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The
Shifty Sailors traveled this February to a Whale Festival in Kihei
on the island of Maui in Hawaii. While there they led the festival
parade and shared songs during the festival. Prior to the festival
the group presented an assembly for 700 students at the King Kamehameha
III Elementary School in Lahaina on “The History of Whales
through Song”. They also performed the same program after
the festival for Family Night at the Kihei Library.
2008
was a ‘stay-at-home” year, performing at concerts,
schools and festivals in the Pacific Northwest. One highlight
of the year was the Tall Ship Festival in Tacoma. Another was
presenting our first “St. Paddy’s Bash” to a
sold-out crowd at the Rec Hall in Coupeville on Whidbey Island.
The 2nd Annual Bash will be held in just two weeks.
Two summers
ago the Shifty Sailors traveled to New England to sing to audiences
all along the coast. From Norwalk, Connecticut to Belfast, Maine
they shared songs with whomever would listen.
Whidbey
Island’s Shifty Sailors traveled four years ago to where
the clipper ships of old sailed, and sang at the ports they moored
while on the famed "ISTA Tall Ships Race". The Tall
Ship Festivals in 2005 were in Waterford, Ireland and Cherbourg,
France.
Six years
ago they followed the ships in the Baltic countries of Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Denmark. Each audience
encountered was, at best, skeptical, but by the end of their formal
concerts or informal street or pub singing, they always were thanked
with ear-to-ear smiles and cheering and clapping.
You may
have met them. You may have heard them sing. And you may know
the engaging goodwill audiences feel as the Shifty Sailors entertain,
educate and sing of the maritime heritage of Puget Sound, our
country, and the world. But there is more to the story of this
magical group.
The Shifty
Sailors for nearly 16 years have worked to preserve our heritage
of sailing ships, folk lore, and songs of the sea not only in
concerts but also in the many performances done for organizations
in Washington State. The Shifties hope to continue to educate,
entertain, and enlighten for years to come.
In 1997
the group recorded its first CD Heave Ho, My Lads followed 3 years
later by their second CD Haul On... . In 2004, "Ho For The
Life" hit the stands with great acclaim, and last year they
released their fourth CD “H is for aHoy”. The Shifty
Sailors are joined in song by 49 4th and 5th graders from all
over Whidbey Island. We are in the process of recording a fifth
CD all about whaling and whales. Look for it in the next few months.
AND
next year (June of 2010) the Shifties are looking forward to being
the FIRST American group to perform at the International
Shanty Chorus Festival in Prague, Czeck Republic. HELP
THEM GET THERE. ATTEND their concerts and BUY
their CDs.
Summer
2007
Shifties Tour New England
This
past summer we spent two weeks the ports of New England. It began
with the Tall Ship Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. For two
days we sang on stage or on the Tall Ships entertaining the many
wonderful people of Newport.
From
there we spent most of a day at Mystic Seaport as part of the
Wooden Boat Festival and in the evening sang a fundraising concert
for SAIL-CT, an organization which puts people with disabilities
on board sailing ships.
Day
four, July 1st began with a performance at the Norwalk, CT Aquarium,
then a long drive to New Bedford where we shared food, drink and
song with Tom Goux, the Ernestina Shanty Chorus and the Rum Soaked
Crooks.
The
next day we crossed the water to the island of Nantucket where
we were hosted by the Reverand Nancy Nelson, and sang a concert
that evening at the Methodist Church.
Tuesday,
July 3rd was spent traveling back to the mainland, singing first
with the New Bedford groups in Hyannis, MA, then, after a short
drive, we sang aboard the Mayflower II in Plymouth, MA.
The
afternoon of July 4th we were pub crawling in downtown Boston,
singing to the throngs in the Irish establishments and on the
street corners. Our last day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
was spent touring Salem and Gloucester, ending the day with a
concert in Rockport.
Then
on to Maine where we our last days singing in Brunswick, Peaks
Island, Bath and Belfast.
There
were 43 of us (Shifties, wives and groupies) going nonstop for
the whole trip, but enjoying the beauty, sites, history and culture
of the region.
click
on the pictures
   
  
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