Want To Learn How To Sing Like A Sailor
CLIMB ABOARD THE NEW SHANTY DEVIL ORG
Word on the Street (WOTS) had the pleasure of interviewing Trisha Haugen, a member of the Shanty Devils and a second-year junior majoring in technology education. She is also in the Organization Affairs Committee Student Government, which is how she first heard about the group when they made their case to become an official organization.
Sea shanties are part of a traditional folk music genre that sailors on large sea merchant ships commonly sang to help pass the time while doing rhythmic labor. National interest in sea shanties sparked when a sea shanty titled “Wollerman” went viral on TikTok during the start of the pandemic in 2020. Since then, more and more organizations like the Shanty Devils have been popping up around the country.
Trisha’s was ecstatic when asked about her interest in the genre: “When I was in high school, a friend from camp played some on a car ride, and I had never heard that type of music before. I was like, ‘This is groundbreaking!’ It has just this swash-buckly, sea shanty-ness! After that, I had a group of friends where we printed out a bunch of sea shanties and sang them together while paddling. When we went on a Boundary Waters trip together, we sang along to sea shanties to keep rhythm. So, when I heard about the Shanty Devils forming, I was like yeah, if I have time, I want to see what they’re doing.”
The founder of the org, Greg Evans, wants the Shanty Devils to be a fun and relaxed environment to learn and practice singing sailor songs and show appreciation to the fading art of old tunes. Its goal is to bring awareness to the public about the origin and culture behind the genre itself.
Now that this group has been made official, we asked Trisha if any performances are expected for the future. She explained that anything is possible, but the key to that would be finding enough committed members willing to practice for a performance. There were initially six members during the founding process, but word has gotten around, so it’s likely to continue growing due to its recent popularity.
When asked what her favorite sea shanty is, Trisha pondered, “There are a lot of good ones, like ‘Here’s a Health to the Company’ that is more so a ballad, and then there’s ‘South Australia’ which is upbeat, and ‘Roll the Ole Chariot Along.’ Those are a few of my favorites.”
If you are interested in the org and think the ears of Menomonie should be blessed with such lovely tunes, joining is incredibly easy! They meet in select rooms of the MSC every other Saturday, and all you have to do is go to the Connect app, search Shanty Devils, click join and boom: you’re in.