Chris Ricketts and Mark Willshire focus on bringing folk and traditional music into the modern world. Both being born and bred in Portsmouth, their music has strong links with the city’s naval history and they sing versions of many sea shanties (some well known, some less so) in their own unique style, presenting the traditional songs in a fresh new way.

Chris, a former semi finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards, teamed up with Mark Willshire to form a new genre of folk music to bring it “kicking and screaming into the 21st century”.




Chris Ricketts and Mark Willshire focus on bringing folk and traditional music into the modern world. Both being born and bred in Portsmouth, their music has strong links with the city’s naval history and they sing versions of many sea shanties (some well known, some less so) in their own unique style, presenting the traditional songs in a fresh new way.

Chris, a former semi finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards, teamed up with Mark Willshire to form a new genre of folk music to bring it “kicking and screaming into the 21st century”.

Chris and Mark had a hugely successful summer in 2010 playing to very big crowds at several high profile festivals, including Festival Maritim in Vegesack, Germany, the Scarborough International Maritime Festival and the International Shanty Festival, Bie Daip, Appingedam, Holland. As well as this Chris and Mark have played some of the renowned English Folk Festivals.

Chris Ricketts was born in Portsmouth and has been involved with the acoustic and folk music scene since the age of 15 – he realized his passion for the folk music in the UK after attending Fairport’s Cropredy Convention. He released his debut album Mudlarks, named after an old Portsmouth tradition, and shortly afterwards was selected as a semi finalist for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards; He also won ‘Best Folk Roots Act’ in the Portsmouth Evening News.

After these successes, Chris joined the prestigious Folk and Traditional Music Degree at Newcastle University where he found and developed a great enthusiasm for shanties and songs of the Sea.

Mark Willshire, like Chris, was born and bred in Portsmouth but his musical tastes and preferences did not immediately lie in the folk music world: Mark was more familiar with funk and punk bass styles. When he came into contact with Chris, working at a playscheme for disabled children, they put together a set for the children. It was after this short jam like session that Chris and Mark decided to take collaboration further, fusing together their different musical backgrounds to create a unique style.