SHANTY SINGERS AND BALLADEERS

Ship's Log Archive
Monday July 7, 2003 - Wednesday May 17, 2006

name:

Big Jake

Date:

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Comments

Anyone out there with some spare change? Boy Scouts to auction 101-yr old tall ship http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060517/od_nm/life_tallship_dc_2

name:

Big Jake

Date:

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Comments

Greetings friends, fans and Bounding Mainiacs. This is Cap'n Jake (aka Dean).

I sent out an email bulletin this week to everyone and discovered the next day that there were some problems with the formatting. It seems the code that Microsoft products use aren't as universal as I thought. Many of you received fairly illegible emails because a parchment image behind the text did not display. I am horribly sorry about that, and will amend my methods for the next bulletin. If any of you want me to resend the bulletin in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format just drop me a line at bigjake@boundingmain.com and let me know.

We're off to St. Louis this weekend for their excellent Renaissance Faire. If you're in the area or can come down this is an absolutely beautiful show with the very best environment.

By the way, our music is available to download electronically on iTunes, MSN Music and many other online sources. Check it out.

name:

Gina

Date:

Monday, April 17, 2006

Comments

Everyone needs to have a set. I mean it. I don’t know where you’ll get yours and you cannot under any circumstances have mine (and they are the best one out there), but everyone needs a set of friends like Bounding Main.  You may very well be asking yourselves, ‘What brought this on?’ Well, I’ll tell you.  A show brought this on. That’s right we did a show and it was spectacular fun! 

Bounding Main provided the entertainment at the Ports OF Call fundraiser in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday, April 8, 2006.  This annual fundraiser supports the Door County Maritime Museum and the Lighthouse Preservation Society; an event tailor-made for maritime music! We spent several hours singing to the generous people that attended the fundraiser and had a darn good time doing it. We met some fascinating people and enjoyed listening to the live auction. The auctioneer was simply amazing and über-fun to watch. She did an outstanding job.  A wonderful evening was had by all.

Now, I know that the show doesn’t sound like something we haven’t done before, and it wasn’t.  It was all the other stuff that makes me order all of you readers to get a group of friends like mine.  We all drove up to Door County and met early so that we could have a snack before the show. You see there were celebrity chefs at the fundraiser but we were pretty sure we wouldn’t get a chance to eat so we made sure to get fueled up before the show. We had fun eating together before the show. We had fun walking back to the hotel. We had fun exploring the suite we had at the hotel. We had fun piling into Dean’s Saturn, that’s right, all 6 of us complete with snails, starfishes, and swords, to go to the show. And then, ohhhh, and then. We all went back to the hotel. Normally we do not do this but since we had a suite and we didn’t have a show on Sunday, we had a sleep over!  Yep, the very first Bounding Main sleepover!  The suite had a kitchen so I made Rice-Crispy treats, Jon brought Girl-Scout Cookies, and Dean brought chips, salsa, and some wine.  We all changed into comfy clothes and sat down in the living room got cozy in front of the fireplace. Then we started to eat and chat. We laughed and carried on until about 2:30 am.  I was sore from laughing when I woke up on Sunday.  I know I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, I have the best group ever (you can’t have it, get your own)!  It doesn’t get any better than this. 

name: Christie Date: Monday, March 13, 2006 Comments

GINA, CHRISTIE & MAGGIE WRESTLE WITH BERT HOBO'S ROMAN HANDS.  WE THOUGHT HE WAS DUTCH . . .

Ahoy There Mates! The crew of Bounding Main had a fabulous time at the 2006 Chicago Maritime Festival on Saturday, March 11. We had the chance to catch up with some old friends and we made some new friends too. David HB Drake was charming as usual, and if you have not heard him sing about Pirates on Lake Michigan, Ask him! Ask him! Ask him! He had us howling with laughter at the evening concert. Our new friends include a group called the De Boekaneirs. They are an all male shanty choir from Holland. They were so friendly and fun that they entertained us both on and off stage! Plus, their sound was just incredible. There were 25 or so of them and their voices together were incredibly powerful. Nanne Kalma and Ankie van der Meer are also new friends of ours. This classy duo is from the Netherlands and their harmonies are just beautiful. Nanne and Ankie shared some gorgeous music with us and we were so glad to have met them. A special thanks goes to the Bounding Mainiacs that traveled down to see us. We were happy to have shared some time with them and know they got to hear some great music. A few Mainiacs were even adventurous enough to join us for dinner at a darling little Mexican restaurant. Fun and food! What could be better. We would also like to thank Tom and Chris Kastle for all of their hard work putting together this incredible event! They do a wonderful job every year so don't miss it next year!

name:

Dean

Date:

Friday, March 10, 2006

Comments

The New York Times is running a very interesting article on the revival of lost native American languages, focusing on the defunct Algonquian language of the Pequot of Connecticut, Virginia Algonquian. The focus on this was a requirement for the recent film, "The New World."

You can find the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/science/07lang.html

The very good movie web site is here: http://www.thenewworldmovie.com/

name:

Dean

Date:

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Comments

An addition to the wonderful log entry from Gina:

A special thank you to our new friends at YourPlanB.com who designed "Keep to the Code," the "Official Fan Site for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Movies." It was lousy weather and you creative folks probably had a lot of fun places a hell of a lot closer you could have gone but you spent the afternoon with us. Thanks so much.

And, you know, keep to the code . . .

name:

Gina

Date:

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Comments

To the Waukegan Yacht Club: Thank you for making us feel so very welcome, for accommodating our every request, and for your outstanding staff who made the event flow without a hitch. We truly enjoyed the opportunity to perform at a bona-fide nautical venue complete with beautiful views of the harbor.  The WYC is a great place to hold events or just drop in to watch the sailboats.  Yes, there were sailboats out and about on the water yesterday, in the snow.  I kid you not.

To Jon Baade: You D’Man. Thank you for traveling to Waukegan with your mysterious sound equipment to make sure that our voices were heard. Your musical expertise and performance experience was clearly an asset to us as we dealt with the sound equipment. We prefer to be unplugged but with you around, we might try the sound system thing more often.  Thank you for loaning your talent to us for the evening.

To the Bounding Mainiacs, well, what can we say? You braved the snow and obnoxious travel times to help us celebrate the release of “Lost at Sea”. Your smiling, singing faces always brighten up our shows and you never fail to make us feel at home, no matter where we perform.  Thank you for sharing your time with us.

To SignSynergy:  Thank you for the signs!  When folks go out to look at pictures of the event, they will be sure to see one of our fabulous signs in the background. SignSynergy created some outstanding signs for us and we were happy to show them off. Thank you for your support of our group and our music.

To Our Guests:  To those that saw signs and announcements about the CD release party and dropped in to see us for the first time, it was a pleasure to meet you and we sincerely hope you had a good time.  To our family, friends, roommates, schoolmates, co-workers, and pirate aficionados, thank you for coming out to see what Bounding Main is all about. An a capella sea-shanty/maritime music CD release party isn’t something you get to attend everyday and we are so very happy that you chose to attend this one with us.

Until next time (and by that I mean Saturday at the Chicago Maritime Festival) . . .

Keep your mug wet,
Your pants dry,
And always remember where you’re docked!

name:

Gina

Date:

Monday, February 27, 2006

Comments

Extra! Extra! Read All About it! Bounding Main Appears in Grayslake Times!

That’s right folks! The members of Bounding Main were interviewed by the lovely and talented Kathy Gresy for the Grayslake Times (a Lakeland Newspaper). The article titled, “Off the beaten shore: Maritime music group celebrates sea life through song”, appeared in the February 17, 2006, edition of the paper and included both an article about Bounding Main as well as a photograph by Chris Padgett. Did I mention that the article started on the front page of the paper, above the fold? We had so much fun during the interview that we can’t wait to do another one. We truly enjoyed our time with Kathy and appreciate her description of our group, our music, and our CDs.

P.S. Rumor has it that the Waukegan paper has picked up the story and will publish it soon as well. Neat stuff!

[An Adobe Acrobat copy of the article appears here.]

name:

Jon

Date:

Friday, February 03, 2006

Comments

This isn't directly Bounding Main related, but Captain Jake invited me to share this here...

Dark Side nominated for Best Album!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Comments

HAPPY THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY BOUNDING MAIN!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE

name:

Maggie

Date:

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Comments

Our first gig of the new year was a blast. We sang once again on "Higher Ground" with Jonathan Overby, an NPR program out of Madison, WI. It is such a fun show in which to be a participant. Or an audience member, I hope!

Jonathan and Deb and the producers were all so nice and welcoming. We sang four songs, interspersed with other groups doing their things, and some really interesting dialog from an author and a play director. We can't wait to do this show again!

Take a listen if you have an hour or two to spare. This link is for the first hour, and this link is for the second hour.

name:

Dean / "Cap'n Jake"

Date:

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Comments

With the season getting wild and busy I want to wish all of the friends and fans of Bounding Main a very wonderful holiday season, however you celebrate.

We have had an incredible year performing at venues near and far and we've always been able to count on the Bounding Mainiacs to be there supporting us. There are not enough words to describe how reassuring it is that no matter where we are, we always have someone from home with us.

