Sea Shanties with Alex Harvey and ShinBone Alley

Alex Harvey is an old world folklorist who performs street ballads and songs of the sea in a project he calls ShinBone Alley. At his performances listeners learn to celebrate the haunting intercultural exchange of 18th and 19th century maritime music – whose ingredients travelled from the furthest corners of the globe to be remade and stitched anew by sailors of every shade and shape at port and at sea. By teaching the audience to join in on most of the tunes in his concerts Harvey and his ShinBone Alley builds bridges of time through communal singing. From Sea Shanties to Broadsheet ballads to Come-All-Ye’s to Last Good Nights to Hard Luck Satires to Lovesick Dirges to Whaling Serenades – this music was meant as the earliest form of group therapy. And so it is again – a sepia-toned balm for our topsy-turvy time.

The grounds are open for picnicking this evening.