Chasing the Whale
Produced by
Funded by
"uproariously rousing and darkly disturbing"
– The Guardian
Kings of the South Seas:
Ben Nicholls – vocals, concertina (The Full English, Seth Lakeman Band)
Richard Warren – guitar, vocals (Spiritualized, Soulsavers feat Mark Lanegan)
Evan Jenkins – drums, vocals (Neil Cowley Trio, Eric Clapton, Bert Jansch)
PLUS
Tim Eriksen – voice, guitar (acclaimed traditional American singer)
Philip Hoare – narration (BBC presenter and author of Leviathon, or the whale)
Adam Clitheroe – film (award-winning documentary director)
Chasing the Whale brings six distinctive and hugely talented artists together for a journey into the bawdy and thrilling world of the early whalers. Folk / Indie / Jazz trio Kings of the South Seas are joined by acclaimed New England traditional singer/musician Tim Eriksen. On stage they perform original music that merges folk, jazz, music hall and rock, woven together by award-winning author Philip Hoare’s captivating tales and Adam Clitheroe’s film portraying the powerful imagery of these voyages.
To make a deeper connection with these extraordinary times, the majority of these live performances take place in locations with a whaling history; from Gravesend to Barton Upon Humber plus two shows at Cutty Sark, Greenwich.
Whaling ships set off from Gravesend where the performance takes place in a fisherman’s chapel and the ropes for the whaling industry were made in Barton upon Humber. Both Exeter and Bristol have a whaling industry and there’s still whale oil deposited in the ground under new flats in the latter. London itself was once a thriving whaling port, boasting the Greenland Dock, the largest of its kind in the world, which supplied oil to light the capital’s streets and whalebone to corset the fashionable men and women who strolled them.
Going back through millennia, man's quest to hunt the largest mammal on earth witnessed men traversing the globe. Enduring the dangers and hardships of sailings that lasted several years, these crews discovered mysterious new lands and people, founding an industry that connected Britain with the South Pacific and America.
Such experiences found an outlet in songs, log book doodles and terrifying engravings of their life endangering battles with these vast, beautiful creatures.
Through words, song and film The Kings of the South Seas - together with special guests - invite you to board their ship as it sets sail on a voyage into these extraordinary times.
“dark, driven and turbulent” – The Independent