To our fellow performers who have worked with us, written songs that we sing or who have supported us with encouragement and kindness, thank you so much for welcoming us into "the club" and inspiring us with your own great works and sounds.

To our personal friends and family members who support our crazy schedules and long hours and who help us with the many projects we have to keep this ship sailing, please know that all six of us love you and cherish your comfort and assistance.

To those who have gone before us, we hope we're doing you proud.

There are great things ahead for 2006, and I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you throughout the year.

name:

Dean

Date:

Monday, December 05, 2005

Comments

It was a cold and dreary evening in December! No, not a new opening line for "Paddy Laid Back," but the weather for the Port Washington Holiday Parade on Friday December 2nd.

It was just me, Cap'n Jake, from Bounding Main (Port Washington and a 6:30 kick-off too far for the rest of the crew), Bilgemunky (Gerard Heidgerken) and the gang from The Scurvvy Dawgs.

Bundled in layers, we trotted after Kimberly McCulloch's truck, hoisting banners and passing out swag for the kids. The goodie bags included treats and announcements for the 2006 Port Washington Pirate Festival.

We had a very enthusiastic greeting from the crowd "Look, Pirates!" and distributed all 500 hand-outs to joyful kids and adults.

Afterward we retired to Kim's shop, The Portico, for cookies and hot cocoa. Just as I was leaving to have dinner at Beanie's Mexican Restaurant with my lovely wife, Richelle, Julie Thompson showed up with copies of her book "A Pirates Life for Me." I gave my greetings, introduced Kim Van Ravenswaay of Dame Clothing (Pirate Fest vendor) to Richelle and off we went to our dinner.  It was a very fun evening!

name:

Christie

Date:

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Comments

The patience of a Saint, yes you heard me, Dean has the patience of a Saint! Dean, Gina and Christie spent a dark and stormy day together for 8 hours on Sunday working on the CD art for our new CD. We would still be in that office if it were not for the technical expertise that Dean has working with the programs used. It looked like magic as he shifted images from one computer monitor to the one next to it! We were amazed... awed even. He was very tolerant with us (and by us I mean me) as "we" changed our minds about the images. "Try it with a green back ground... no wait, try it with brown... no still not right... try it with blue and green.... nope not it..." and on and on and on. It was a collaborative effort with brilliant ideas bandied around by all of Bounding Main with some fine tuning on Sunday. We hope to have a mock for the group at our next rehearsal and hope everyone is pleased! Oh the pressure!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Monday, October 31, 2005

Comments

We had a great time at the Coffee House on Saturday. Bantry Bay opened the show with rollicking, energetic Irish jigs, waltzes, and polkas. Then we came on and had a fun show. We had a great crowd. Lee and Garrett brought their moms and their six-week old daughter Piper. She is the youngest known Mainiac, and even wore a T-shirt to prove it. Look for the photos -- she's a little cutie. The atmosphere for the evening was intimate and the ambiance was great! We raised quite a bit of money for the Red Cross as well, so it was a successful show to boot.

name:

Maggie

Date:

Monday, October 31, 2005

Comments

Happy Birthday to our spooky ghoulish twins! Gina and Christie turn <hack, cough> today. Many happy returns of the day!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Comments

Happy birthday to David, as of two days ago. Sorry I forgot to wish you a HB in person David! We came out of the studio unscathed and having whished through ELEVEN SONGS! Woohoo! We just have a few left to go, plus hopefully we'll get some live takes at the Coffee House gig Oct 29. Here's hoping for a quick mixing time, and the CD out by gifting season.

name:

Gina

Date:

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Comments

A fantastic day was had by Bounding Main at the Bristol Renaissance Faire on Monday, September 5, 2005! We came, we sang, we laughed, we visited with friends old and new, and then said goodbye to the Faire for another year. We did a total of seven sets yesterday: five of our own, one with our fellow musician Jesse, and an informal sing-a-long at the end of the day with about fifteen other very talented vocalists. Some of you may be wondering what happened with the Shanty Challenge between Boundimg Main and our good friends the Bounding Maniacs. I can tell you that we all rose to the challenge and thoroughly enjoyed singing “Good-Bye, Fare Thee Well” with our favorite fans. Everyone knew the words to the song and those new to the scene learned them as we went along. I am sure we will sing that song together again in the future! Other favorite moments included being pelted, again, by the Bounding Maniacs who this time threw Lifesavers at us when we greeted the audience. We yelled, “Ahoy Mates!” and instead of the requested response, “Ahoy Bounding Main!”, the Maniacs returned with “Man Overboard!!” and threw Lifesaver candies at us! I’m thinking we Bounding Main singers need to work on our reflexes with those guys around! Other fun moments included signing for the military guild (they never get to come see us), and singing for our friends at the glass-blowers booth. We are now getting ready to head into the studio to start work on a new CD and will keep you posted with our progress!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Comments

The weather was sunny and warm yesterday at the WHARF -- Waukegan Harbor Arts and Recreation -- Festival. The Dennis Sullivan was anchored in port, and we actually did drag Gina on board to sing. (The ship was docked the whole time.) One of our favorite Mainiacs, Dave Zielinski, was there and acted as resident photojournalist and CD pusher.

There was a good crowd at the festival, and people were just tickled to see dressed-up shanty singers on board a tall ship. We pretty much did what we do, performed half hour sets and also little shows for anyone walking by or stuck at an information table who wanted to hear a song or two.

Waukegan has a beautiful waterfront. We love these kinds of festivals, and we hope to return next year!

name:

Dean

Date:

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Comments

http://www.jsonline.com/enter/tvradio/aug05/349970.asp

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Tim Cuprisin has been writing about the Toyota ad campaign that features the tune "Drunken Sailor:"

And for the record I did email invitations to all of the local Toyota dealers to have us out to sing "Drunken Sailor" and other maritime tunes for their customers.  I forwarded the same to their ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi.  Today I pitched an anti-drinking campaign to Kevin Roberts, the big dog of the agency, for Toyota, I pointed out that the song does not celebrate drunken sailors, but speaks of giving them due drubbing for returning to duty stinky-eyed.

I received a glowing acknowledgement that the email was received and forwarded to Kevin.  I'll report on any further progress on this front.
 

name:

Dean

Date:

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Comments

Hello friends!

I received a very nice letter from a fellow shanty-singer across the pond:

 Rob & Juliette Townshend are a cornerstone of the Bingham Folk Club in Nottinghamshire, England. Their website is at http://christine.mcnair.co.uk/index.htm.  Rob sings with The Stormy Weather Boys shanty group.

name:

Gina

Date:

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Comments

Ohhhh! Dean beat me to it! Oh well, here are my thoughts on the Door County Maritime Museum event.

On Saturday, August 6, 2005, Bounding Main performed at the 15th Annual Classic & Wooden Boat Show at the Door County Maritime Museum’s waterfront grounds in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. We spent a marvelous day wandering the site and singing to the event patrons. This is the first year that they have had live musical entertainment and we received many gracious compliments from the people we sang to, chatted with, and lunched next to, on Saturday. Those of us that attended the event on Sunday were also stopped a number of times by people that had heard us the day before, and they all had wonderful things to say about us!

On Saturday, we also got to watch some of the Sikaflex Challenge Boat Building Contest. This contest requires that teams of two build a boat with limited materials on Saturday, and race their boats on Sunday. Did I mention they only have four hours to construct the boats and that they can only be held together with Sikaflex glue? I’m telling you it is fun to watch them build the boats but it’s even more fun to watch them launch those things! Some of the teams have a theme and have music played while they race. Exciting stuff! Of course, the boats that capsize and sink are a ton of fun to watch too. Dean snapped some pictures of the event that you can find them in our Photo Album. Makes you wonder what Bounding Main could come up with? The Twins have a canoe and have decided they the next time they want to travel the waterways they will pick up some scrap wood and some of that fancy glue and build a new boat. They can toss the boat onto the top of a car, hold it on with twine and paperclips, and off they go!

Along with the Sikaflex boats, small wooden boats (some handcrafted) were displayed on the grounds of the museum. You were able to walk up to the vessels and get a really a great look at the craftsmanship required to create these true works of art. Dockside you would have found fine wooden sailing vessels of equal beauty, as well as three tug-boats, an old Chicago fire-boat, and even a Coast Guard vessel.

We had a delightful time at the Door County Maritime Museum and hope to get a chance to perform there again!

name:

Dean

Date:

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Comments

The Door County Maritime Museum at Sturgeon Bay held a wonderful boat show and everyone came! Really, this was a large and immensely fun event. A first-time show for us, we had a whole new and very appreciative audience in the museum and all around the festival. (I get such a thrill performing inside a building otherwise regarded as somber and staid — like we inject some life back into the exhibits!)

The museum crew, Brian Kelsey and Jan Johnson in particular, were very friendly and helpful. The museum store took some of our CDs to sell and they played "Maiden Voyage" during the festivities as well.

Of the "Sika Challenge and Boat Building Contest & Sea Trials" I must refer you to the photographs on our Photo Gallery that I took of the event. Christie provided a great synopsis of the event:

"so . . . here is the scoop: The contestants get points for the speed at which they constructed the boat and then points for how fast they go around the water course. There is also a category for crowd favorite.

The Double Dragon boat won for the people's choice crowd favorite. . . . it was a beautiful boat, but not too stable and they tipped over half way through the course.

