2022 Featured Performers

Celeste Bernardo



Celeste Bernardo worked as an interpreter, educator, and manager for twenty-five years at maritime sites in New York, Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts. Along the way, she collected songs to interpret people’s relationship with the sea. Accompanying herself on the anglo concertina, guitar, or 5-string banjo, her repertoire includes sea chanteys and traditional songs of the sea. She holds a Master’s degree in history from Northeastern University and is a graduate of Mystic Seaport’s Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies. She can be heard on recordings of Mystic Seaport Museum’s 22^nd, 25^th, 32^nd and 40^th Sea Music Festivals.

Vienna Carroll



Vienna Carroll learned music from the Black Ladies of her youth including her fearsome great grandmother who enjoyed playing country guitar to Minnie Pearl and The Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night but only strictly Pentecostal chords on Sundays. Vienna formalized her cultural studies with a BA in African American Studies at Yale University. Vienna sings and tells the stories of Black Roots Music — the spirituals, work songs, prison blues, and sea shanties of her ancestors. This music was integral to their survival and well-being and carries their history in it.

Craig Edwards



Craig Edwards sings and plays fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and button accordion. He studied Ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and worked as a staff musician at Mystic Seaport Museum for over 35 years. He has learned from master source musicians in numerous styles, including Appalachian fiddle tunes, banjo songs, and ballads, Blues, Cajun, Cape Breton, Irish,  African American maritime work songs, and Zydeco, and explores the deep historical and cultural relationships among these styles. His performances often feature rare musical gems and little-known connections. Craig has performed maritime music across North America and Europe, and works as a consultant creating musical components for museum exhibits and documentaries including the Ellis Island Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, the Nantucket Whaling Museum, and Connecticut Public Television’s “Connecticut and the Civil War.” He also plays at farmer’s markets, dances, taverns, weddings, barbecues, barn raisings, festivals, music camps, and corn shuckings.

Dick & Carol Holdstock



Whether they are singing songs of the sea, traditional ballads, old time tavern songs, songs of the California gold rush, or contemporary songs of social significance, Carol and Dick Holdstock are bound to please any audience that has the good fortune to see and hear them!  Dick and Carol have performed at festivals and folk music venues in England, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the east coast of the United States, Texas, and their home state of California. Their CD, “Shanties and Sea Songs from Way Out West,” with the backing of Nauticas, features an array of traditional songs from the west coast of North America and a smattering of contemporary songs in the tradition. They also have collaborated with the talented instrumentalist and singer Tom Murphey to produce an album called “San Francisco Sea Shanties and Sea Songs of California’s Gold Rush”, in honor of California’s Sesquicentennial of the Gold Rush. Dick recently authored “Again With One Voice – British Songs of
Political Political Reform, 1768 to 1868″; Published by Loomis House Press and available on the web and all book stores.

The Jovial Crew



The Jovial Crew is the long time house band of the Griswold Inn in Essex.  Started by Cliff Haslam in 1986 to augment his solo act that began there in 1972, the band has brought to the public a regular weekly performance of sea chanteys amongst historical songs related to the sailor ashore and the working class.  Cliff has been a long-time and beloved contributor to the sea and ballad music scene.  Joseph Morneault and Paul Elliott are founding members; Paul lives and performs in Florida but returns periodically to sing with the band, and Joseph is a local folk artist/social historian mostly interested in the late 18^th/early 19^th century with some publication/scholarship. Rick Spencer worked for 20 years as a chanteyman, historical interpreter, researcher, and program developer at Mystic Seaport and is widely recognized for his music and history presentations with Dawn Indermuehle. Michael Hotkowski is the newest addition to the band, coming from the tradition of union songs as well as being a stage performer at the Ivoryton Playhouse in the village of Ivoryton, Essex, CT.

Princess Pine



Princess Pine is the solo project name of folk singer and banjo player Kate McCann.  Kate grew up singing with the Chorus of Westerly in Westerly, RI and found folk music during her time as a student at Bennington College in Vermont.  This led her to spend a semester abroad in Limerick, Ireland where she immersed herself in the tradition of sean-nós singing.  In 2019 she took a job as a chanteyman at the Mystic Seaport Museum.  Kate is now based in mid-coast Maine where she enjoys the beautiful landscape and maritime culture of the area and is also a regular host on WERU Community Radio’s old-time music program.

