Songs of the Sea & Sea Shanties
by Richard Adrianowicz & Peter Kasin

We'll do Songs of the Sea in the first hour and Sea Shanties in the second hour.

Sea shanties were the work songs of sailors before the invention of steam driven ships. They were used to coordinate the hoisting of sails, general hauling, and work at the capstan (raising the anchor), among others shipboard duties. Richard will briefly describe the different types of shanties and their use but the workshop will primary consist of as much singing as possible. Audience participation is encouraged.

Richard Adrianowicz

Richard’s interest in traditional music began in the early 70s when he moved to California. He was part of several groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, the best known of which was Out of the Rain. The band was active from 1983 to 1995 and recorded two studio cassettes, A Common Treasury and Song of the Wage Slave. Richard also produced With the Friends I Love Best, a compilation CD of live concert recordings from Out of the Rain performances.

Richard is one of the regular shanty singers at Hyde Street Pier’s monthly shanty sings in San Francisco, held aboard one of the historic sailing ships moored there. In 2002 he released Time Ashore is Over, a recording of sea shanties and sea songs featuring a chorus of singers from Hyde Street Pier. Raised in Chicago, Illinois, Richard also has a keen interest in songs of the Great Lakes sailors.

In addition to being a vocalist, Richard also plays the guitar, tin whistle and fiddle.

Peter Kasin

A native Berkeleyan, Peter grew up on folk music, and, later, rock and blues. He took up Irish and Scottish fiddling in late 1985, and started singing chanteys in the early 90's, after being inspired by a recording of Ewan MacColl and A.L. lloyd, and by hearing Louis Killen. Peter and Richard have known each other since the late 1980's, when they met at Irish music parties. After doing some sea chantey gigs together in 2002, they formed a musical partnership, and have released two recordings of sea music, with a third on the way. Peter leads a monthly sing-along of chanteys, plays in the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, and in the four-piece instrumental band Nauticas, and sings in the 18-member group In Harmony's Way. Peter's listening tastes are eclectic, and he counts Mike Bloomfield as his guitar god.

Website for San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park: http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/ship.html

Rich and Peter have recorded three albums of sea songs together. The first two, "Boldly from the Westward" and "Cast Off Each Line" will certainly be available at the Festival. The third album, "With Shipmates All Around" may be available if it gets here in time. Here's a link to our website: www.handspikes.com