The "engineered" red one did not even make it out of the launch area! It tipped really fast!

The winner was the really nice long white one. It was one of the longest boats and was piloted by a husband/wife team. Their sons also had an entry and they came in 6th. Their sons went around the course really really fast but took longer in constructing their boat so they lost those points.

Second place was the beer can boat."

A great event that I hope we can perform at again.

Dean

name: Dean Date: Monday, August 01, 2005 Comments

Ahoy, mates! Dean here, aka "Cap't Jake." I wanted to tell everyone about the "Shanty Challenge" for our show at The Bristol Renaissance Faire (http://www.renfair.com/bristol/) on Labor Day, Monday Sept. 5, 2005. I discovered a wonderful song, a homeward-bound shanty called "Good-bye, Fare Thee Well" and thought it would make a wonderful addition to our repertoire. Bounding Mainiac Chris Maka was scrapping for a challenge and since I just posted this song to our Lyrics Page I thought of killing two birds with one stone.

Here's the challenge: this song is brand new to all of us, the Bounding Main crew and our friends the Bounding Mainiacs, alike. I challenged everyone to learn this song by our Labor Day show. The lyrics are available here and for study purposes only, an .mp3 of Johnny Collins, Dave Webber & Pete Watkinson's recording of the song from their album, "Shanties & Songs of the Sea."

Do them the honor of buying a copy of their CD as it is a great example of traditional shanty music from men what have great pipes!  Really, as much as we play pirates from time-to-time, pirating music is not fair to the independent artist, so please purchase music you love and support the musicians so they can keep making the music you love.

We'll see you all on Labor Day!

Fair winds,
Dean

name:

Gina

Date:

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Comments

Ahhhh, air conditioning! Something we sorely missed at the Bristol Renaissance Faire on Saturday, July 16, 2005.

What started out as a normal, if exceedingly warm, July day at Bristol, took an unexpected turn at our first show at the Midsummer Stage. The six of us little shanty singers took the stage and chatted and smiled at the audience. Then we unveiled the newest part of our show…a little, non-threatening, well-worded, and frankly, very cute call-and-response bit that SHOULD go as follows: Bounding Main calls out, “Ahoy Mates!”. The audience SHOULD respond as instructed, “Ahoy Bounding Main!”. Did that go as planned? Nooooo. What really happened went something like this… “Ahoy Mates!”… (response from audience) “CHIPS AHOY BOUNDING MAIN!!!”. The Bounding Mainiacs struck again! They called out “Chips Ahoy” and pelted us with tiny packets of Chips Ahoy cookies! Little metallic blue bags came raining down all over the stage and from all directions. The ladies in the group were up at the top of the stairs and had a great view of the bags hurling their way and sailing down to hit the boys on stage. What fun! Did metallic bags of manufactured cookies exist during the reign of Queen Elizabeth? No, but then again, neither did fairies, besides, I am sure no one noticed the airborne cookies. Except of course everyone else in the audience.

The patrons in the audience had a great laugh and we ate some tasty, if a bit crushed, cookies throughout the show and most of the day! I am sure you are asking yourselves if this was a one-time deal, the answer of course, NO! It happened at least another two times! More cookies for me, that’s what I say! So thanks to the Mainiacs for making our brief return to Bristol all the more memorable for their truly clever participation in our show.

Now if they could only learn my verse in The Mermaid…

name:

Gina

Date:

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Comments

Aaaarrrgggg! Ahoy there Mates! It be time to tell tales of our adventures at the Oshkosh Public Museum! Bounding Main performed June 18, 2005, at the Oshkosh Public Museum to help kick off their “Pirates!” Exhibit (running through October 30, 2005). The exhibit itself is wonderfully constructed and includes many hand-on experiences. You can pretend to load a cannon, dress-up like a pirate, take a sniff of the many smells that the pirates lived with, look at authentic and wondrous pirate artifacts, and get lost in whimsical pirate artwork. The opening day festivities also included things to do like make your own pirate hat, make a pirate boat to race outside, and you could even try some grog and other snacks. The rest of the museum is equally well conceived with many different exhibits and things to experience. We would recommend that anyone in the area take a few hours to explore the museum, which incidentally, is housed in an old mansion complete with Tiffany stained-glass windows and beautiful landscaping.

As for our time at the museum, we passed the hours singing outside in the exceptional weather, singing inside in one of the exhibit rooms with some very appreciative audiences, exploring the exhibits, and Christie and Gina also made tiny wooden pirate ships and raced them through water-filled rain gutters! What fun! Christie won by the way but that’s ok because Gina stole her boat -hey, we’re pirates here! A truly enjoyable time was had by all!

A funny thing happened to Bounding Main on our way home from Oshkosh! We stopped off in another Wisconsin town for a brief and very informal concert for Maggie’s Grandmother who would not be able to hear the group any other way. Maggie’s family welcomed us warmly into their home and we truly enjoyed our time with them! Maggie’s mother sang along and the pet bird seemed to have a great time! Everyone there was delightful and were excited to hear Maggie share her music. Did I mention they offered to feed us? What a great group of people!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Friday, May 06, 2005

Comments

Hey Gang, we're gearing up for the St. Louis RenFest. Road trip! Woo! We're working on some rocking versions of Northwest Passage, Randy Dandy Oh, High Barbaree, and Herzogin Cecile. Some of our faves! We can't wait to debut them for ya! .... Oh I almost forgot our most important new song addition. It is a special -- nay spiritual -- no, that's not quite the right word....our Earth-Shattering rendition of......"Row Row Row Your Boat". It will be an event, I tell you. Don't miss it!

name:

Dean

Date:

Friday, April 08, 2005

Comments

Ahoy landsmen and sailors all! This is Dean writing to thank our photojournalist friends John Wohlers, Chris Maka and Dave Zielinski for their many contributions to our photo albums.

I have been uploading a backlog of images and captioning as many as I'm able. You'll find new pics under our Higher Ground appearance, finally pictures for the Wisconsin Maritime Museum at Manitowoc and others. I've also endeavored to be more selective and culled out pictures that were very similar to others or clearly were not being viewed. Still to come are pics from our Shanty Sing for the Girl Scouts on the Denis Sullivan, pics from the Chicago Maritime Festival 2005 and more.

Special thanks to our friend John Wohlers who has lent us both space and technical support for our photo gallery. Here's a glass to you, big feller!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Comments

Happy Easter! We're heading to the studio in a few hours to start laying down tracks for the new CD. Hey, weren't we in the studio on Valentines Day of last year with "Maiden Voyage"? Anyhoo, the new album is as yet unnamed. We're tossing around "Sea Songs Sung Swell", "Nautically Neat", or "Our Second Album Can You Believe It".

name:

Dean

Date:

Friday, March 25, 2005

Comments

Happy Birthday John Wohlers!

John is literally the "gentle giant" in our circle. Behind the frame any bouncer would envy lies the most generous and supportive intellect you'll ever meet. (Makes my moniker of "Big Jake" a joke!) John donates not only our photo gallery space, but hundreds of images within it.

We're all indebted to you, friend. Hope you have a wonderful celebration!

name:

Dean

Date:

Monday, February 28, 2005

Comments

Ahoy mates!

We had a splendid time at the Chicago Maritime Festival this weekend. Not only did we have an excellent show ourselves, but we met some other wonderful performers as well: Lee Murdock from Milwaukee, Talitha MacKenzie from Scotland and Serre l'Ecoute from Canada and Paris. Our friends Pint & Dale were simply amazing and David HB Drake brought his warm and soulful performance to the festival audience also.  Both performing AND organizing the event were Tom & Chris Kastle, who managed both with aplomb.

Some of the other groups having a lot of fun with shanty music were the Sheridan Shore Chantey Singers, the Old Town School of Folk Music Sea Music Class and The Friends Good Will Singers, who all put on hearty performances. A highlight for me was Gabrielle from Serre l'Ecoute leading the audience in a circle dance during one of their sets. I wish I didn't have two left feet, because it sure looked like a lot of fun!

We premiered a new arrangement of "Farewell to Tarwathie" composed by our own Jon Krivitzky ("Little Boy Billiee"). Judging by the applause, I'd say its complex arrangements, six part harmonies and careful direction was a hit with the audience.

Happily, our great friends of the Bounding Mainiacs all showed up, too! No show is as much fun as when they're with us! Special thanks to John Wohlers for INSTANTLY providing pictures on his web site, even though he flew out of town THAT NIGHT (after zipping down to see Seelie Court in concert later that afternoon also!).

Looks like a couple of Pirate events are on the horizon! Keep a weather eye out for more maritime features on our web site and new of our upcoming adventures!

Dean
(aka Captain Jake)

name:

Maggie

Date:

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Comments

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to Bounding Main.

That's right, it's been two whole years since the day we embarked on this mission called "Bounding Main". On January 19th, 2003, six people set sail on a voyage together, not knowing where it would lead. And we haven't stopped laughing since. We have already been through tons of good times and not-so-good times together, moves and life changes and graduations and car accidents and new jobs and good food and bad jokes and strange cakes. Oh yeah, and a performance or two as well. We all feel privileged to consider each other friends.

