The Longest Johns

Bristol’s The Longest Johns bring their contemporary take on sea songs and shanties to Sidestage in Winnipeg on July 13, 2025. First known as an a cappella quartet, they’ve shaped a sound built on tight vocal harmonies, hand percussion and stripped‑back folk arrangements, moving with ease from work chants to coastal ballads and original material. The group first drew attention online with shanty videos before taking that communal energy to festival and club stages. Their path runs through albums Written in Salt (2016), Between Wind and Water (2018) and Cures What Ails Ya (2020), where tradition meets self‑penned stories like Bones in the Ocean. When their version of Wellerman spread widely in 2021, it opened the door to Smoke & Oakum (2022), a record that leans further into maritime lore while keeping a modern folk pulse. Live, expect layered voices up close, call‑and‑response moments and songs that travel from the fo’c’sle to the shoreline, with a few nods to their collaborations around the Sea of Thieves universe. Special guests join the bill.