Turn that capstan, sailor! Trim the sails and wind that winch!
Captains aboard the traditional square-rigged ships of the 19th century required their teams of sailors to perform the hard tasks of sailing in a unified rhythm.
Thus the “shantier” — a kind of sailor’s choral director — was born. The shantier kept his men moving in unison to the songs of the sea.
The Shifty Sailors have kept the shanty songs and nautical ballads of sea life alive in the Puget Sound region for the past 14 years. This month, the Shifties are celebrating the release of “H is for aHoy!” a children’s CD of nautical songs. Music on the CD will be sung by the Shifty Sailors and 49 Young Shifties at a performance 7 p.m. Saturday, June 23, in a performance at Wharf Fest in Coupeville.
“H is for aHoy!” features the voices of 49 fourth- and fifth-graders from all over Whidbey Island. Proceeds from sales of the CD will go to children’s education.
This is the band’s fourth CD and their first especially for children.
“We sing about kids, we sing for kids,” said Vern Olsen, the Shifty Sailors’ band founder, accordion player and vocalist.
The group’s previous CD titles include “Heave Ho My Lads,” “Haul on…” and “Ho, for the Life.”
All of the band’s CDs, which take about six months to produce, have been recorded on Whidbey Island and were engineered by Greg Garbarino of Langley.
The Shifties are also getting ready to set sail for a grand tour that will carry the history of the Puget Sound to the coast of our founding fathers.
Seventeen of the 22 members of the band will leave for a New England tour shortly after the CD release concert and perform in Newport, R.I. in conjunction with the “Tall Ships Challenge Series,” a race of tall ship replicas that head up the eastern seaboard each summer. The Shifty Sailors will also perform in concerts in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, including a performance aboard the Mayflower II in Plymouth, Mass.
Olsen said the band has been touring every other year since 2001 and have traveled to Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the British Isles, Germany and France. All proceeds from performances go into a travel expense fund so that members can take advantage of the every-other-year tours.
“It’s a great way to have a vacation, and people everywhere just love the music,” Olsen said.
The Shifty Sailors also make regular appearances at most of the Puget Sound area festivals and will be on hand at Choochokam and the Island County Fair this summer to perform their show of foot-stomping, seafaring songs.
Shifty Sailors CDs can be found at The Moonraker Bookshop in Langley or Bookbay in Freeland.
Tickets for Wharf Fest can be purchased at those locations or at Wind & Tide Bookshop in Oak Harbor and at Videoville in Coupeville.
For more information about the Shifty Sailors check out their Website at www.shiftysailors.net.
Patricia Duff can be reached at 221-5300 or pduff@southwhidbeyrecord.com.
