Fisherman's Friends
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The Fisherman's Friends are a
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
group from
Port Isaac Port Isaac () is a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast of north Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. The nearest towns are Wadebridge and Camelford, each away. A nearby hamlet, Port Gaverne, is sometimes considered to be part of ...
,
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, who sing
sea shanties A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a sp ...
. They have been performing locally since 1995, and signed a record deal with
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...
in March 2010. Whilst essentially an
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
group, their studio recordings and live performances now often include traditional simple instrumentation.


History

The Fisherman's Friends' performances combine traditional songs of the sea with more contemporary folk music and a large dash of humour. The current members are Jeremy Brown, John Lethbridge (Lefty), Jason Nicholas, Toby Lobb, John McDonnell (Johnny Mac), Jon Cleave (Cleavie) and Bill Hawkins. In the original line-up, all of the members of the group "grew up within half a mile of Port Isaac harbour" except for John McDonnell who is a Yorkshireman. Three were fishermen, and the others were linked to the sea through service as coast guards or lifeboatmen; hence the name, 'The Fisherman's Friends'. Peter Rowe was the oldest founding member. He died in January 2021 at the age of 88. In 2009
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
presenter
Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...
was in Cornwall on holiday and came across two of their homemade CDs. Walker's manager, Ian Brown, travelled to Port Isaac and negotiated a recording contract worth £1 million for them with
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
, who released their first commercial album the following year. Jon Cleave is one of the MCs of the group and also the author/illustrator of the children's book series ''Gully'' as well as the full length, humorous novel ''Nasty Pasty''. They sing the chorus on
Show of Hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/ folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mando ...
' song "Cousin Jack" and the title track of Show of Hands' "best of" CD ''Roots''.


Repertoire

Their repertoire includes both shanties and other nautical songs, some of which are fairly lewd. With the addition of Nicholas and Lobb (accordion and guitar) to the founding members of the group, they have included musical accompaniment in their performances. Lobb and former member Hawkins were previously both supported by Vintage Guitars and regularly use their instruments on stage. Toby now performs using Takamine guitars while Jason is supported by Allodi Accordions. In 2023 the band brought in accomplished musicians and vocalists Simon Johnson and Marcus Bonfanti to their live performance line up. Both had previously appeared in previous albums recorded by the band.


Notable performances

The group performed at the 2010 Cornbury music festival in Oxfordshire, at the
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
on several occasions, typically on the Acoustic Stage, but on one occasion performing on the Pyramid Stage, and at the
Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix ...
. The band have also appeared at Towersey Festival, Wickham Festival, Beautiful days, Costa Del Folk, Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Tunes in the Dunes, Boardmasters and Celtic Connections, among others. Because they are semi-professional, the band do not tour extensively, but usually embark on short tours in November and February/March. They still occasionally perform in Port Isaac, singing on The Platt (at the back of the beach) in the summer for charity.


Recordings

The group released three CDs themselves before signing with Universal. In 2002, under the name Port Isaac's 'Fishermen's Friends', they recorded an album, primarily to raise funds for the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...
, which was released on the Clovelly label (#CLCD12702). The album, titled ''Fishermen's Friends Are Home from the Sea'', has 20 tracks and was recorded in St Peter's Church, Port Isaac, on 26 and 27 April 2002. All the tracks are sung in the traditional a cappella style. The album was engineered by Bob Whitney and produced by John Perkins. Their first album with Universal, ''Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends'', was recorded in Parish Church, Cornwall, and released in April 2010. In 2010 they re-recorded their single, "No Hopers, Jokers or Rogues", with new lyrics, in support of England's
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
campaign in South Africa. A second album with Universal, ''One and All'', was released on 26 August 2013. The single "Mary Anne", taken from the album, was released on 25 June 2013. In July 2015 the album ''Proper Job'' was released on the
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
label, in association with the St Austell Brewery, who brew a beer of the same name. This album also saw the first appearance of new member Toby Lobb. In 2018 group released ''Sole Mates'', an album produced by Giles Woolley and band member Toby Lobb. Their aim was to celebrate their history and create a simpler album that represented their live sound more accurately. ''Sole Mates'' comprised tracks that the band had performed during their previous two tours and featured additional instrumentation from Phil Beer from Show of Hands and Emma Murfin from Cornwall-based folk act Black Velvet.


