News
Lusty Glaze show
Fishermans Friends will be singing live in the beautiful natural ampitheatre of Lusty Glaze Beach. A perfect horse shoe shaped cove, with 120 foot high cliffs surrounding it, nestled at the north end of Newquay Bay.
As there is no show in Port Isaac on Friday 24th August (Bank holiday weekend) because of the high tide FF will be down in Newquay at the stunning Lusty Glaze beach.
Tickets from See Tickets
Free Port Isaac Summer Gigs in 2012
I’m sorry to say that we appear to have been swamped by our own success. With a heavy heart, we’ve had to reluctantly take the decision to cut the number of free gigs we do down on the Platt this year, simply because the lack of beach means there’s not enough room when the tides are high to accommodate two or more thousand people.
Short of auditioning King Canute for the group, to hold back the Atlantic while we sing, we’re a bit between a rock and a hard place…
It manifests itself in two ways –
When the tide is right up at around six, we can’t set ourselves up because so many people are already on the Platt and it’s impossible to position our equipment. We can’t set up any earlier because we’re all working in our ‘proper’ jobs! By the time we’re due to start singing at eight bells, we can hardly get through the crowds to our ‘stage’, and the crush is ridiculous.
When the tide is still coming in and reaches it’s highest point during a performance, say at eight thirty or nine o’clock, the audience who have been watching from the beach behind us have to squeeze sardine like up onto the Platt and slipway. It’s become quite impossible, and save a generous benefactor building us a coliseum with similar harbour views and ambience, we have had to become the world’s first tidal buoy band!
I can’t remember the last summer when we didn’t spend each and every Friday evening in Port Isaac singing down by the harbour. It must be fifteen or more years, and has become part of the Fisherman’s Friends DNA. We know that it’s an important part of many visitor’s holidays, and a weekly social for lots of locals. In many ways the music has become almost incidental to the gathering as a whole.
Those of you who have been to one of our open air gigs will be familiar with our dilemma and I know you’ll understand our decision, which has been taken with great reluctance and sadness.
By announcing the dates of this year’s free Platt gigs as early as this, we hope to minimise any inconvenience to you all and hopefully save you any wasted journeys.
So here are the dates when, weather permitting, we’ll be up to giving you all a good, hard shantying!
Hope to see you all there!
June 2012
01/06/12 – Port Isaac Platt
15/06/12 – Port Isaac Platt
29/06/12 – Port Isaac Platt
July 2012
13/07/12 – Port Isaac Platt
27/07/12 – Port Isaac Platt
August 2012
10/08/12 – Port Isaac Platt
17/08/12 – Port Isaac Platt
31/08/12 – Port Isaac Platt
September 2012
07/09/12 – Port Isaac Platt
Tour & compilation CD
Well, it’s been a while, but we’re back!
We’ve had some time off in October to recharge the batteries, we’re now getting ready to do a few shows at the end of November (have you got your tickets yet?)
22 Nov Cheltenham Town Hall – tickets available here
23 Nov Salisbury City Hall – tickets available here
25 Nov Bristol Colston Hall- tickets available here
27 Nov Plymouth Theatre Royal – SOLD OUT
30 Nov Birmingham Town Hall – SOLD OUT
1 Dec London Union Chapel- tickets available here
We are also singing, chatting and signing books at Waterstones in Truro this Thursday at 7pm (10th November). Tickets are £2 and available from the shop. Watersones website
Lastly 5 FF songs are featured on a new compilation from Proper Records. These songs are taken from our 2 albums ‘Suck ‘em & Sea’ and ‘Another Mouthful From…’
The full tracklisting is below and its available to pre order from Amazon.co.uk and Play.com
A Treasury Of Shanties And Songs Of The Sea
1. The Fisherman’s Friends – Shanty Man
2. The Fisherman’s Friends – John Kanaka
3. The Fisherman’s Friends – Haul Away Joe
4. The Fisherman’s Friends – Blood Red Roses
5. The Fisherman’s Friends – What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor ?
6. Long Dan Russell – A Hundred Days On The East
7. Long Dan Russell – Blow The Man Down
8. Long Dan Russell – Shoals Of Herring
9. Long Dan Russell – The Blackball Line
10. Long Dan Russell – The Wild Goose
11. The Cod Wranglers – Poor Old Man
12. The Cod Wranglers – Carry Him To The Burying Ground
13. The Cod Wranglers – For Those In Peril On The Sea
14. The Cod Wranglers – Shenandoah
15. The Cod Wranglers – Where The Codfish Grow
16. Ron Kavana & The Sherkin Crew – A-Rovin’
17. Ron Kavana & The Sherkin Crew – The Harp Without The Crown
18. Ron Kavana & The Sherkin Crew – Rounding The Horn
19. Ron Kavana & The Sherkin Crew – Willie Taylor
20. Ron Kavana & The Sherkin Crew – A Health To The Company
Back at The Minack Theatre
24th May 2012 will see us return to The Minack Theatre.