Lynn Noel



Lynn Noel has a voice of striking clarity and power, equally well known for working chanteys and traditional ballads. She is an internationally respected song session leader, an instigator of Boston pub and chantey sings, the producer and host of the Mermaid’s Tavern online folk club, and a CDSS Local Hero. Lynn performs solo, duo, trio, and in ensembles from colonial and Celtic to English music hall. Her work as a professional heritage interpreter and independent scholar has garnered international awards. Lynn serves on the board of the New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA) as Program Chair for the Festival.

John Roberts



For almost 50 years John Roberts has been a mainstay of British folksong in America. Best known for his partnership with fellow Brit the late Tony Barrand, through the years John has always continued working as a solo performer, particularly in the areas of English Balladry and Songs of the Sea. But his repertoire also includes a wide range of songs of the working man, as well as the drinking and humorous songs that make up the wide range of the folk tradition. John often accompanies himself on the banjo and concertina.

John has played a number of times at the the Mystic Sea Music Festival, Portsmouth (NH) Maritime Festival, the San Francisco Sea Music Festival, the Old Songs Festival, Summerfest New Bedford, and the Newfoundland Folk Festival, to name but a few. He hopes to augment his sea song recordings with a new one out in time for the festival. He has also recorded extensively with Tony Barrand and Nowell Sing We Clear (see www.goldenhindmusic.com and his own webpage at www.johnrobertsmusic.com).

Americana


Knowing each other for many years, the three friends became a group, when they began playing every Sunday night at the Main Pub in Manchester, CT where the staff dubbed the trio, Americana. Anyone who loves sea music should know Don Sineti, former chanteyman at Mystic Seaport and confidant of Stan Hugill. He’s the big man with a big smile, huge heart, massive, booming voice, and a wicked 5-string banjo. Apart from his powerful and passionate singing, Don is also an accomplished self-taught marine mammal illustrator and a cetacean activist. You can learn a lot from listening to Don! Bill Walach’s professional music career began in 1957 playing Hawaiian guitar at Connecticut VFW and American Legion halls. Today, he is best known for his scintillating mandolin, bringing tasty vocals and a wide repertoire of diverse music styles to the group, from Southern songs to jigs and reels. Bill is also an in-demand session man for contra dances across the Northeast. Like his band-mates, multi-instrumentalist Steve Roys, a carpenter by trade, has had a life-long interest in traditional music and dance. He sings, plays accordion, jaw harp, spoons, bodhran and a sizzling hot harmonica. Americana’s sound is fresh and delightfully entertaining.

The Vox Hunters


Photo by Anna Colliton

Hailing from the great state of Rhode Island, Armand Aromin and Benedict Gagliardi are seekers and singers of old songs, cultivators of local music, and chronic multi-instrumentalists. They are touted as strong tradition-bearers in their generation, and their genuine affinity for the music is evident in the emotion they draw from it. With a pair of oft-harmonizing voices tastefully garnished with fiddle, free-reeds, and tenor guitar, The Vox Hunters offer an all-natural connection to the living tradition of folk music.

Marc Bernier



Marc Bernier has been a Professional Chef, Musician, and Sailor with a diverse musical and professional background.
No stranger to Sea Music audiences he spent over 30 years on staff at Mystic Seaport Museum. 5 years as a Mystic Seaport Chanteyman. He has worked as a musician and educator for the Clearwater program on the Hudson River, and has sailed as cook, deck hand, and entertainer on numerous traditional sailing vessels from the coast of Maine to Chesapeake Bay.
“A man with a Big Voice”, and varied instrumental skills.  He is equally at home with Guitar, Mandolin, and Tenor Banjo while he sings. An accomplished percussionist, he has played the Bodhran with several prominent Irish music performers and Frottior with almost everyone in the northeastern Cajun/Zydeco community. Marc plays Bodhrans he has built at his shop in Westerly,  RI. Marc has also been active in Connecticut’s Fife & Drum community since his teenage years, both as a teacher and performer. His notoriety as a fifer has brought him invitations to perform throughout North America and Europe. Marc’s song repertoire comes mostly from Ireland, the UK, and Northeastern US, with a significant focus on pub songs and drinking songs, developed through years of research in the field.

