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Friday, September 25, 2009:

• 4:00 - 9:00 PM – Traditional Music Session at The Press Room (77 Daniel St.)

Saturday, September 26, 2009:

• 11:30 - 12:30 PM – Weigh Anchor! with Great Bay Sailor and Mudhook at RiverRun Bookstore (20 Congress St.)
• 12:30 - 2:00 PM – “Seaport Towns” at The Warner House (150 Daniel St.)
  RAIN LOCATION: Discover Portsmouth Center (1 Islington St.)
• 12:30 - 2:00 PM – “Both Sides of the Pond” at Discover Portsmouth Center (1 Islington St.)
• 12:30 - 2:00 PM – “Sea Songs Old and New” at Moffatt-Ladd House & Garden (154 Market St.)
• 2:30 - 5:00 PM – Maritime Open Sing at The Press Room (77 Daniel St.)
• 7:00 - 10:30 PM – “Coast to Coast” Evening Program with featured Festival artists, United Methodist Church (129 Miller Ave.)

Sunday, September 27, 2009 – Ongoing from 1:00 to 5:30 PM:

• Street performances in Market Square
• Performances at The Works Bakery Cafe (9 Congress St.)
• Cameo Concerts at Portsmouth Athenaeum (9 Market Sq.)
• Cameo Concerts at Oppenheimer & Co. (30 Penhallow St.)
• 2:00 - 4:45 PM – Sing-Around at the Rusty Hammer (49 Pleasant St.)
• 5:00 PM – Shanty Blast Finale in Market Square

Traditional Music Session at the Press Room

For over 25 years, the Press Room, at 77 Daniel St, has been the home of a traditional music and song open session on Friday nights. From 4-9 PM, local singers and musicians gather in this popular pub to join in with Irish, English, Scottish and American folk music. Listeners and participants welcome! Bring your instrument and your voice, and prepare to sing a lot of choruses. The session tonight will have a strong emphasis on sea music.
Accessibility moderate: granite step up to first floor, outward-opening wide door, standard restrooms.

Weigh Anchor!

For the third year in a row, RiverRun Bookstore, 20 Congress Street, will host a Saturday mid-day concert. Featured this year are area groups, Great Bay Sailor and Mudhook, in a one-hour Festival Kickoff concert. Local musicians Alan Eaton, Peter Hale, Dave Hallowell, Mike Jeanneau, Steve Carrigan, Bruce MacIntyre, and Kevin Scanlon are old friends, and the two bands will combine as one for this special event. There will be plenty of harmonies in the songs, both traditional and contemporary, lots of picking and fiddling, and an abundance of salt-water choruses.
Accessibility good: street level, no steps, outward-opening wide door, accessible restrooms.

“Seaport Towns”/“Both Sides of the Pond”/“Sea Songs Old and New”

We are thrilled to be working with three of the historical houses of Portsmouth, presenting simultaneous maritime programs in the garden of the Warner House, 150 Daniel Street, the main exhibit room of the Discover Portsmouth Center, 1 Islington Street, and the newly-renovated coach house at the Moffatt-Ladd House, 154 Market Street. We’ve paired some of our British guests with our own American singers for two of the concerts to highlight sea music from both sides of the Atlantic. At the Warner House, Andy Kenna of Liverpool England will be performing along with Tom Hall & Linn Schulz, our own Festival Organizers. Over at the Discover Portsmouth Center, Finn & Haddie with Ken Schatz will represent North America, with Hilary Ward of Surrey England singing songs from the UK. And at the Moffatt-Ladd, local favorites Mudhook and Great Bay Sailor will sail in from their latest voyage at RiverRun.

Be sure to bring a chair or blanket for lawn seating at the Warner House; chairs provided at the indoors locations. In case of inclement weather, the Warner House show will move to Discover Portsmouth Center.
These programs are free and open to the public. Donations to the Warner House, the Moffatt-Ladd House and the Discover Portsmouth Center are gratefully accepted at those locations.
Accessibility: Warner House venue is a lawn area outside the house, wide gate, no paved pathway, uneven flagstones, no restrooms.
Discover Portsmouth Center is fully accessible with ramp, automatic doors and accessible restrooms.
Moffatt-Ladd is up a gravel drive with handicapped drop-off allowed, wide doors, tight ramp to first floor space, no restrooms.

Maritime Open Sing

Tom Hall and Linn Schulz have hosted a monthly shanty and forebitter session at the Press Room, 77 Daniel St, for the past six and a half years. This special second monthly session will run from 2:30-5:00 PM. This is a strongly vocal session, with sea shanties and easy choruses heavily featured. Also heard are many of the seamen’s off-duty, non-work songs, known as forebitters. As always, listeners and participants welcome!
The usual sea music session is held on the third Saturday of the month, from 3:30-7:30 PM. In May 2003, the regular session was profiled by New Hampshire Public Radio. To hear that radio article, click here.
Accessibility moderate: granite step up to first floor, outward-opening wide door, standard restrooms.

“Coast to Coast” Saturday Evening Concert

Through the generosity of Celtic Crossing gift shop, we are pleased to present Robbie O’Connell as this year’s special guest. Robbie will perform in tonight’s concert along with featured artists Castlebay, from Maine, and Jon & Rika, from British Columbia. The concert will be held at Sanborn Hall, part of the United Methodist Church in Portsmouth, 129 Miller Ave. The church is just south of the Middle Street/Miller Ave/Summer Street intersection, on the east side of Miller. Doors open at 6:30PM; parking is available in the church lot.
Full Accessibility: Ramp, stair lift, accessible restrooms.

Cameo Concerts at Portsmouth Athenaeum and Oppenheimer & Co.

The Portsmouth Athenaeum is a non-profit membership library and museum, incorporated in 1817 and located in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth. With a strong interest in local and regional history, especially local maritime history, the Athenaeum ground-floor reading room is an ideal venue for intimate cameo concerts.
Accessibility moderate: one granite step up to first floor, outward-opening double doors, no restrooms.

Returning for the second year as a venue, Oppenheimer is located on a side street in back of the Market Square Shanty Blast location. In addition to doubling the opportunities to hear festival performers in half-hour mini-concerts, the opening program will be the happy return of the Sailors’ Bethel workshop. Brief comments on the history of the bethels will punctuate an energetic hymn sing – “hymn books” provided.
Accessibility: Full, with pre-arrangement. Otherwise difficult: six granite steps up to standard outward-opening door, accessible restrooms on a lower level.

Sing-Around at the Rusty Hammer

Hosted by Linn Schulz and Tom Hall, the Sunday Maritime Sing will feature various festival performers, coming and going throughout the afternoon, as well as audience participants. This is the fourth year the Rusty Hammer restaurant has been a sponsor. Drop in for a pint and a few choruses – 49 Pleasant Street, on the corner of State Street, near the Market Square.
Accessibility difficult: street level, standard outward-opening doors, narrow entry hall, interior steps, standard restrooms.

Shanty Blast Finale

A giant, roaring final sing ends the weekend with a blast. All performers gather on the sidewalk in Market Square in front of RiRa as each takes a turn leading a shanty. The whole crew, and audience, too, belts out chorus after chorus – a rousing sight and sound, indeed!
Accessibility good: this is outdoors on the brick sidewalk, sidewalk cuts from street, no restrooms.