At this time of year, St Ives the most popular tourist destination in the west of Cornwall plays host to the St Ives September festival, a celebration of the arts in all its wonderful shapes and forms and for which St Ives reserves its own special status - for a tiny town is boasts its own Tate gallery. But it isn't just the creative arts for which people meander upalong and downalong throughout the cobbled streets - it's music too. In the street, on the quay and in various pubs and bars an eclectic mix of musicians make the journey to the far west, for some its almost an annual pilgrimage. Last Friday night you could have caught the man whose song, The Gael' became the theme music for the film, Last of the Mohicans - for that you would have needed to get to the online box office pretty sharpish because the tickets for the tickets to see Dougie McClean were hotter than a Pengenna Pasty - on the other hand, though the tickets were also straight out of the oven, you could have opted to get an earful of St Ives Fishermen's Shanty Shout - hosted in the truly unique setting that is Porthmeor Net loft, below Porthmeor Studios.
Here's what you missed, recorded in full by adopted Frenchman Alban Roinard. The net loft was packed with an expectant crowd enjoying local beers and buzzing with conversation until Cadgwith fisherman Martin Ellis, star of the film Bait and his own Cadgwith taxi service took to the makeshift stage and gave a particularly heartfelt performance of The Cornish Fisherman song to a hushed crowd - and there were plenty more singers and songs to follow. Enjoy!
