The Untold

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The Untold: Shanty Fever

Shanty Fever

BBC Radio 4 - The Untold, Shanty Fever

When sea shanties blew up on social media, a shanty band from Bristol hit the big time.

When sea shanties suddenly blew up on social media, a shanty band from Bristol found themselves heading for the big time.

In an unexpected twist of Lockdown 3, sea shanties blew up on social media. Suddenly, everyone was singing ‘Wellerman’, a mid-19th Century whaling song about life on-board a whaling ship. A song of hope and unity which brought people together via the power of the internet. 

JD, Dave, Andy and Robbie find themselves at the centre of this shanty storm.  They are old friends who together make up The Longest Johns, a sea shanty band from Bristol. Back in 2018, they released a version of Wellerman on their second album, and now - suddenly - it's gone viral. 

They’ve been a band for years and they've never exactly been 'mainstream'. But now that 2021 has woken up to shanties, everything is about to change for them...

Produced in Bristol by Becky Ripley.

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