Joanna Colcord’s seminal collection Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen was deeply influenced by her seafaring life. She was born in the South Pacific to a captain from Searsport, Maine and attended high school by correspondence in Hong Kong before earning a degree in social work. This presentation explores Colcord’s remarkable global childhood and its influence on her as a noted author of sea music collections still widely consulted today. We will explore domestic life at sea on American sailing ships through Joanna’s eyes, travel the world with her in maps and globe animations, and place her in context of other maritime music collectors from J.B. Whall and L.A. Smith to William Doerflinger and Stan Hugill. And naturally, we will sing some of her chanteys together!

Lynn Noel is a regionally and internationally respected chantey singer with a powerful voice, a huge repertoire, and a gift for audience participation. Her Sea Music Singarounds have packed halls to capacity at festivals from New England to Sidmouth (UK). Lynn’s sea music braids together working chanteys from the age of sail; flowing ballads of love, loss, and life at sea; environmental education in marine ecology; and a rich knowledge of maritime history with a focus on seafaring women.

Lynn is a professional heritage interpreter and independent scholar in geography, history, and folklore. A former research fellow of the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College, Lynn founded Digital Heritage Consulting to bring traditional song and heritage arts online to create digital community, with projects like the Mermaid’s Tavern online folk club and DIY Digital life coaching for artists and nonprofits seeking to adopt digital tools. Lynn’s undergraduate and graduate work in geography and women’s studies prepared her well to explore and appreciate the personal and professional life of Joanna Colcord as a social scientist and world traveler. Lynn owns a well-loved 1924 first edition of Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen.

On Zoom or in person at PMM’s Old Vestry building, 2 Church St.

Free to attend. Suggested admission $5. Register here.