Chicago Maritime Festival
Chicago, Illinois
2006 Chicago Maritime Festival - Saturday, March 11
Performers
.
.
.
2006 Featured Performers
 |
The Boekaneirs is a Dutch shanty choir based in Harderwijk, an old fishing town on the banks of the former Zuydersea, that is known for its smoked eels and now also for its maritime singers. Their choirmaster Bert Hobo, is also a specialist on the Irish button accordion. The Boekaneirs have performed all across Europe and were the award winners at Holland's largest shanty festival in Wijk bij Duurstede in 2005. They are one of the few shanty choirs to appear in the United States and the first to perform in Chicago. |
 |
David HB Drake Performing on guitar, concertina, dulcimer, banjo, and Native flute, Wisconsin troubadour David HB Drake has spent over twenty years presenting concerts throughout the Midwest. Deep heartland roots and the waters of the Great Lakes flow throughout David's music in a panorama of history and discovery.
David was named "Folk / Acoustic Music Artist of the Year" and "Family Performer of the Year" by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry and was presented with the "Lantern Bearer" Life Achievement Award in 2003 at the Folk Alliance Region Midwest. His KIDSTUFF album received a "Parents' Choice" award for outstanding children's music.
In addition to being a professional dancer with Betty Salamun's DANCECIRCUS and the Milwaukee Ballet, a stage lighting designer, and actor, troubadour and swordsman with the "Ring of Steel" theatrical combat troupe, David has performed on tall ships on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes and is the resident musician for the schooner "Denis Sullivan", Wisconsin's flagship
|
 |
John Townley
John Townley is one of the best known maritime performers (and concertina players) in the World. He has also produced recordings for labels as wide-ranging as Columbia Records and the National Geographic Society. As a pioneer of multitrack recording he designed and built the first 12-track recording studios in both New York and San Francisco.
As founding president of the Confederate Naval Historical Society, he received the first-ever Federal award for leading an F.B.I. investigation and prosecution of looters of historic sunken ships under The National Historic Shipwrecks Act. As a former program developer at the Mariners' Museum and South Street Seaport Museum, his papers have been published by the Society for Historical Archaeology, Mystic Seaport Museum, and the U.S. Naval Academy.
John has also served as officer, crew, performer and instructor aboard various historical tall ships including the Polish staysail schooner Zawisza Czarny and Washington, D.C.'s Baltic trader Alexandria.
|
 |
Tom and Chris Kastle
Tom and Chris Kastle's songs and stories reflect their lives as singers, sailors, and travelers. They have performed throughout the United States and Europe and have recently returned from a tour of New Zealand.
Performance credits span the country from Mystic Seaport Museum and Passim to the Northwest Folklife Festival and the Florida Friends of Folk. Their performances across the sea include the Shanties Festival in Krakow, Poland, the University of Trondheim (Norway), the Folk House in Kinsale, Ireland, and the National Maritime Museum and Devonport Folk Music Club in New Zealand.
Closer to home, Tom and Chris have performed at the Illinois Storytelling Festival, the Fox Valley Folk Festival and at tall ship events all around the Great Lakes. The Kastles teach at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and have been featured on public radio and television shows. They have worked behind the scenes as well creating soundtracks for productions including WTTW TV's Chicago Stories (Race to Mackinac).
Using their experience as mariners as well as performers Tom and Chris have acted as hosts and MCs at tall ship events around the Great Lakes. Tom is a captain of the tall ship Windy at Navy Pier and can be seen yearly as part of the Weather Channel's "The Christmas Tree Ship: A Holiday Storm Story". They are founders and directors of the Chicago Maritime Festival.
|
 |
Nanne Kalma & Ankie van der Meer
Ankie and Nanne first appeared at the Chicago Maritime Festival in 2003 as half of the famed maritime group Kat yn't Seil. They have played music together since 1980, both as a duo and in groups such as Irolt, Kajto, Liereliet, and of course, Kat yn't Seil. They have recorded over 20 LPs and CDs singing in Frisian, Dutch and Esperanto and tour extensively throughout Europe, North America and Australia.
Maritime and historical themes play an important role in their work, but they also enjoy singing about comic events that happen in everyday life. They also love to compose music for Frisian poetry and write, produce and perform in theatrical productions. At concerts they accompany themselves on guitar, mandolin and concertina.
They recently produced some new CD.s, among which were the new maritime CD 'Overwinteren' (Wintering), the Frisian 'Mei de Guozzen mei' (Gone with the Geese) and 'The Game of Change', a CD on which they also sing in English, including a couple of songs based on lyrics by the Australian author Michael Roads
|
2005 featured performers: Pint & Dale, Serre l'Ecoute, Talitha MacKenzie, Lee Murdock, Tom and Chris Kastle, David HB Drake, Bounding Main, Sheridan Shore Chantey Singers, Old Town School of Folk Music Sea Music Class, The Friends Good Will Singers
2004 featured performers: The Johnson Girls, Tom Lewis, Bob Zentz, Don
Sineti & Steve Roys, and Bob Zentz.
2003 featured performers: Kat yn^Yt Seil, Johnny Collins, John Conolly, Tom &
Chris Kastle, the 97th Regimental String Band, and Mlynn.
Past special guest performers: Lanialoha Lee, Sheridan Shore Chantey
Singers, David HB Drake, Bounding Main, and the Old Town School of Folk
Music Sea Music Class.
|
