Albany’s Gary Greenwald shares insightful story of how the Albany Shantymen came to be

Shanty singing is all about teamwork and the sea — something with which Albany has a deep connection. For Albany’s Gary “Grizz” Greenwald, being involved with the Albany Shantymen is about having a bit of fun singing in the pub with mates. Inspire sat down with Greenwald this week as he spoke about the shanty group’s hilarious beginnings and his personal connection to stories of the sea. Making the move from the UK to Australia about five years ago, Greenwald and his family fell in love with WA and, more specifically, Albany. “Mostly, I’m a ginger and I’m afraid of the sun,” he said. “My wife’s family moved over. “She wanted to come visit, so we came in 2013 and fell in love with it all.” Greenwald, a full-time nurse, said he founded the Albany Shantymen after discovering there was no local group in his new home city. “It began with propositioning strangers, walking up to random men asking if they wanted to come and sing shanties with me,” he said. “I played rugby in the UK for a lot of years and used to sing in the pub afterwards. I got too old and creaky for rugby but still liked sitting in the pub and I found around about that time there was a very successful group called Port Isaac’s Fishermen’s Friends. “I listened to them, thought they sounded great, found a local group, and that’s how it started.” There was huge appeal for shanty groups in Europe and the US, and he had expected to find them in Australia too. “Port towns have shanty singing groups, so I assumed Australia, with all its maritime history, would be the same,” he said. “I came here looking for a group and realised there wasn’t one so I basically preyed on people when they were drunk enough to say ‘yes’. “That’s pretty much how it went.” Greenwald said the shanties were a combination of storytelling and working methods from the days of tall ships. “Brig Amity is a great example of the sort of boat people would have sung shanties on,” he said. “Whether it was pulling in an anchor, hoisting up sails with particular songs for hauling on ropes — every job on the ship that involved teamwork had shanties that accompanied it and particular rhythms that went with the work.” In touch with his seafaring heritage, he said he saw shanty singing as a celebration of history. “It’s feeling connected to the past I have with a lot of sailing ancestors,” he said. “Sometimes when you start celebrating historical stuff it can be controversial because you start thinking about the way different people view empire or colonisation. “This doesn’t have any of that as these are working men songs. “These weren’t sung by the rich classes, they were sung by every man, and every culture had their own version of working songs. “I like how our group writes Albany folk history into new songs. It’s a way of keeping stories alive and it romanticises notions of the sea. It’s being in a team but without the black eyes and bruises I got in rugby.” As light-hearted as he is about forming the Albany Shantymen, it is clear Greenwald’s passion and determination have played a key role in bringing Albany into the sea shanty community. “We’re always happy to help new guys,” he said. “No one’s going to get rich or famous by this, it’s just about a bit of fun to do on Tuesday nights with mates.” Not only did he start the Albany Shantymen, he also initiated Australia’s first shanty festival — the Albany International Folk ‘n’ Shanty Festival. After the inaugural edition of the festival in 2019, it was cancelled this year because of COVID-19. Greenwald said they were hoping to run a broader maritime and shanty festival in next year’s July school holidays. You can find the Albany Shantymen at a pub most Tuesday nights — usually at Six Degrees or the Earl of Spencer. “Otherwise they come to my place and drink my dubious homebrew. Some get put off when it burns the varnish off the table,” Greenwald said. They also sing at community events, such as Thank a Volunteer Day next month at Rainbow Coast Neighbourhood Centre. “I would really like to convey the notion this is all about mateship, with 15 in the group all from different walks of life and various countries,” Greenwald said. “I’d look a proper Charlie if I tried to sing shanties on my own.”