Here's to two more years, and then two more after that, and two more after that, and so on until we're too darn old to remember lyrics! Oh yeah, we don't remember lyrics anyway, so - hey hey there's no stopping us! :)

I love you all!

name:

Christie

Date:

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Comments

“Awesome audience!”

“My sides are killing me from all the laughing!”

“On no, not the “Weakest Lynke” sign!”

And,“I think this song makes my butt look big!”

— are just some of the comments made during our appearance at Molly’s place on Friday, November 12. We all had a rip roaring good time. The audience was absolutely incredible as they not only laughed with us but also added their voices to ours. We were thrilled to hear so many people singing along with us!

We were also delighted to see the familiar faces of the Bounding Mainiacs there to support us. A special thanks to Diane and Brian Leo for hosting such a wonderful event. If you have never been to Molly’s Place, go!

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Maggie

Date:

Monday, November 01, 2004

Comments

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to Gina and Christie! We had a surprise party for them, so I couldn't post until today. They thought they were going to a rehearsal. Ha-ha-ha.

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Maggie

Date:

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Comments

Arrrr! We had a whale of a good time at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum this past Saturday. We scurried all over the museum taking pictures, singing, and telling really awful pirate jokes. The kids seemed to have a good time, and some of them even joined in with the singing and the "motions" of the songs. Wendy was our contact at the museum, and she was great!

Thanks to Bounding Mainiac Dave Zielinski for making the trek and taking lots of pictures and videos. We will post the pics as soon as we can.

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Maggie

Date:

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Comments

Happy Birthday to David!

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Maggie

Date:

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Comments

Dean's married! And she's smart and gorgeous and nice!

Last Saturday, Gina Christie and I flew out to Michigan and rented a car...and David drove out there with Sandy....to where Dean and Richelle were getting married! They got married in a sweet little chapel in a quaint historical village. David HB Drake sang, the flowers were gorgeous, Richelle was beautiful, it was very nice. There were many tears throughout. The reception was in a classy Italian restaurant nearby. Good food, nice people, great cake (banana!), and we all sang "Health to the Company" towards the end of it. It was a really great day, very nice wedding.

Congratulations Dean and Richelle, and may your happiness extend for years and years to come!

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Christie

Date:

Monday, September 20, 2004

Comments

Date line: Friday, September 10, 2004 Saint John’s Catholic Church, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska

So there we were (the twins) watching a wedding rehearsal for a wedding we were to be involved with on Saturday. We were sitting in the back of the church, in the last pew, when two college students came in. They looked at us, then one approached us and said, “Do you mind if I ask you a random question?” Gina and I replied that of course she could. We assumed it would be a question relating to our twin-ness. We were surprised when she said, “Did you both sing with a group at the Renaissance Faire in Kenosha, WI?” We replied, “Why, yes.” She gave us two thumbs up, said “Your group rocked!” and then disappeared out the door.

It was a surreal moment. Wow, Bounding Main is famous. We’re like rock stars. We’ll try not to let it go to our heads.

name:

Maggie

Date:

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Comments

We had a great time this last weekend, Saturday Aug 28th. It was rainy and drizzly and darn cold! But for some reason we had a lot of fun. It was like, "OK people, all bets are off!" And we did some fairly unusual things.

1. First and foremost, Molly Nesbitt, one of the original Bounding Mainiacs graced us with her presence on stage and sang a new verse for "Mermaid". She did awesome, and we hope to see more of her up there!

2. We sang in four different shops, partly to escape the rain and partly because our friends in the shops don't get to go out and see shows that often. That was very fun and gratifying, and I'm sure we'll do it more in the future! Let us know if you want us to swing into a particular shop to sing a ditty or two.

3. There was the debut of the extension cord for the "Weakest Lynke" sign. At last, if more than one person goofs, we get to award the sign to both people. As it happened, five of us (save David) had a tremendous error all through "Derelict" and ended up tethered to each other for the remainder of the set.

Other than all that, there weren't too many unusual incidents, but the day had an aura of frivolity and silliness unrivaled by any up to this point. Hopefully we aren't setting a trend...or hopefully we are, depending on your point of view. :)

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Dean

Date:

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Comments

Here's a very nice letter that I received from "Pump Shanty" author Tony Goodenough:

Hello Dean,

I have been contacted by a friend of mine who informs me that you are searching for permission to use a song I wrote a few years ago called the "Pump Shanty" while I was a member of a group called the "Shanty Crew" Please accept this note as my permission to do so, and I wish you every success with it.

Enjoy, and let me know how you get on.

Best regards,
Tony Goodenough

Very nice, indeed, to hear from Tony and to receive his blessing for our use of his song.

Only two more weekends at Bristol for 2004! Please be sure to come out and listen to us at this lovely renaissance faire!

Dean

name:

Maggie

Date:

Friday, August 13, 2004

Comments

Whoa, no updates for a while now. It's not that we haven't been doing anything, more like we've been TOO busy to think about logging on. We are having a great time now, we're really figuring out a list of new songs and putting in lots of new interactions and such. We are talking about songs for the next CD, I think we have five that are absolute "musts" and lots of other "possibles". It's shaping up nicely — probably will be in the works some time in January or February.

Last weekend we performed at Kenosha Days of Discovery. What a great venue for us! We met lots of new people and saw a few familiar faces. We got to do an "all-hands" sing with the Tom & Chris Kastle at the end of the day Sunday. We toured some ships and met real live captains — ome of whom could really belt out the shanties! In general, just a rollicking good time.

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Dean

Date:

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Comments

At Bristol on Saturday the 24th I was delighted to visit with my old friends William Pint and Felicia Dale who were performing that weekend only. William and Felicia have been doing shanty music for a good long time and perform all over the US and Europe. I got to see their new travel van and finally got to meet their delightful red-bellied poicephalus, Ranzo! Please see http://members.aol.com/Pintndale/ranzo.htm for more information on this delightful little guy.

It was very nice to take a little time backstage to catch up a bit. William and Felicia will be spending most of September in England with a heavy performance schedule -- I wish them a good journey and safe return.

I sat for a couple of Pint & Dale's shows that afternoon. I had forgotten how amazing and powerful these two are as performers. Their comfort with their material and ease of blending between them was just wonderful to behold. Please be sure to mention to Bristol Management that one weekend is simply not enough of Pint and Dale.

They have a new disk out, too: "Seven Seas" is their latest (the seventh) collection of music together. I have not listened to this one yet, but I own five of their other CDs and they are all top notch. You can order their music on their web site at http://members.aol.com/Pintndale/recordings.htm.

name:

Dean

Date:

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Comments

Well folks, Bounding Main is back at the Bristol Renaissance Faire this year. Among all of our shows this year, BRF is certainly the longest gig, giving us exposure to many new listeners and perhaps picking up some new friends. We will have plenty of new songs for you and some snazzy new costumes, too. We feature lyrics to all of the shanties we perform (or INTEND to perform) together on this web site. We also try to keep you up to date on all of the nautical events in the area.

A special word of thanks to all of our Bounding Mainiac friends who have supported us the last year-and-a-half, including photographers John Wohlers, Chris Maka and Frank Hui, artists Ken Fountain and Laura Rodman and also Tzvia Krivitzky who kindly and frequently shared her home with all of us for our rehearsals.

We'll be singing with you this Sunday, folks, and we can't wait to see you all again!

name:

Dean

Date:

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Comments

I am so very incredibly fortunate to have, by sheer providence, fallen in with the most wonderful group of people I could ever hope to perform with. I could have looked a lifetime for all of you, but we all came together one Autumn day nearly two years ago. All of you have wrested precious hours from your very busy careers, your arduous scholastic responsibilities and your personal relationships to make this group a living, working and amazingly enjoyable entity. You've researched and arranged music, you've written new tunes, you've created and obtained incredible new garb, you've studied endlessly to let us become greater than the sum of our parts. I'm merely one-sixth of the best family I've known.

Thank you for your kind words, Christie, and thanks for stepping onto the stage, you and Gina, with us in the cold and glare to help create this wonderful ensemble.  Jon, thank for wandering over and thinking, "Hey, I can do something with that music!"  David, I'm so glad Sandy talked you into a new venture!  Maggie, thanks for taking a chance on a complete stranger who gave you an offer to sing out of the blue.  You're all incredible.

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Gina

Date:

Monday, June 21, 2004

Comments

When Dean first got the group of us together to sing sea-shanties, we all had one question…what the heck is a sea-shanty? After we learned what a sea-shanty was we began to explain them to the rest of the world. We have been amazed and so very pleased that so many people want to hear us sing. Who knew that there would be so many opportunities to sing at venues interested in nautical music! But never, ever, ever, ever, EVER, did we think that we would be performing at Harbor Fest in Racine and have a roadie come up to us and say, "Hey, how's it feel to open for Slaughter?"

Needless to say, we had a very interesting time at Harbor Fest on Saturday, June 21, 2004. We performed on all four stages and a good time was had by all. Chris Maka and John Wohlers, Bounding Maniacs Extraordinaire, were both present (in custom-made Bounding Main t-shirts no less!) and were kind enough to once again take pictures for the group. We can't tell you how nice it is to know that they have enough fun with us and our music to sit through all our shows and sing along every time! Plus, we never have to figure out how were are going to get a picture of the events where we perform — our friends John and Chris take care of that for us! Thanks guys!

