National Museum of American History On the Water Opening Celebration: Songs of the Sea & Shore

Join the Washington Revelers in celebrating the opening of On the Water, a new exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Celeberate the traditions of the people who live on and around the sea and shore.
Sea chanteys-work songs created by ordinary seamen to accompany various specific tasks-are an important record of life on board ships. (Text from the Washington Revels Brochure)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• American History
• Smithsonian
• On the Water
• Washington Revelers
• Songs of Sea

[cbhagman]

I can honestly say every Revels event I've attended has been absolutely exhilarating. The spirit of the performers is infectious, and of course the material (ranging from African-American spirituals to English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish tunes) really appeals to my traditional music-loving heart.

[hultonclint]

Good job all!

One note: Since this is the Smithsonian, I'd be remiss in not pointing out that your text does not match the performance. The text emphasizes "work song" while the performance has many aspects not characteristic of work song. IMHO, choose one or the other (i.e. work song style, or fancy entertainment style w/o pretense) -- both are valid. Confounding the 2 continues to perpetuate wrong ideas about the nature of chanteys to the general public.

[morty66]

This only happens at the Smithsonian! Good job!