The Fisherman’s Friends

Born in Port Isaac, Cornwall, The Fisherman’s Friends have brought together since 1995 singers from the same maritime background — from fishing and sea rescue to harbour life. Their repertoire is rooted in sea shanties and traditional nautical songs, initially delivered largely a cappella and over the years enriched with understated folk instrumentation on stage and in the studio. After several self-released records, including Suck’em and Sea (2000), Home from the Sea (2002) and Another Mouthful From... The Fisherman’s Friends (2009), the group broadened its audience in the late 2000s and signed with Universal, which issued Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends in 2010 and One and All in 2013. The Fisherman’s Friends’ trajectory also took them to British folk stages, from Glastonbury to the Cambridge Folk Festival, and to occasional collaborations with Show of Hands. Proper Job (2015) and Sole Mates (2018) continued this approach of collective harmonies, local humour and oral tradition. Their story later inspired the film Fisherman’s Friends in 2019 and its sequel in 2022, the same year One and All: Music from the Movie was released.