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Christie

Date:

Monday, June 21, 2004

Comments

I think I speak for all of us when I say, “Thanks Dean!” Dean does an amazing job of handling the PR for the group. But wait, there is more! He is also our contact person for all of our gigs, finds appropriate performance venues for us, schedules them, and provides all of us with the necessary information including lovely color maps of how to get there! On top of all of that, he designed, created, and maintains this fabulous site. Without his hard work, I fear we would still be standing in Jon’s living room singing to our reflections in the mirror! Which, by the way, is quite fun but performing in front of an audience is still the best!

Thanks Dean!

name:

Gina

Date:

Monday, June 07, 2004

Comments

HA! Looks like I beat everyone to the posting this time! Bounding Main had a wonderful time performing at the Southport Lighthouse Festival on Saturday, June 5, 2004. The weather was beautiful, the audience attentive, and the lighthouse setting-picturesque. We were happy once again to see our friends Bounding Maniacs John Wohlers and Chris Maka. We can always count on them to join in the fun!

A special thank you goes to John, as always, for sharing his photographic talents with us. Pictures of the event have already been added to our photos page so drop by and see the new Bounding Main sign!

For those of you who could not make the appearance, we did most of our old songs and introduced a few new ones. We had great fun and Gina added a bit of humor by making a confession to the audience. If you weren't there, you sure missed a fun bit of entertainment at the expense of Bounding Main! In the end, many laughs were shared with the audience and we received grins and compliments at the end of the show.

I can't wait to see what happens at the Racine Harbor Fest! Hope to see you all there!!

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Maggie

Date:

Sunday, May 30, 2004

Comments

Oh cool, I beat everyone else to the punch.

Last night, we had SUCH a good time on "Higher Ground". The host, Jonathan Overby, was hilarious and very professional. The entire crew of the show was awesome and made us feel very relaxed and comfortable. Thanks in particular to producer James Mills and stage director Amy St. James, and the sound folks who made all the musicians and speakers sound like pros! It's amazing the teamwork and technical know-how that goes into making a radio show.

The show started with a bluegrass band plucking a piece, then we sang "Marching Inland". Then some other people sang and read poetry and talked about books and more people sang. Then we did two pieces in a row: "Pump Shanty" and "Mingulay". (Later several people commented that "Mingulay" was their favorite of the four.) Then more poetry and songs and plucking, then we sang "Sailor's Prayer". That was probably as good as we've ever performed that piece, so I'm glad we saved it for the end. Then a bit more music, and then the show was over. All this was interspersed with Mr. Overby's rapier-like wit and stories of his one-legged dog (don't ask). It was a two-hour show, and it went by like a flash. We had so much fun.

And we were all in costume--which Jonathan and the pianist/music director, Deb Scalissi (how gorgeous was she) commented on continuously throughout the show. Gina, Christie and I debuted our rockin' new bodices (thanks to Bounding Main costume designer Phia Dedes), and surprise to me: G&C had new skirts as well! Don't worry, I'll come up with something. ;) They looked smashing! Since it was radio, of course, none but our dedicated fans in the studio audience saw us...but we'll post pictures as soon as possible!

Thanks to Laura Rodman, blonde bombshell and Bounding Main graphic designer, whom I kidnapped for a spontaneous road trip from Chicago to Madison to see the show. Not only did she have a great time supporting us and meeting the crew, she volunteered to read the show's audience-member plug. I'm guessing she is one of the more charismatic speakers they have had reading their announcement. And she threw in a plug for Bounding Main, so hats off to her!

Thanks to all the friends and family who came to support us. Our fans filled up a third of the studio, even though we were missing some of our most beloved original Bounding Mainiacs (don't worry John we got lots of pictures)! I hope we impressed those that saw us for the first time, enough that they might come back and see us again some day!

We'll see you all soon!

name:

Dean

Date:

Friday, May 28, 2004

Comments

Knock on wood, but the lives of the crew of Bounding Main have been taking wonderful turns:

• Dean (that's me) got a new job as marketing manager at Dynamic International, seven minutes from home
• Christie received her bachelor degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Trinity University
• Gina also received her bachelor degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Trinity University
• Maggie got an additional new job teaching part time at the College of Lake County
• Jon not only bought an incredible new house, he got a new job closer to home so he can actually enjoy it!
• David got an additional new job teaching stage combat at Columbia College
• Our fiddler, Heather Lewin, was just asked to join musical group The Mighty Lumberhorn.

Congratulations to everyone! I couldn't be more proud of all of you!

Dean

name:

Gina

Date:

Friday, May 14, 2004

Comments

Thank you! Thank you! Thanks to all of our very good friends in Bounding Main who supported us when we needed it, listened to us gripe about statistics classes when we could no longer think straight, scheduled practices and shows with our course load in mind, and who at every turn gave us the time we needed to be successful in school.

Christie and I graduated Magna Cum Laude on May 8th with BAs in Business Administration and we could not have done it without you all! Thank you for being so compassionate and understanding. But most of all, thank you for creating a place for us to go to laugh, relax, sing, and have lots and lots of fun! You truly provided us with a port in the storm! A safe harbor even!

Congrats to Dean & Jon on new jobs, David on his continued success with his theatre work at school, and Maggie for her on-going pursuit of higher (much higher and very complicated) education.

name:

Dean

Date:

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Comments

Hello everyone!

While I still have a little spare time I added several links to our links page. The new ones are marked "NEW!"

Of particular interest, I believe, are under merchants: Hatcrafters for amazing historical naval hats and By the Sword for men's and women's renaissance and pirate boots.

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Maggie

Date:

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Comments

Congratulations are also in order for Dean-o, who found his dream job. Or at least a Very Good One.

And Jon has not only got a brand-new job with a much-shorter commute, he also bought a brand-new house with his wife. So congrats times two!

And finally congrats to David, who completed his 115th semester at Columbia, highlighted by performing in and directing the fights for "Othello". He claims he didn't play Iago, but I don't know if I believe it — the part is so perfect for him! All sinister and evil.

I would offer myself congratulations, cause I hate to be left out. Unfortunately, I've done nothing of note lately. Oh wait! I cleaned out, like, half of my parents' attic! If you'd seen it before I started, you'd be buying me a stiff drink, believe you me.

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Maggie

Date:

Monday, May 10, 2004

Comments

Congrats to Gina and Christie, who have worked really hard over the last three years and achieved their well-deserved BBA's. They won several awards, achieving straight A's the whole time (I think). On top of this, they worked full-time 9 to 5 jobs the whole time and maintained the rest of their lives...which included coming to every Bounding Main rehearsal and performance!

We were all six of us at their congrats party on Saturday and had a great time belting out a few tunes for the gathered masses. Their parents and friends are awesome, just like them!

Congratulations Twins!

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Maggie

Date:

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Comments

Hi all, it's been kinda quiet in our ship's log for a while, but things will be picking up soon!

We've all been busy with our various lives. Some of us really really busy! But we are coming together for more performances soon.

We recently nailed down a performance schedule at the Bristol Renaissance Faire for the summer. And we have several shows coming up throughout June, July, August, and more to come in the fall I'm sure!

Oh! And: stay tuned, we're going to have a new look soon. It's a surprise, but let's just say the more fashion-minded of the six of us are going to have some costume changes.

name:

Dean

Date:

Sunday, April 04, 2004

Comments

After a very busy and productive day this Saturday (4/3/04) I sped off to Madison, Wisconsin to see folk singer Rod MacDonald. The Madison Folk Music Society was hosting a concert at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center. The performance space was excellent with a good-sized stage and seating for about 150.

Before the show opened I had a chance to introduce myself to Rod and gave him a copy of “Maiden Voyage,” on which Bounding Main recorded his song, “Sailor’s Prayer.” He had given us permission to use the song over a year ago, and it was nice to finally share with him our efforts.

Sara Pace with her partner and husband Doug Milks opened the show with a lovely assortment of gentle and fun songs, including her "Ballad of Calamity Jane," which has lent her no small amount of notoriety.  Her sound was refreshingly sweet and meaningful.

Rod MacDonald took the stage until past midnight – an incredible show! I would say he rocked the house, but this was not “rock” music; it was high-energy, intelligent and contemporary folk music, a shining example of the genre. He has been performing for over thirty years and he performed songs from his entire timeline. Some of his pieces are very topical; one that stunned me was “My Neighbors In Delray” about the September 11th terrorists that lived undercover in Rod MacDonald’s hometown. Another piece off of his new album, Recognition, that was intellectually stimulating was “Dr Gachet,” a song about Vincent Van Gogh’s work.

At one point he called for requests, and naturally I asked for “Sailor’s Prayer.” Jeff Laramie, from Free Hot Lunch, with whom he’d shared a stage back in “the day,” joined him for the song. At last I heard Rod MacDonald sing Sailor’s Prayer in person . . . Very nice, and better than I expected. It is obvious he wrote it for himself because it matches his tenor range perfectly.

Rod noted to the audience that he’s heard some thirty covers for Sailor’s Prayer, all different. He specifically mentioned that Bounding Main just released a CD with their version of the song, which was very nice of him. He smiled, saying he was entertained by the evolution of the folk music process, that it was a great thing.

