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Johnny Collins
Pedlar of
Songs
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Johnny Collins, a native of the county of Norfolk but now
based in London, England, is a well travelled performer
specialising in the singing of shanties, sea songs and maritime
ballads.
An internationally acclaimed performer and recording artist,
Johnny has organised Folk clubs and topped the bill in concerts
around the world since the mid-fifties: his vigorous style and
his supreme ability to persuade audiences to join in choruses is
unrivalled.
Johnny is a familiar and welcome figure at many of the
world's foremost maritime venues and festivals, and has guested
in the U.S.A. at Maine Maritime Museum, Kendall Whaling Museum
and Newport News Maritime Museum. He has also delighted audiences
with several concert appearances at Mystic Seaport (U.S.A.) and
was resident shantyman at Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia.
1983 was a highpoint in his singing career when, in
partnership with Jim Mageean, he was a winner of the Intervision
Song Contest in Rostock, GDR, with a medley of English sea
shanties. In 1987, Johnny was invited by the government of the
GDR to appear at the Berlin Shanty Festival which was organised
to celebrate 750 years of that city.
Regular forays into Europe continue to be part of Johnny's
yearly itinerary. He has been a main guest at the annual
Liereliet at the Strontrace in Workum, Netherlands for the past
21 years. He also sings regularly in Belgium, Brittany, Germany,
Holland, Poland and France.
Nearer home, he has been acclaimed as a shanty supremo at
many of the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race venues, including
Southampton, Liverpool and Newcastle upon Tyne, and other U.K.
maritime festivals at Hull, Lancaster, Bristol, Dundee, Maldon,
Portsmouth, Gosport, Greenwich and Chatham.
Some Special Forthcoming Appearances
As well
as regular appearances at U.K. folk clubs, Johnny is booked at
the following festivals in 2009:
20th February - Hythe Folk Club (U.K.)
26th February - Sunray Folk Club, Broadmayne (U.K.)
10th to 12th April - Shotley Gate Maritime Festival, Suffolk (U.K.)
17th to 19th April - Medemblik Festival (Netherlands)
24th April - Pump House Folk Club, Watford (U.K.)
28th April - The HQS Wellington for Honourable Company of Master Mariners (U.K.)
7th to 9th May - Festival Jean de la Fountaine Ecosse Sur Marne (France)
22nd to 25th May - Chippenham Festival (U.K.)
6th June - Folk for MS Concert at Grove, Oxfordshire (U.K.)
26th to 28th June - Braunston Canal Festival (U.K.)
27th June - Eric Bogle Farewell Tour Concert, Watford (U.K.)
1st to 6th July - Tall Ship Concerts & 4th Gielda Concerts, Gdansk & Gdynia (Poland)
27th to 30th August - Bie Daip Maritime Festival, Appingedam (Netherlands)
4th to 6th September - Yarmouth Maritime Festival (U.K.)
11th to 13th September - Bromyard Folk Festival (U.K.)
23rd to 27th September - Whittlebury Song & Ale (U.K.)
2nd to 4th October - Tenterden Festival, Kent (U.K.)
16th to 19th October - Workum International Shanty Festival & Strontrace (Netherlands)
27th to 29th November - Bedworth Festival (U.K.)
Appearances in 2008
23rd to 26th May - Chippenham Folk Festival (U.K.)
30th May to 2nd June - Cobh Maritime Festival (Eire)
27th to 29th June - Braunston Canal Festival (U.K.)
1st to 4th August - Millrace, Cambridge, Ontario (Canada).
5th to 8th September - Sosnowiec (Poland)
12th to 14th September - Bromyard Folk Festival (U.K.)
20th September - Deal Maritime Folk Festival (U.K.)
10th to 12th October - Harwich Shanty Festival (U.K.)
17th to 20th October - Workum International Shanty Festival (Netherlands)
Appearances in 2007
11th January - Maidenhead Folk Club - 'The Seven Stars', Knowl Hill, Berkshire (U.K.)
26th January - St Mary's in the Marsh Folk Club - 'The Star Inn', St Mary's in the Marsh, Romney
Marsh, Kent (U.K.)
27th January - Essex Singers' Club - 'United Brethren' pub, Chelmsford (U.K.)
23rd to 25th February - Chicago Maritime Festival (U.S.A.)
11th May - An Goilin Folk Club, Dublin (Eire)
18th to 20th May - Kielce Shanty Festival (Poland)
25th to 28th May - Chippenham Folk Festival (U.K.)
1st to 4th June - Cobh Maritime Festival (Eire)
6th to 8th July - Two Rivers Folk Festival - Chepstow (U.K.)
24th to 26th August - Romanshorn International Maritime Festival, Romanshorn (Switzerland).
For further information, visit: www.seafolksong.ch
14th to 16th September - Bromyard Folk Festival (U.K.)
28th to 30th September - Whittlebury Song & Ale (U.K.)
12th to 15nd October - Workum International Shanty Festival (Netherlands)
27th October - Kielce - Joseph Conrad Memorial Festival (Poland) -
9th to 11th November - Vlieland Shanty Weekend - Masterclass Leader, Vlieland (Netherlands)
23rd to 25th November - Bedworth Festival (U.K.)
Johnny is available for
bookings and can be contacted on:
Tel. No. +44(0) 208 866 1635
Mobile Tel. No. +44(0) 7970 174316
Fax. No. +44(0) 1923 245440
Links
Some interesting related sites.
This List was last updated on 16th June 2009.
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