Judy Cook



Judy was born in Washington, DC and lived most of her life in the Maryland suburbs. She has a degree in Psychology from Oberlin College, 1971. She has been a solo touring entertainer in Britain and America since 1998, giving programs of traditional songs, and of 19 th century historical topics. She has been happily married to Dennis Cook since 1971. In 2013 Dennis and Judy moved to Kendal at Oberlin from where they continue their travels. Judy has nine CDs and one book, “A Quiet Corner of the War,” published by the University of Wisconsin Press in December 2013.

April Grant



April Grant has sung songs and told stories in person at venues across New England, and via the internet to international audiences during the pandemic. Her interests include traditional and trad-adjacent songs, history, and local legends (if you have cool stories about where you live, she’d love to hear them). She lives outside of Boston, where she also enjoys reading and writing imaginative fiction, gardening, cooking, and watching scary movies. She wants to thank her parents for first introducing her to folk music, and Dan for his support and encouragement. Please see https://aprilcatherinegrant.com/ for song lyrics and her upcoming shows.

Geoff Kaufman



Geoff Kaufman is best known for his thirty-five years of performing as a chanteyman at Mystic
Seaport, including twenty-five years of being Foreman of Interpretive Music Programs and
Director of the Seaport’s annual Sea Music Festival. He also toured extensively with the
Seaport’s internationally acclaimed quartet Forebitter.
Outside of his MSM affiliation, for forty-five
years Geoff has led audiences to find truth, humor, and beauty in folk music, from the decks ofPete Seeger’s Sloop Clearwater in the Hudson River to festivals and coffeehouses all over the
United States and Europe.

Janie Meneely & Rob van Sante



Rough as a riot, soft as sea spray, international duo Janie Meneely and Rob van Sante bring a breath of salt air to any stage. Their collaborative effort, marked by evocative instrumentals, strong vocals and original arrangements support an array of mostly maritime, mostly new material. 
Singer/songwriter Janie Meneely brings her nautical perspective to the world of folk music and storytelling, celebrating the maritime history, characters, and traditions of the Chesapeake Bay region where she was born and raised. From the somber Oyster Wife about the infamous Chesapeake Bay oyster wars to the turn-about tale of ladies on the loose in Twiddles, her songs inform as much as they entertain, chronicling the stories of Bay watermen or poking fun at sailors’ traditions.
In 2015, she partnered with Dutch-born guitarist Rob van Sante who lends his knack for melodies and flair for vocal harmony to Meneely’s compositions. Commonly seen performing with the likes of Alan Reid (of The Battlefield Band) or John Conolly (who penned the maritime favorite Fiddler’s Green), Rob draws deep from the well of traditional music, often supplanting his virtuoso guitar with spellbinding a cappella renditions of gems he’s collected during a lifetime of performing around the world. 
Whether they sing about the past or the present, the Bay or Beyond, Janie Meneely and Rob van Sante are delighted to share a few hours of music, merriment and (sometimes) mayhem. Be ready to sing along.

Rum Soaked Crooks



The Rum-Soaked Crooks, a vocal and instrumental trio consisting of Tom Goux, Dan Lanier, and Jacek Sulanowski, entertain throughout southeastern New England and beyond with music of the sea and shore.
Tom Goux, a music educator in Cape Cod schools for 30 years, also served as a program coordinator for the Schooner Ernestina, and Sandwich Heritage Museums and Gardens. Tom founded and directed the Falmouth Mostly all-Male Men’s Chorus, sang in the Chatham Chorale’s Chamber Singers, and established the New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus.  He also leads the five-voice a cappella group Notescape, singing close-harmony jazz standards.
Dan Lanier, a singer and instrumentalist, took a fancy to sailor songs as a youngster. After college, he joined Mystic Seaport Museum’s education department as a musical interpreter. There he served on the outdoor demonstration squad and directed the Sea Music Festival. Later, his career in environmental engineering took him to the Caribbean where he met several chantey-singing whalers, with whom he embarked on tours to the US, the Netherlands, and France. 
Jacek Sulanowski has sung for his supper in many a port and concert venue for nearly 50 years. Holding a doctorate in paleontology, he has taught earth sciences at Bridgewater State University and conducted research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Jacek served on the Board of Overseers of the Kendall Whaling Museum in Sharon, Massachusetts. Since retirement, Jacek has devoted much of his time to geological field trips and the search for new musical material for the Crooks.