After two encores he wrapped up the show to a very appreciative audience. I thanked him afterward, and asked him if he would share any comments he had about our rendition. He was eager in telling me that his rental car had a CD player and that he would listen to it on the way to his next gig. Overall it was a complete pleasure meeting Rod. He had a generous and kind manner and was very encouraging to me and to other musicians in the audience with whom he spoke. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

name:

Dean

Date:

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Comments

Yes, that was me on Zorba Paster's "On Your Health."

I talked with Rob, the the producer of the show about the topic of seasickness. He was delighted by the fact that I am in a sea shanty group and asked me to specifically mention it. Tom and Zorba were great fun and asked me to sing a piece. One of the most common songs that people know without realizing it is a shanty is "Blow the Man Down," so I sang a couple of bars of that.

Its a very brief snippet, but if you want to hear it I believe the show is available to be listened to at this link: http://clipcast.wpr.org:8080/ramgen/wpr/zph/zph040327.rm or you can listen to any of the shows at this link: http://wpr.org/webcasting/ideas_audioarchives.cfm?Code=zph.

Dean

name:

Gina

Date:

Monday, March 22, 2004

Comments

Ahoy Mates!

What a wonderful experience it was to perform at the 2004 Maritime Festival at the Chicago Historical Society on February 28, 2004. The Chicago Historical Society provided a beautiful backdrop for the various performances and demonstrations (all related to maritime activities) located throughout the three floors of the building. Gina, Christie, Maggie, and Dean all learned a few sailing knots from a seasoned sailor, while David and Jon explored the other displays.

We all took time to listen to other vocal groups and were warmly welcomed by the other performers into the folk-singing scene. The Johnson Girls were especially supportive of the Bounding Main ladies as there just are not enough women shanty singers.

We want to thank everyone who came to see us, especially the Bounding Maniacs who once again chose to spend their time with us, complete with enough pirate hats to share with other audience members! The cheers and applause from our family, friends, and fans encouraged us to have fun, which made our show more fun, and we ended up with a standing room only performance! We had a great time and were honored to share our songs of the sea with Chicago.

name:

Maggie

Date:

Monday, February 23, 2004

Comments

And now the moment you all have been waiting for...OK so you have to wait another six days. :)

We spent several weekends throughout January and February rehearsing for and recording our CD, Maiden Voyage...

Our recording guru Jon Leubner (whose new nickname is Mixmaster J.) and Dean finished up the mixing and levels last week...

And finally...Ken Fountain did the artwork for the CD this past weekend, and it is really really good! We used a picture taken over the summer by Frank Hui, thanks Frank! And Laura Rodman did the logo, which is very classy and very us (hope that's not a paradox).

The CD sounds great by the way. Twelve songs, favorites and new, sweet and adventurous and funny, all with that Bounding Main flavour.

Watch out Bounding Mainiacs, Maiden Voyage is on the way!

name:

Dean Calin

Date:

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Comments

Here is a link to a very interesting story about a very interesting ship:

Darwin's Beagle may lie under Essex Mud

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Christie

Date:

Monday, February 02, 2004

Comments

Life Threatening Accident

It all started on a bright shiny Saturday morning, January 31, 2004 to be exact. Dean, Gina, and Christie left Lake Bluff, IL on a day trip to meet Maggie in Chicago for costume fittings. Our band of intrepid travelers never made it to Chicago.

A mere 15 minuets after leaving Lake Bluff, they were in what a Highland Park police officer referred to as a “life threatening accident.” Yes, the sextet almost became a trio! Don’t worry dear reader, we are all fine. Dean was driving his lovely (almost paid off) Saturn when, KAPOW, we were rear-ended. Dean was pulling to a stop in a turn lane off of Highway 41. The car that hit us was going “highway speed” according to police, which was over 55 mph. The car that hit us hit the driver’s side rear end of Dean’s car knocking us forward. Dean’s cat-like reflexes averted further incident by slamming on the brakes and turning the wheel which prevented us from being launched into 4 lanes of traffic! The car that hit us kept going, never stepped on the brakes, went through the 4 lanes of traffic, missing everyone, went up a curb launching him in the air for over 15 yards at which point he hit and broke through a 6 inch diameter tree and came to rest in a clump of bushes.

The curb he launched from was adjoining a gas station. Luckily, he missed the gas pumps. While Gina dialed 911, Dean went across the street to check on the driver of the other car since it appeared that he was trying to move his mangled car. The driver was an elderly man, with a head wound. He was not sure what was happening and was unaware that there had been an accident! Highland Park police, and fire and rescue were at the scene in less than five minutes. The driver of the other car was taken to the hospital. The paramedics gave us all the once-over and said we were all very very lucky and would probably be pretty sore.

The police at the scene were impressed by how well the little 3 door Saturn protected us. Dean was amazing. He was not rattled by the experience. He held up remarkable well when the tow truck driver pronounced his car dead on arrival. Yes, his car is totaled. He calmly handled the situation and arranged for a rental car. Dean even wanted to continue our trip to the city. Gina and I, however, had other ideas. Gina was still not feeling herself and Christie was experiencing the beginnings of a bad headache. So, we went out to lunch and then to Gina’s. The girls, as Dean refers to us, scarffed down several Advil’s and we all lazed around the rest of the day watching Muppet Show videos, snacking, and enjoying one another’s company.

Dean does not appear to be suffering any physical affects of the accident, perhaps because he was braced by the steering wheel or because he is just such a manly man. Gina is very stiff and sore in her neck and where her seat belt braced her. Christie is also sore. She probably felt the most impact, as the collision was right behind her seat. Her neck and back are tender, but nothing a little Advil can’t fix. All in all, were we extremely fortunate and so happy to still be a part of Bounding Main!

name:

Dean Calin

Date:

Monday, January 26, 2004

Comments

The January Sea Shanty Sing-Out at Pier Wisconsin was a lot of fun! While our friend David HB Drake was lollygagging in the tropics on the Denis Sullivan, Milwaukee's Great Lakes Schooner, I sat in for him hosting the Sing Out. We were very fortunate to have Shanty singers Tom & Chris Kastle performing with us this month. Tom & Chris are a cornerstone in the Chicago-Milwaukee area for the shanty community. (They are actually King Richard's Faire veterans, too!)

There was a very good attendance, just about thirty people, several new folks and a bunch of the regulars as well. Tom & Chris sang, I sang, we all sang. We got solos out of Mel and from Sarah Schwartz -- great job all!

I look forward to seeing everyone at the February Sing-Out at Pier Wisconsin. (Check the Links page for the address and directions.)

We are just about to go into the studio to record out CD "Maiden Voyage!" We're returning to Jonathon Leubner's SurroundInSoundStudio to record twelve songs for what is technically our second CD, but our first real release after our five song demo disk, "Casting Off."

We have a lot of events coming up in 2004. Scheduled or tentative shows so far are the Chicago Maritime Festival, the Manitowoc Maritime Museum, Kenosha Days of Discovery, The Bristol Renaissance Faire, and The St. Louis Renaissance Faire. There are other shows we'll be doing but details need to be set down before announding them.

I look forward to seeing everyone at one of the shows this year.

Stay warm! Dean

name:

Dean Calin

Date:

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Comments

Happy Holidays everyone! I am, regrettably, "between jobs" right now, so I am taking advantage of the holiday break and will be spending about ten days in Ft. Myers with my sweetie, Richelle.

While delighted that I have so much time with my long-distance darling, I really regret that I won't be able to celebrate with the rest of you. I'm dragging Richelle up here in May for keeps, so we can celebrate with all of you together in 2004!

Bounding Main was named Featured Performer at RenRadio (http://www.renradio.com) which is quite an honor! Thanks Frank Hui for the kindness and good words.

We'll be working on our new CD this winter. We'd hoped to have it finished for the Chicago Maritime Festival, but because of scheduling issues we may not quite make that date, but they will be available through the mail!

Thanks to the Bounding Mainiacs and all of our other fans who have supported us this year. Your attendance at our shows and requests for CDs on the web site have been wind in our sails. We couldn't do this without you.

Happy Holidays, see you all in January!

Dean Calin

name:

Christie

Date:

Monday, December 08, 2003

Comments

Arg! Thanks to all the Bounding Mainiacs that came out to support us this weekend! We deeply appreciate the friendly faces complete with paper pirate hats. Who knew singing at the Antioch Blockbuster could be so exciting! Bounding Main was not alone helping hype the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean" to video; the store was overrun with pirate employees, a sword fight, and an extremely clever face painter.

Bounding Main performed songs from their "Casting Off" CD and performed several new pieces that seemed to please the audience. In fact, several customers stayed almost two hours listing to our antics.

It was a swashbuckling good time.

name:

Maggie

Date:

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Comments

Dean and I had a great time at Shanties Chicago this past Saturday. I heard many songs I had never heard before (notably "Northwest Passage"), many of which I couldn't help picturing Bounding Main performing. Very inspiring. And of course there were many of the classics like "Bully in the Alley", "Irish Rover", "Drunken Sailor", etc.

There were seven or eight groups there, and several were from Poland. In fact, I couldn't understand half of what was said or sung. But it is a testament to the value of sing-alongs, and sea shanties in particular, that I enjoyed even that which I did not understand.

