William Pint and Felicia Dale create music that feels like a living bridge between the 19th-century high seas and contemporary folk-rock. Their sound is anchored by the rhythmic interplay of Pint's driving mandola and Dale's masterful hurdy-gurdy playing, which provides a unique, buzzing drone that is both ancient and strangely experimental. It is music that smells of salt air, pine forests, and old wood.
What sets them apart is their ability to take traditional shanty structures and inject them with a subtle rock-and-roll energy. Instead of the stiff, academic approach often found in folk revivalism, they perform with a grit and vitality that suggests these songs are still vital tools for survival and storytelling. Their vocal harmonies are tight and weathered, reflecting decades of shared performance and a deep personal connection to the material.
Start with 'The Set of the Sail' or 'Seven Seas' to experience their range. These albums showcase their ability to move from rowdy, percussive work songs to haunting, atmospheric ballads that capture the loneliness and majesty of the open water. It is essential listening for anyone who finds beauty in the intersection of history and the horizon.
William Pint and Felicia Dale (often billed as Pint & Dale) are folk musicians based in Seattle. Known primarily for nautical music and sea chanties, they are among the best-known performers in that genre in the United States. Their albums have been favorably reviewed in Dirty Linen magazine, Sing Out! magazine, and Folk Roots magazine. They tour regularly in the UK as well as the United States and have also performed in The Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Estonia. Between 1988 and 1991 they performed with Canadian performer Tom Lewis. Felicia Dale, born January 1, 1958, grew up on Vashon Island in Puget Sound. Her primary instrument is the hurdy-gurdy. She has been performing professionally since she was sixteen years old. She is also a published short-story author with stories included in the anthologies New Amazons (ISBN 0-88677-887-5) and Warrior Princesses (ISBN 0-88677-783-6). William Pint, born December 20, 1953, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His primary instruments are the guitar and mandola. In the 1970s he was a member of the acoustic folk group Silmaril and recorded Given Time or the Several Roads which has recently been re-released as Voyage of the Icarus by Locust Records. He moved to Seattle in 1977 where he was a member of the bands Morrigan, Copperfield, and Ellipsis, as well as a brief stint in the humour-oriented band What's All This, Then! Morrigan was recorded by Folkways Records in 1979, and Ellipsis by Flying Fish Records in 1984.
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