TOM KASTLE and DAVID HB DRAKE will present an evening of Sailor’s Songs, Shanties, and Maritime music and stories from the Seven Seas.

Captain Tom Kastle and Able-Bodied Seaman David HB Drake have sung and sailed the waters of the Great Lakes aboard Wisconsin’s Flagship, the schooner Denis Sullivan and appeared onstage together at The Chicago Maritime Festival. Both Deep Water veterans will be featured performers at this year’s Chicago Maritime Festival at the Old Town School of Folk Music Saturday April 18th. ( Info at: http://www.chicagomaritimefestival.org/ )

Wisconsin troubadour DAVID HB DRAKE presents songs from the Great Lakes, Midwestern rivers, and the work songs of salt-water sailors. Authentic and historic sea shanties and fo’castle songs combine with original and contemporary songs by Gordon Bok Tom Lewis, and Stan Rogers, performed on concertina, banjo, dulcimer, Native Flute, and guitar. DAVID HB DRAKE is the resident musician for the schooner “Denis Sullivan”, Wisconsin’s “flagship” in his homeport of Milwaukee. He has served as Shantyman, interpreter, and performer aboard tall ships on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes including the HMS Bounty, seen in the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”, the environmental sloop “Clearwater”, the showboat “Rhododendron” on the Mississippi, schooners “Nor’wester” and “Inland Seas” and the “Maryland Dove”.

David’s original songs can be heard on the “Simply Folk” programs on Wisconsin Public Radio, and he has been played on folk radio programs from Victoria BC to the Netherlands. David has performed on tall ships on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes.

TOM KASTLE is a singer, songwriter, sailor and teller of tales who has performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand. He has one foot in the modern singer/songwriter world and the other planted in the traditional maritime realm where he is a shanty and ballad singer and a tall ship captain. He is a co-director of the Chicago Maritime Festival, a faculty member of the Old Town School of Folk Music, and the Narrator (with occasional singing roles) for the Candid Concert Opera Company. Tom recently hosted a short documentary about the Battle of Lake Erie that was nominated for an Emmy Award. When ashore, he lives in a 19th century log cottage in Madison, Wisconsin.

“I heard Tom Kastle sing his song, “Whose House? Our House!” at a Local 1000 union meeting. Timely. Inspiring. A great gathering song sung with power and presence.” –Holly Near

“With his solo recording and original songs, Tom Kastle shows further dimensions to his talent and range of material. His resonant voice, heartfelt lyrics, and solid instrumentation proves he is a more “grounded” talent, as capable as writing about the open road as he is about the open waters.” –Lilli Kuzma: Folk Festival WDCB-FM Radio