Television

Gareth Malone's documentary on sea shanties, shown in May 2010 on BBC 4, included a contribution from the group. The Fisherman's Friends have also starred in an advert for the fish company,
Young's Seafood Young's Seafood Ltd. is a British producer and distributor of frozen, fresh, and chilled seafood, supplying approximately 40% of all the fish eaten in the United Kingdom every year. It is headquartered in Grimsby, England. The company as it is to ...
. The band have appeared on BBC One's ''The One Show'' on two occasions, been the subject of an ITV1 documentary that charted their early success, a
Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, films, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
documentary which featured their performance at the Celtic Connections festival, BBC's ''Countryfile'' with John Craven and many local news items. 2018 also saw them feature in the Songs of Praise Christmas Special.


Feature film

The producers of the film, '' Fisherman's Friends'', bought the band's life rights to be made into a feature film. The writers Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth adapted their story for the screen. Principal photography commenced on 30 April 2018 for 5 weeks on location in Port Isaac and London. The film was directed by Chris Foggin and was released in cinemas nationwide in the UK on 15 March 2019. The film stars an ensemble cast headed by
James Purefoy James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Marcus Antonius in the HBO series ''Rome'', Nick Jenkins in '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series '' The Fo ...
,
Daniel Mays Daniel Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor having had television roles in ''EastEnders'' (2000), ''Rehab'' (2005), '' Red Riding'' (2008), '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2010), '' Outcasts'' (2011), '' Mrs Biggs'', ''Line of Duty'', '' Des'' ...
and
Tuppence Middleton Tuppence Amelia Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is a British actress. In 2010, she was nominated for the ''London Evening Standard'' Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer. Middleton appeared in various films before making her breakthrough ...
, with
David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director from Glasgow. His acting credits include '' Sid and Nancy'' (1986), '' Hope and Glory'' (1987), '' Rob Roy'' (1995), '' The Jackal'' (1997), '' Tri ...
, Dave Johns, Noel Clarke,
Maggie Steed Maggie Steed (born Margaret Baker; 1 December 1946) is an English actress and comedian. Career After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol in the late 1960s, Steed left the theatre for several years, until she was about ...
, Sam Swainsbury and Christian Brassington playing key supporting roles. The film is based around a largely fictional story of Danny, a music industry executive who signs them to a London record label and develops a relationship with one of the band member's daughters, played by Middleton, and covers the period up to their first album release. All members of the band have cameos in the film and, according to Ashworth, "the singing is a blend of the voices of the group themselves and of the actors." In August 2022 a sequel titled '' Fisherman's Friends: One and All'' was released. The film covers them struggling to put together a second album, and how it leads them to perform on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.


Stage musical

A
stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
called '' Fisherman's Friends: The Musical'' based on the band's true story and the 2019 film made its world premiere at the
Hall for Cornwall The Hall for Cornwall, known as Truro City Hall until 1997, is an events venue in Boscawen Street in Truro, Cornwall, England. The building, which was previously the headquarters of Truro City Council, is a Grade II* listed building. History T ...
in
Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
in October 2021, written by Amanda Whittington and directed by James Grieve.


Awards

At the 2011
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British rad ...
The Fisherman's Friends received ''The Good Tradition Award'' for keeping folk music alive and bringing it to new audiences.


Fatal accident

On 9 February 2013, a heavy steel door fell while the G Live venue in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
was being prepared for a Fisherman's Friends show, killing their tour manager Paul McMullen. Singer Trevor Grills was knocked to the floor, suffered serious head injuries, and died in hospital two days later. Following an investigation into the tragedy, the company supplying the steel door, Express Hi-Fold Doors, was fined £30,000 for breaching health and safety regulations, but the company director was cleared of
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
and
gross negligence Gross negligence is the "lack of slight diligence or care" or "a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party." In some jurisdictions a person injured as a result of gross neg ...
.


Discography


Albums


Singles


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1995 establishments in England A cappella musical groups Cornish folk music groups Musical groups established in 1995 Universal Music Group artists