Earlier this week, I was deeply honoured to be invited to present a paper on the nineteenth-century shanty tradition at the Royal College of Music Museum, as part of their ongoing exhibition on Shared...

We are delighted to announce a fantastic cohort of academic, creative and independent researchers exploring a hugely diverse range of topics.

You might have noticed a longer break between the last and this post. That was intentional – partly to build anticipation (sorry for the devilish tricks), and partly to make room something special:…

Hearing London’s Sailortown in Shanty Repertoire

When we invited researchers and practitioners to apply for the new Musical Theatre Research Grants earlier this summer, we could not have anticipated the breadth of exciting proposals we would receive...

The Royal Musical Association’s Annual Conference has long been a fixture in my academic calendar, and this year’s gathering in Southampton confirmed once again why it remains one of my favourite scho...

The 4th Traditional Tunes and Popular Airs (TTPA) conference taking place at Cecil Sharp House, London, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 November 2025, brings together researchers working on ‘traditional’ and ...

Discover the academic research and contributions of Dr. Mollie Carlyle, a maritime musicologist dedicated to exploring the intersections of music, culture and maritime history.

The online Journal of the Hakluyt Society, which is a refereed journal, publishes occasional articles on navigation, exploration and similar topics.

Stan Hugill was known in his lifetime as the ‘Last Working Shantyman’ and became a guardian of the tradition of maritime music. Stan had a colourful and eventful life. He spent 23 years at sea includi...