Tom Lewis was there, sans Lynn unfortunately. Tom and Chris Kastle were there as well, so we got to chat with them all for a while. Dean and I also talked with a shanty group out of Florida, the 97th Regimental String Band.

All the music was really enjoyable, and the four hours plus flew by. Nobody wanted it to end. It was an awesome time, highly recommended!

name:

Dean

Date:

Friday, November 21, 2003

Comments

What I thought was a minor irritation turned out to be a sizeable scuff on my cornea. Here I am, wearing a big ol' patch taped to my right eyeball, headaches galore from focusing with only one eye and my injured eye hurting like the devil. It was sheer providence that I was wearing my "Pirates of the Caribbean T-shirt."

I need a parrot now . . .

Dean

name:

Dean

Date:

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Comments

I forgot to mention the wonderful photos taken by Lady Ann at Cotswold. Here is a link to Gina, myself, Christie and Phia in Phia's booth on Saturday the 11th.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/94379928/94381074tHYgjy 

Love to all, Dean

name:

Dean

Date:

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Comments

Bounding Main performed at Cotswold this weekend. It was a very pleasant if lightly attended affair. Given that "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" was showing in Brookfield, WI and "Stronghold" was running in Oregon, IL, I was not too surprised by the turnout. There was a regular flow of locals, which was very nice. We missed our regular friends and fellow performers, however.

That said, we had a very good time. The military encampment put on a very good show of black powder goodness and very energetic gaming. Several had spent the night and in the morning were whipping up a very yummy looking breakfast!

There were several vendors offering various leather goods, garments, swords and accoutrements. Quite nice, actually. I saw at least two swords sold, which represented some decent coin.

Several environmental theater performers were there filling in the streets with "hit and run" and musical interludes. Thanks Julie Laureano, Alice Hammers and Suzanne Bracken-Khan.

We even had a special musical guest or two! Award winning folk singer David HB Drake came by on Saturday to sing with Bounding Main. Heather Lewin, the much sought-after fiddler and Bounding Main irregular, played with us all day on Saturday as well.

There were two separate falconers, one on each day. The falconer and his assistant who appeared on Sunday had an amazing variety of birds and a very sophisticated pavilion and display area. Saturday's falconer put on a marvelous performance with his bird, whirling a bait and later "kiting" a bait. Gina and Christie were very impressed with the work of both shows.

Bounding Main sang on an appropriately decorated Bard's Stage. We enjoyed sharing both the songs and lore of sea shanties.

All in all a quiet but enjoyable weekend.

Dean

name:

Dean

Date:

Sunday, September 28, 2003

Comments

It might not have been the SS Minnow, but our three hour tour aboard the S/V Denis Sullivan was just as interesting.

See the picture of the Denis Sullivan on the home page? Its a beautiful sight, we all agree, but it was a dark and stormy night when the Sullivan sailed on Friday September 28th. Dean, Gina, Christie and Maggie fought through stopped traffic to reach the dock in time to board. There were about thirty passengers, all dressed for weather, an eager audience. Little did they know what was in store!

Heavily overcast and drizzling, the sailing looked merely cold and mildly uncomfortable. Once we pushed out past the break wall we discovered that the waves were high, and the ship -- she was a-rockin'. We opened with Haul Away, Joe for the raising of the sails. Ah, what a beautiful thing it was, singing shanties aboard a real sailing ship on the bounding main.

That's when Gina started turning green.

We sang eight more tunes for our first set and then took a break. While Maggie and I were picking songs for the next two sets, Christie climbed into the cabin to say that Gina was pretty much done for. Because of the nature of the event, there was no turning back, of course.

Christie sang with Maggie and I for a while, but Gina eventually started shuddering uncontrollably and needed looking after. About this time a few of the passengers were also turning color and with set jaws stared at the horizon. One of the passengers started taking a poll to see if everyone agreed to ask the captain to turn back; they didn't and we didn't.  Yeah, it was that kind of a day.

So Maggie and I sang everything we knew and a few we didn't know so well. We did our best to keep up the spirits of the guests (and ourselves) much to the amusement of the crew.  I got as wet as any rain day at Bristol -- my leather gloves were soaked to where I could wring them out. My thigh-high boots are sitting, drying out, and likely will until we open at Cotswold!

So back to shore we went, the verses of Marching Inland ringing true about seasick sailors. (When Gina gets better she is like to kill me. It was nice knowing you all.) Despite everything we may have gotten another gig from the event, so it was all for a good cause!

This additional note from Maggie:

You forgot to put in there that every time we hit a swell, I was grabbing hold of anything around me, storage boxes, lines, people....terrified of being plunged involuntarily into the icy depths.  Several times I went right down to the floor, tornado-protection style, gasping with terror.  And of course everyone was staring because we were the only ones in garb. 

I really hate sailing.  I really really hate it.  We are not fish.  We are not meant to be on the water.

 What kind of a sailor am I anyway?!?

name:

Maggie

Date:

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Comments

Well, I just came back from a fun trip to check out the KC Renaissance Faire. I visited it two years ago and went mad for the site--all trees and rolling hills and charming little buildings.

Unfortunately, this time around, the weather didn't cooperate. After a two-year drought, the area was deluged with floodgate-style rain. (As an aside, I was also in Colorado during that state's drought-breaking nine-foot snowfall this last March.)

We were rained out on Saturday and the miserable drizzle carried through to Sunday. The Faire didn't even open that day. Quite a quagmire. I was impressed by the energy of the actors, who continued to run around having fun.

I saw Queen Anne's Lace and the Jolly Rogers for the first time, after hearing about both groups for a while now. Also spoke with the women from Lilies of the Valley [Eva Donaldson] and Old Soles [Misti Bernard]  and saw the familiar faces of Three Pints Gone and Tippler's Way.

On the rainout Sunday, we figured there was some fun to be had somewhere in Missouri, so we headed to Weston, a quiet little antique-y sort of town. Came across a charming Irish pub [O'Malley's 1842 Irish Pub/Brewery]  that was entirely underground. Bob Reeder [http://www.bobreeder.net] got up and sang  and he dragged me up on stage! It was quite embarrassing. I promise, if there had been anyone I knew there, I would have flat-out refused. But I had a bit of Guinness and Bailey's in me, and so we slogged our way through a ditty or two. It was fun! I'll send a picture along.

name:

Dean

Date:

Thursday, August 28, 2003

Comments

Some updates to the web site: I've added some photos from John Wohlers, I've imported a page of Historic Seadogs from the former Seadogs of Bristol Harbour page and I created a new masthead for the homepage. If there's anything else you'd like to see, drop me a line!

name:

Dean

Date:

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Comments

What a tremendous summer this has been! Bounding Main performed three days at the Bristol Renaissance Faire to a very enthusiastic reception. We put our own spin on many shanties that are faire favorites and we introduced some little known material that we have enjoyed sharing with our audience. This was the first show for Bounding Main and it was great. To the group of friendly faces who caught all or most of our sets, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

On behalf of all of us I want to thank our fellow musicians for the incredible warm welcome that we were given. All of you in CrossRogues, The Consorte Bella Donna, Tourdion, Seelie Court, Old Soles, Dan Marcotte and the rest made this the best experience for this fledgling crew. You have all inspired us and helped raise us to a higher level.

Thanks, too, are extended to the photographer friends of Bounding Main: Frank Hui, John Wohlers, Doug Keith and Scott Lofton. It will take me forever to sort through the scores of photos, but your work will appear on this web site! It the mean while, please visit the links page of the Bristol Discussion Page (http://www.wolfstudio.com/bdp/links.htm#Fans) to steer your way to their wonderful web sites.

Look for some new tunes: The ladies have a kick-butt sweet version of Cadgwith Anthem, Maggie has introduced us to Blow the Wind Southerly, David is working on Old Maui and I’ve put together a tribute song for the Consorte Bella Donna (a sister Bristol musical group) called Bristol Girls – based on New York Girls.

Upcoming events: We’re singing on the Denis Sullivan on Friday September 26th. See the Pier Wisconsin web site for more details. In October look for the Cotswold Renaissance Faire in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Also in October is the Stronghold Olde English Faire in Oregon, Illinois. Of course some of us will be appearing at the monthly Shanty Sing-Outs with David HB Drake at Pier Wisconsin as well.

In answer to the many requests that we’ve had to take us all home: we’ll be working on a full CD this winter and hope to have it available by the beginning of the year. For those of you who grabbed a copy of our demo CD, “Casting Off,” our best work is yet to come.

I’m going to go rest my feet now . . .

name:

Dean

Date:

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Comments

I went sailing yesterday with David HB Drake. We left the Bay Shore Yacht Club area about 6:30 and sailed out until near sunset. We saw the Denis Sullivan in the distance, but could never catch up with her. Sipping on Blueberry Ales we talked shop about the renaissance faire, music, careers, the joys and foibles of love and how sweet it is to just be out on the water. There are a lot worse ways to spend an afternoon in Milwaukee in August.

Our next appearance is at the Bristol Renaissance Faire on its last day of the 2003 season, August 24th. After that we're appearing on an afternoon sail of the Denis Sullivan on September 26th. More announcements to follow!

We've gotten a lot (nay, a ton!) of photos from our various photographer friends. I need to compile and add them to our photo page here.

