Albany shanty-fest a roaring success
Regional Arts WA
This story was submitted by a member of the regional arts sector: Gary Greenwald. We love sharing stories from the sector. If you want to find out how to submit your own stories, take a look at the submit your story page. We can’t wait to hear from you!
The sea is in our blood. From the Oyster Harbour fish traps to the Brig Amity, the ANZAC Fleet to the whaling industry, Albany life is shaped by its maritime history. And as long as man has worked with the sea, he has woven its stories into music.
In late 2015 I arrived in Albany to start a new life with my family. Keen to make new friends I set out to find the local shanty singing group and ask to join. I had sung with a group called The Sheringham Shantymen back in the UK. I was stunned to hear that Albany had no shanty singers – particularly as ‘The Albany Immigrants’ was one of my favourite shanties.
With a long history of maritime work, Albany is a fitting place for a celebration of shanties to flourish. Picture by ABC Great Southern.
I am not a musician. For many years I spent my Saturday afternoons playing rugby. After the match we would sing in the bar. When injuries put an end to my rugby playing days, I missed singing with the lads. Around this time Port Isaacs Fisherman’s Friends were catapulted to fame in the UK for singing shanties. I bought the CD, learned the words and sang along as I cycled to work or dug the veg patch. After I heard them live at the Cambridge Folk Festival, I knew I had to join a group.
Fast forward back to 2016 and I was approaching strangers in the street in Albany and asking them if they wanted to sing shanties with me. I got a lot of strange looks, but a few guys said yes. By March The Albany Shantymen’s incredible journey had begun.
Very early on we knew that we were on to something. We were all just ordinary blokes from different walks of life, but we had character in our voices. Most of the lads had never sung before but that didn’t matter because shanties are working songs. They lend themselves to a very masculine style of singing and that suited us. Soon we were singing in our local pub and quickly built up a following. Bookings for gigs, recording a homemade cd and performing at Fairbridge Festival all seemed to happen in a blur. But that was not the real success. What made it so great was that we became a group of mates that have an amazing time every Tuesday night singing together. Even more than that, we had become a feature of the community.
Other people noticed how much we enjoyed it and were asking about starting their own groups. We started doing workshops and the number of groups in WA grew. We kept in regular contact with the other fantastic Australian shanty groups and we soon realised that there were enough to start planning a festival.
The Albany Shantymen in performance. Picture by ABC Great Southern.
Rod Vervest (Musical Director of Fairbridge Festival) asked me, “if we could bring any group to WA for a shanty festival who would it be?” I answered in a heartbeat – “Kimbers Men”. Somehow, we scraped enough money together from grants to get them over from the UK and we planned the inaugural Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival. Be under no illusion, it was done on a shoestring budget. Most of the organisations that we approached for grants had never heard of shanty singing and were reluctant to commit funds. A shanty festival had never been tried before. Even we had no idea if anyone would turn up!
Mates in the groups in Perth kindly drove visiting singers from other states down to Albany. Locals put up musicians in their spare rooms. We begged and borrowed all the kit we needed. I ran around like a blue arse fly having taken the week off work to try and get everything ready.
It was worth it. The festival was amazing. Everyone pitched in to help. The Folk and Shanty musicians were fantastic. People gave their time for free so we could raise money for Albany Community Hospice and The Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation. Each venue was packed.
We had over two thousand attendees and after people raved about how good it was.
We all made great new friends and people were booking their accommodation for 2020 during the festival. The success of our first year exceeded all expectations.
Support for the festival has grown and grown. Misunderstanding about what we were trying to do evaporated. Some people admitted afterwards that they thought that it would be a group of blokes drinking too much beer and singing dirty songs in the pub. People now understand that maritime folk and shanty singing celebrates our heritage.
A particularly notable realisation was just what a profound impact this style of group singing can have on our mental health. Shanty singing encapsulates the spirit of Act, Belong, Commit.
It shouldn’t surprise us when we reflect that this music is all about teamwork, it raises money for local charities and gets people together for fun evenings where anyone can participate. Shanty singing reduces social isolation and reconnects people with their community and their history. Of course, the best bit about the festival was the wealth of fantastic musicians sharing their talent in a variety of venues and that all of this was free to the public.
Gary Greenwald has even bigger plans for the 2020 Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival. Picture by ABC Great Southern.
So where are we taking The Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival?
Every seafaring nation has a musical legacy. More shanty music is being written and Australian groups are actively participating. WA folk history is being woven into new songs including new Noongar language folk music. Education at the festival is growing with strong links to The Western Australian Museum and the Great Southern Science Council. The event will be even more family friendly with kids activities including music and dance workshops, a heritage trail treasure hunt, and of course fancy dress pirates!
The buzz is building in Australia’s shanty community. The 2020 festival is set to be bigger. We have worked hard to keep the formula that made the first year feel so successful while growing to meet demand. It would be great to see you there.
To stay updated on all the latest about the 2020 International Albany Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival check out the Facebook Event Page. You can also find more info about the Albany Shantymen here.
