyranger called me & put Chris in touch with me by e-mail, (looking for sea music, he'll be missing the shanty sessions in Frisco) & asking that me that he be recieved with a warm welcome back to the Northeast.

So you all can buy him & me a beer? Thanks
I'll have pizza with that beer please.

Barry

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: ranger1
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 08:03 PM

I have to deal with insane mountain bikers doing some 12-hour continuous bike race at the park that day. Guess where I'd rather be?

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 11:20 PM

Barry-

I'm sure we'll all give Chris a warm welcome back here to New England, fill him up with run, and then ship him out on a three skys'l yarder bound round the Horn!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Barry Finn
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 01:27 AM

Chris has already been warmed, he sang tonight at the session, did a nice job on Andy Stewart's The Fisherman's Song . He ain't getting shipped out anywhere, he's a keeper & a nice guy to boot, came with a bunch of blessings from Chanteyranger by way of a personnal phone call.
He'll be there tomorrow.

We take in all kinds, took me in didn't they?

Barry

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 09:52 AM

Barry-

"The Fishermen's Song" is certainly one of my favorites. Carol and Eli from Roll & Go are doing a nice job with that one, swapping harmonies and leads on the verses. The danger is that it could provoke a whole set of death and disaster songs, and we'd end the evening filing down to the river and jumping in.

Maybe I'll work up my fishfingers song in response.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 03:37 PM

I was all set to go, but I didn't think it was a good idea.
Not much voice, and this has to be allergies. The heat came on this morning!!! Throat's a little sore and I'm sneezing my brains out.

Sorry guys. I think this is probably going to be a good one.

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 06:08 PM

Embarrassing but true - I took at nap at about 11AM and just woke up. Seamus and a number of kitties are guilty too. But I will be there next weekend with Andrew and Carole in tow.

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 08:55 PM

Jeri, I understand -- but you missed a really good session.

Jeri, Tom and I did an outdoor gig 11-noon -- I neglected sunscreen and sunglasses. Color on my face and I think I fried my eyes. REALLY wanted a nap, too.

Good session, but I'm way too tired to write about it right now.

Linn

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Sep 08 - 09:14 PM

I KNEW it was going to be a good one! I'm a little better now, but wouldn't be if I'd gone. I either go and sing or I don't go at all-- there's no middle ground.

I want to have a voice NEXT weekend!

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 12:57 AM

Is there something going on next weekend that I don't know about?

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 10:14 AM

The session started out with just a small group of us: Tom and Linn, Mark, Peter (Peadar), Dave, Judy and myself, and a table full of "new fans" with their cellphones. We were later joined by Chris from San Francisco, and the high harmony section of the Gloucester contingent. There were also three tables of regular fans listening in and singing along.

Tom started off with "Paddy West" and it just kept getting better and better. There was an odd set of mill songs early on, and it was only when I got halfway back through Maine that I recalled all the verses to "Aragon Mill" by Si Kahn.

There was also a set of fishermen songs including "The Fishermen's Song" (Chris) and "Keep on Fishin'"(Joanne); Linn led "The Cannery Song."

There were also at least three versions of "Bikker Hill."

Dave led "Get Up Jack, John Sit Down." Mark led "Sammy's Bar" and Larry Kaplan's "Song for Gale."

"You Can't be a Pirate" got a new airing and in four-part harmony, and with several new verses; I hadn't heard the "tongue" verse sung before.

Let's see, I led "West Indies Blues," "Fire Marengo," "Bound Away," "Mobile Bay," "The Outside Track," and "Mid-Watches." "Mobile Bay" is my newly arranged C. Fox Smith poem and it seemed to work well.

My brain is a little fuzzy this morning for some reason, so I'll have to count on others to fill in more detail.

Again, something hysterical was happening out in the kitchen but I'm not sure what.

I'm certainly looking forward as well to next weekend's Maritime Festival.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:26 AM

TRUBRIT sez "Is there something going on next weekend that I don't know about?"

I think it's a good possibility.

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:30 AM

Deb, see the thread about the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Fest

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 12:11 PM

I'm taking time out from a bit of cleaning frenzy (or at least a "stacking things neatly and covering everything else with tarps" frenzy and a "finding the table and clearing a chair or two" frenzy) to check this thread.

Let's see, what else was sung? (Besides the three different versions -- one 9/8 -- of Byker Hill.)

