Episode #2
32. "There's no Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for our music" with Dean Calin of Bounding Main
Dean Calin is a shanty singer with the Chicago-based group Bounding Main and the driving force behind the Maritime Music Directory International (seashanties4all.com), an online database of shanty bands, festivals, and performers from around the world. Dean got his start singing shanties at the Bristol Renaissance Fair in 1998 and went on to co-found Bounding Main in 2003 — a group that has since performed across North America and Europe, from Paimpol to Krakow. We talk about how shanties took over the American Renaissance fair circuit, Bounding Main's 22 years together, and the vision behind the MMDI — a resource Dean built to document and preserve the global shanty community. We also discuss the lack of Black representation in a genre with deep African-American roots, the rise of shanty sings across North America, why shanties became a symbol of freedom in communist Poland, and Dean's ongoing health journey. Dean gives us an update on Bounding Main's upcoming album and shares some unforgettable stories from touring in the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland.