Not to wish the time away but we can’t wait!
If you can’t make it all the way to the Minack then we will be doing a short tour at the end of November and there will be more 2012 shows to announce soon.
http://portisaacsfishermansfriends.com/lives-dates/
See you somewhere soon!
FF on Sky Arts
Highlights from this years Cambridge Folk Festival will be on Sky Arts 1 between
22nd and 27th August, every night at 10pm.
FF are featured in programs 2 (23rd) and 4 (25th). Lots of other great highlights to be seen as well. Full details can be found here
If you don’t have access to Sky Arts let’s hope for some resourceful people sharing them on youtube or something 
Sailing At Eight Bells Book
We are pleased to announce that Simon & Schuster will be publishing our book ‘Sailing At Eight Bells’ on 1st September.
The is our story of their lives, including childhood memories up to adventures since becoming ‘famous’, old Cornish tales of pirates and smuggling, history of Port Isaac and it’s colourful characters………..and probably a load of nonsense besides. We really hope you enjoy it, if you don’t it will be a perfect present for a Uncle at Christmas…………in fact if you do like it you could buy another copy for Uncle!
You can order pre order the hardback book on Amazon here
Also available in all good bookshops and should be available in ebook formats (more to follow with links, etc.)
We also hope to pop into some bookshops to sign copies and say hello to anyone who’s about!
Waterstones in Truro and Plymouth are likely to the first targets so be warned (times and dates to be confirmed).
This is the ‘official blurb’………if you’re interested
“For the past two decades ten men from Cornwall’s Port Isaac have met on the village quayside every Friday summer evening to sing rousing sea shanties and traditional folk songs for free beer. Then, in March 2010, everything changed when stardom came to this bunch of friends who had sought neither fame nor fortune. Within weeks of a record producer hearing their passionate singing, they had a million-pound deal and were booked to appear at Glastonbury. By the end of that month a massive tour was underway and Ealing Films had bought the rights to their story.
Their first commercially produced album went gold almost immediately and they have now played live to tens of thousands of people, raising the roof everywhere with ballads such as ‘The Cadgwith Anthem’ and ‘South Australia’. The book will tell the full story of how the boat came in for this group of burly middle-aged men, each of whom are or have been fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards (as well as builders, artisans, hoteliers and shop keepers) in their beloved Port Isaac. Each member of the group has his own story, and individual family histories tell of Cornwall’s rugged, harsh landscape and the ever-present danger and bounty of the sea. The Fisherman’s Friends have found a huge and ready audience and have rekindled interest in traditional music, striking a chord in the hearts of men and women, young and old, across the English-speaking world. With a new album due out at the end of 2011, this is an affectionate and timely autobiography.”
FF’s doc – watch again
For any of you that missed the documentary last night (Wednesday 15th June) you can watch it again on ITV Player – click here
We really hope you enjoy it!
FF on radio & TV
Keep your eyes and ears open for the FF’s on BBC Radio 2 this afternoon (14th June) and ITV’s Daybreak in the morning (15th June).
Tune into BBC Radio 2 for Simon Mayo’s Drivetime Show. The show starts at 5pm, FF will be on after 6pm chatting and singing.
Bright and early on Wednesday morning (between 7.15am and 8.35am) FF will be on ITV’s Daybreak for a little singing, chat and hopefully a preview of the documentary.
Talking of the documentary….remember that is on on ITV1 at 10.35pm Wednesday night – 15th June 2011.
ITV Documentary
Good news one and all The Fisherman’s Friends ITV documentary will be shown on 15th June at 10.35pm
Below is the blurb for the show:
“The story of the Cornish shanty singers, whose debut album Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends reached the UK top 10 in 2010, tracing their rise from obscurity to national prominence. In addition to following them as they visit London for a series of concerts and TV appearances, the film explores how their close bond has been affected by the pressures of performing and demands of travelling hundreds of miles to venues around the country.”
Click here for the documentary trailer
Details:
ITV1 (and on HD!!!)
10.35pm – Wednesday 15th June 2011
Hope you enjoy it!
New FF live dates added
A small winter tour has been added to diary, please check the live dates here
After the first of two sold out shows at the incredible Minack Thearte in Cornwall we are pleased to announce 6 shows in November and December. We’re looking forward to visting some new towns and cities as well as returning to some fantastic venues (Bristol, Birmingham and London!). Hopefully the Union Chapel show will not be effected by snow drifts again so everyone can make it!
Look out for small special performances at Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festival – details to be announced soon.
Hope to see you over the summer in Port Isaac or at a festival or two!
Until next time
FF HQ