I sang, (uh, what was it I sang?!?)... "Sandgate Girl's Lament", "Poverty Knock", "Cannery Shed", "Madame Gashay's"... anything else? I'll have to check my "portable memory" later. I wanted to sing Jerry Bryant's short sort-of-parody "Shanty In Old Shanty Town" but I hadn't done it for so long, I wasn't sure I could get through it without an "oh shit" verse, considering it's really only one verse long (I remembered it all in the car on the way home, though; encouraging).

I asked Joanne to sing John Campbell's "Keep On Fishing" (with doo-wop back-up).

Yeah, fortunately the loud (though enthusiastic, probably from having been embibing adult beverages) and cell phone armed tourists retreated to the a) darts board, b) the bar, c) smoking on the sidewalk and d) shopping (I think).

Lots of regular listeners including several Friday night regulars who, I don't think, have been to the sea music session before. Nice!

Linn

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 08:54 AM

Was it Tom who led Ewan MacColl's "Sweet Thames, Flow Softly"?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: adventure
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 09:55 AM

No Charley....it was one of Gloucester's "high harmony group"....names withheld due to confidentiality issues.

And by the way Ian Robb with Finest Kind does a fine version of this one, too.

Doryman

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: GUEST,Peadar (formerly) of Portsmouth
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 11:21 AM

Ya know, I've noticed that Charlie always leaves my songs off the recap...should I be taking this personally?   ;-)

My contributions were: The Ferryman, Wild Goose Nation, South Australia, Old Hammerhead, Irish Rover and Martin Greigh.

Tom also did Holy Ground by request...since my dad was there and it happens to be one of his favorites. He thanks Tom from one curmugdeon to another.

See ya all next weekend.

Peter

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 05:54 PM

I also sang "Race of Long Ago" which I'd also done earlier at our gig.

Linn

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Sep 08 - 07:35 PM

Peter-

You did a fine job on Jez Lowe's "Old Hammerhead" as I mentioned that evening. But much of the evening becomes a blur for me after I leave.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Paul_Schurr_PSG_NY
Date: 23 Sep 08 - 09:39 AM

Ah it's so sad for me to miss the Saturday Press Room sing AND have to hear how wonderful it was. What almost just barely saved the day was Irish Fest 2000 in Altamont. A group called Cara (YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq2JnxdbKSM) was the top group in my estimation. Oh sure we sang through Great Big Sea (Donkey Riding, General Taylor, Mary Mac, Scolding Wife, etc etc. and even some pop like When I'm Up). And then there was Gaelic Storm who needed to shake the tent down. Johnny Tar and a whole song blast more. Still Cara was my favorite. The Fest has a traditional tent that runs acts all day. For example, we didn't have time to fit in Lunasa! A regional tent had the McKrells (strong father/daughter act with strong Celtic flavor and original stuff) that was excellent, and Seamus Kennedy who was funny with his sort of lounge lizard banter and solid folky humor not to mention the trad songs. Still, Cara was amazing. If the Press Room was closer than it is I would have given up the Fest in a heartbeat to be your chorus in the Press Room. See you this Friday!! (Charlie, please sing your new song...I'd like to replace the West Indies Blues ringin' in my morning ears!)

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Sep 08 - 10:21 AM

Paul-

We'll certainly look forward to seeing and hearing from you again at the Portsmouth Maritime Festival this weekend. "Mobile Bay" is on my website with a MP3 sample if you can't wait until then: Charley Noble Website

I think the song's a keeper but then I'm always in love with new songs and we'll see what folks think after ten years! "Mobile Bay" is one of C. Fox Smith's tribute poems, in this case to the traditional "Roll the Cotton Down" shanty that she collected and published in A Book of Shanties, © 1927.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 Sep 08 - 10:54 AM

Charlie, I've had "Roll the Cotton Down" in my head since Saturday.

Linn

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Sep 08 - 12:42 PM

Linn-

"Mobile Bay" does have "brain worm" quality. ;~)

It would be interesting some time to follow it up with the traditional "Roll the Cotton Down" which goes to a melody that was used later for "Roll Alabama Roll." I don't quite dare do them yet one after the other.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Sept. Shanty Session @ the Press Room
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 23 Sep 08 - 10:25 PM

Jeri - oh yes, thank you.....ya 'all have fun....