Atlantic Sounds: Ships and Sailortowns

The 'Atlantic Sounds' project aims to investigate, from a UK perspective, the role that music has played in cross-cultural encounters around the Atlantic rim (which includes the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean) from around 1740 to the present. Although there has been research into the presence of music from these countries in Europe, the processes and mechanisms that established such connections are less clear. The transmission and development of musical cultures across oceans by seafarers, travellers, and free and forced migrants is clearly an area ripe for further study. This project will focus specifically on the circumstances of the ship - which literally transports music and musicians across the Atlantic - and the sailortown - the diverse and ever-changing port communities where sailors from all over the world interact, including through music-making.

Perhaps the most obvious subjects of study are the sea-songs devised to aid the hard physical labour of work on sailing ships but which also often emerged from experiences on shore, with many recalling the dangers and pleasures of life in port. Beyond these work songs, music has played various roles both on board ship and in port and has also been vital in disseminating ideas about seafaring to the wider publics, particularly in popular song. Musical traditions and musical instruments have been transported across the Atlantic and have subsequently impacted on music-making in ports and beyond. In modern times, music has provided entertainment for leisure travellers and has contributed to the regeneration of sailortowns as contemporary tourist destinations. We believe that the study of music on ships and in sailortowns informs not only our understanding of historical seafaring practices; but also provides a lens through which the nature of cross-cultural encounters and fusions, many of which pre-date mass immigration into Britain and our resultant multicultural society, can be examined.

The overall aim of the project is to develop a better understanding of music in Atlantic World encounters. This will be accomplished primarily through a series of networking events involving academics, particularly those with interests in music and history but also those involved in the study of museums, heritage and tourism, and other interested parties including stakeholders in museums and tourism as well as musicians, film-makers and journalists and the wider public. International keynote speakers will be invited to address each event and the attendance of new researchers and research students will be supported by bursaries. Events will be held in different locations which are relevant to the project (London, Cardiff, Falmouth and Liverpool) and each will include a public lecture and performance. In addition to the events, the project website will include a blog, audio/audio-visual recordings of papers and specially made podcasts, and invite interaction and discussion. The website will provide links to existing relevant online resources for research and education in a variety of contexts and levels.

The intention of the project is to build relationships which will lead to further collaborations, both within the academic community, especially between disciplines, and between scholars and those from outside academia. We are aiming to create a network which will be equally beneficial to all these groups, particularly to provide opportunities for the public dissemination of academic research. The project will provide opportunities for people to learn about the transatlantic impact on their local heritage and for them to make valuable contributions to the network's discussions. Local musicians will present musical performances and contribute to academic debate. The project will encourage research that can be put to practical use, for example working in collaboration with historic venues to inform their use of music as living heritage.

Individual participants in the network will benefit directly from its work, and they will disseminate and promote the outcomes to colleagues more widely. We are aiming for a multi-directional knowledge exchange that will be equally beneficial to academics and those working outside HE, particularly by providing opportunities for the public dissemination of academic research. Intended beneficiaries, and the likely nature of their benefit from the network, include:

Local communities and the wider public.
Public events held in conjunction with colloquia and conference will encourage the involvement of the local communities in which these take place, and provide opportunities for people to learn about the transatlantic impact on their local heritage and for them to make valuable contributions to the network's discussions. The project website will include recordings of parts of the events to provide access to the network for those who may not be able to attend, as well as shorter specially made podcasts. The public, particularly those with a connection with research being conducted by members of the network and local communities where events are taking place, will be encouraged to engage with the project virtually by posting their responses - stories, memories and reflections - on the website, which will result in a permanent repository of valuable material which might otherwise become lost. It is hoped that even wider public engagement will be possible through the development of radio and film projects.

Readers of the popular music press.
One member of the network, Stan Rijven, is a music journalist, and he will interpret the network's activities for a wider audience. We anticipate that this will lead to further coverage of our meetings as the schedule of events develops. We will look to secure coverage of the network in relevant national publications such as Songlines, English Dance and Song and fRoots, but also in magazines with a more general audience such as This England and the BBC History magazine. The network will raise awareness of the connections which have influenced music-making in the transatlantic world.

Professional musicians.
The network's events will provide opportunities for local musicians to present musical performances, allowing them to develop new audiences and national and international connections. The format of these performances will be planned to enable mutually beneficial discussion and exchange of knowledge between the audience (academics and general public) and the musicians. For example, a recent meeting of the core 'Atlantic Sounds' group in Liverpool included an illustrated talk and discussion on sea shanties by Hughie Jones from the group 'The Spinners'.

Cultural professionals.
The network will seek to foster relationships between academics and professionals working in areas such as museums, tourism, education and heritage preservation. In particular, the network will encourage critical reflection on the relationship between maritime history and music and the impact and potential of this for the presentation and preservation of local heritage.

Venue managers and promoters.
We are particularly keen that the operators of historic venues and those responsible for the preservation, maintenance and development of ships and sailortowns should be engaged with the history of musical performance and experience. The network will encourage and broker collaboration between venues and academics through the accessible presentation of research which can then be put to practical use, for example to inform plans for venue development and to encourage the preservation of a living heritage by bringing it to the attention of local organisations. Beneficiaries could be as diverse as Wilton's Music Hall in the East End of London, Cardiff's Tiger Bay or the restored tea clipper the Cutty Sark.