CCHAP Summer Concert Series: The Vox Hunters, with Jerry Bryant

The 4th and final concerts of our annual summer concert series will be New England maritime and sea chanteys with the Vox Hunters and Jerry Bryant.

This concert will take place on the beautiful CMCH lawn. Grounds are open for seating and picnicking from 5 PM, and music is from 6PM – 7PM. All of the CMCH outdoor concerts are free and open to the public. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and food, and a food truck will be available onsite. In case of rain, the concerts will move indoors to our auditorium.

These concerts will also be live streamed, more information to come.

Jerry Bryant is a singer and scholar whose specialty is in maritime music, especially the last several hundred years of traditional work music. He accompanies himself on various instruments, including concertina, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and bones. Through his thorough knowledge of the history and language of sea shanties and period songs, he is able to explain what type of work different songs were used for, connecting historic songs to contemporary understanding. He also has composed new songs in historic styles, is a regular fixture at New England music festivals and workshops, as well as locations around the United States and Canada.

The Vox Hunters are specialists in the old music of Rhode Island, combining historical interests with contemporary interpretation and innovation. Benedict Gagliardi and Armand Aromin are both multi-instrumentalists who cultivate local social music gatherings in addition to keeping traditional music vibrant. In 2019, Jerry Bryant mentored Benedict and Armand in CCHAP’s Southern New England Apprenticeship Program for traditional arts. Jerry helped them deepen their knowledge of local maritime music. At this concert, we want to bring this team together again to show off not only their newfound sea shanty knowledge and song specialties, but to share how songs that have transitioned from worksong to entertainment still function as a valuable resource to community life.

To learn more about these artists, see:

https://thevoxhunters.com/
https://jerrybryantsings.com/

The 2021 season of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History’s outdoor concert series presents the work of the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CCHAP), a statewide initiative that documents diverse cultural traditions and shares the artistic creations and community cultural practices of folk artists living throughout Connecticut. The concert series is generously supported by the Evelyn W. Preston Memorial Trust Fund, Bank of America N.A., Trustee, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the CT Office of the Arts/DECD.