If you've seen one of our shows, please write us and tell us about it. Drop to our "Contact Us" page at http://www.wolfstudio.com/bounding/contact_form.htm.

name:

Jon Krivitzky

Date:

Friday, August 15, 2003

Comments

We're on again!

We had such a good time performing at Bristol on August 9th and 10th that we made time to do it again! We will return to the faire on August 24th, the last day of the faire. No show times have been released as of yet, but it's a definite go. Susan Scot Fry, the PR director and all-around in-charge person of the schedule, is trying to get us a show again at the Gazebo since we seemed to jibe so well there.

Note: as this is the last day of the faire, there are traditionally strange things that happen throughout the day. It will certainly be an exciting time to check out the show!

I'm so excited!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Thursday, August 14, 2003

Comments

Well, we had one heck of a debut weekend! Lots and lots of good times. Laughs, jibes, goofing around, margaritas and partying down.

Gina and Christie and I hung out between sets. ~Shopping!~ We took our lunches at the Dirty Duck, which is quite a nice production, I must say. And at the end of the day, we joined in at the Minstrel's Revel.

We were well-received from all quarters and may have made some new connections. The musicians of Bristol were so gracious and complimentary. Comments about our sound and our humor were all good. And tons of pictures were taken!

Being a part of a musical group at Bristol is just a great experience. It is a wonderful way to spend time at Faire.

name:

Jon Krivitzky

Date:

Monday, August 04, 2003

Comments

Wow! Ask and ye shall receive...

It looks like we've hit the big time. We've got three... count 'em... THREE stage shows each day of the Aug 9-10 weekend! All at the Fountainside Gazebo, which is probably the best place to perform this kind of stuff. The show times (our show times!) are 11:30, 3:00, and 5:30. I'm super excited!

Thanks so much to Susan Scot Fry and Dan Marcotte for supporting us and getting us this fabulous schedule!

Since David wants to do all the performing he can fit in on the Saturday, I say that we stick to only these three shows on Aug 9th. On Aug 10th, Dan-willing, perhaps we can wander a bit and perform an additional impromptu set in an environmental spot (with no disruption to other performances of course) or, perhaps, hit some of the shops one song at a time. That's always a hoot. If we just had the three stage shows, though, that'd still be way more than I expected. I'm psyched!

So, tell your friends and family... we're officially hitting Bristol!

name:

Dean

Date:

Friday, August 01, 2003

Comments

I have taken the day off and will be at the Kenosha Days of Discovery all day on Friday, August 8th. I'll be sporting my Seadog garb: white bandana, green doublet, white shirt, black gauntlets, belt and tall boots. I am looking forward to seeing Tom Lewis perform with Tom and Chris Kastle, and of course seeing the Nina, the Red Witch and the other tall ships.

name:

Dean

Date:

Monday, July 28, 2003

Comments

Hey! There are several photos available of our multi-group sing-out at the Old Wash Well at Bristol! John Wohler, photographer and Bounding Main fan has them posted on his web site at http://www.wohlershome.net/gallery/BRF_2003-07-27?page=13

name:

Jon

Date:

Monday, July 28, 2003

Comments

The stars are aligning for a Bounding Main appearance at the Bristol Faire during the weekend of August 9-10! Details are still being hammered out, including number and location of performances, however it looks like it's going to happen! We're all excited to have our first official debut performance as a complete group! It should be a super blast.

name:

Dean

Date:

Monday, July 28, 2003

Comments

It was an excellent weekend performing at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. The weather on Saturday was as close to perfect as you could want. Sunday, however, was pretty dreadful at the beginning of the day, and threatened to get worse all along, which I suspect kept the crowds lighter than usual. While not very warm, the humidity really pulled the energy out of you. Still and all, the crowds were reasonably responsive and all of our shows went well.

The 5:30 well set on Saturday was fun, if sparsely attended by performers. Sunday was just the opposite, with performers from Bounding Main, Seelie Court, Consorte Bella Donna, and friends Old Man Vic and Craig Campbell -- and only two steady audience members. Everyone passing by liked our collaborative sound. Maybe we should have an itinerary for this set to make sure we don't spend so much time looking like turkeys out in the rain . . .

One performer I wish had visited with us was Eva Donaldson from Lilies of the Valley out of the St. Louis Faire. She does some very interesting songs in Yiddish and Albanian, in addition to a faire repertoire. Alas, she was performing with CrossRogues at a scheduled set and we missed her.

David and I both seemed to have kept our songs outside of the falsetto range on Sunday. Saturday had a couple of train wrecks, but we don't have to talk about that . . .

It was a wonderful weekend overall, and we're looking forward to performing as a group the weekend of the 9th - 10th.

name:

Maggie

Date:

Saturday, July 26, 2003

Comments

I went to see Kat Eggleston at a house concert this last Thursday. She was radiant, genius, funny, touching, sooo gifted. I was floating on air afterwards, and didn't realize for quite some time that she hadn't sung "Dreadnaught". She sang several traditional pieces and many originals. I was very inspired and went home straight away to begin writing a song for Bounding Main. Maybe I'll even finish this one! :)

Highly, highly, highly recommend her live performances!

---

name:

Dean

Date:

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

Comments

Talk about an adventure!

Pier Wisconsin asked us to come out and sing aboard the Denis Sullivan for a group of Girl Scouts on an over-nighter. This last Tuesday Gina, Christie and I met at the maritime center on the Pier. After fixing some costume issues and a brief rehearsal we were ferried out in a tiny Zodiac to the Denis Sullivan, which was anchored in the middle of the harbor. Oh, what a beautiful ship it is! Even with its sails furled it is an impressive sight, her tall fore, main and mizzen masts reaching into the sky.

Once on board we were given a tour of the ship. The Sullivan is outfitted with a surprising amount of scientific equipment related to water studies. We saw the galley, the captain's cabin, the heads and the bunk areas. Despite the unholy mess that follows in the wake of seventh and eighth grade girls, it was a sharp looking ship.

On deck, we used the stairs to the rope ladder as our stage and spent over an hour entertaining the scouts, sponsors and crew. Christie was good enough to assemble song-books to give the girls that included our web site address. Hesitant at first, the girls got into the swing of things, joining us for many of the songs. We even filled a couple of requests: Mingulay Boat Song and "That Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Rum" song. Even with just three of us we were able to give a decent performance.

The captain of the Sullivan invited us back, to which the girls responded enthusiastically! I expect we can expect more gigs from Pier Wisconsin in the future.

Thanks Gina and Christie for making the trip on your busy schedule!

name:

Maggie

Date:

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

Comments

We had a great time at Pier Wisconsin, filling in for David HB Drake. It took five of us to take his place, plus lots of help from our friends, but we ably led the crowd in a fun night of shanty singing. We decided to hold the festivities outside, where we could enjoy the beauty of the lake and the summer sunset shining rosy light on the sailboats in the harbor.

Of course, singing outside led to some problems...like the booming sound check from the Summerfest grounds--which we used to tune our instruments :). Or the bird flying overhead giving Dean a little "gift" (I told him he shouldn't have picked such a high key for that song). Don't worry Dean, everyone's a critic. You were doing great, really you were. ;) May I just say how ironic it is that, out of 30-40 people sitting in that area, the bird decided to pick on Dean?

Thanks so much to Heather Lewin for helping out on the violin and filling in for our missing compadré Jon where needed. Thanks also to our new friend Mike Gregory, who regaled us with good jokes and new songs. He accompanied us on almost every song with his two-pound mandolin, which is made out of -- I kid you not -- a clothespin, a drum head, and a few other odds and ends thrown together. And it sounded really really great!

Also special thanks to Deanna Antony, who seems to be a big sea shanty fan and was the only person who could keep up with David on "Morning Glory" and "Old Dunn Cow". (Please come to all of our shows.) Also Sandy Memmel, who seemed to be the only person who knew some of the songs, including our sole request of the night, "I've Been Working on the Railroad". How cute was that kid?!? And Kathy Obuchowski, the tape wench who sold off the last of our practice CD's. There are no more! None! You will have to wait for our next release! No matter what Dean says.

I think I speak for all of us when I say we are loving the whole sea shanty thing so far. The sing-along aspect, the beauty of the songs, the ribbing and the stories (I know a thing or two about fish, I think that story was pure malarkey). And most importantly, the companionship of friends on this voyage we in the Bounding Main have begun.

Maggie, Dean, Christie, Gina, David (and Jon)

name:

Dean

Date:

Monday, July 7, 2003

Comments

David and Dean and Maggie are all working out at the Bristol Renaissance Faire for the 2003 season. Dean is playing Rudesby Stones and David is playing Salacious Ferret, both Sheriff's men in the Robin Hood scenario. Maggie is working in the Mayhawke Armoury booth near the Military Encampment. The three of us have joined in at the Gazebo singing before the mid-day parade. Last Sunday we were fortunate enough to have had a wonderful collective sing with Jon, Brent and Jessica from Seelie Court and Andrea Harris from Waking Maggie and Jon from our own group. Some enthusiastic patrons sang with us, including Jon's wife, Tzvia, a young lady who led us in Scarborough Faire and a kindly old gaffer named Victor who helped us along with Fiddler's Green.