Fisherman's Friends

Their repertoire is extremely varied and includes both shanties and other nautical songs, some of which are fairly lewd.[5] With the addition of Jason & Toby (accordion and guitar) the group have added more musical accompaniment to their set. Billy and Toby are both supported by Vintage Guitars and regularly use their instruments on stage.

They performed at the 2010 Cornbury music festival in Oxfordshire,[6] the Glastonbury Festival on several occasions, typically on the Acoustic Stage, but on one occasion performing on the Pyramid Stage and the Cambridge Folk Festival.[7] The band have also appeared at Towersey Festival, Wickham Festival, Beautiful days, Costa Del Folk, Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Tunes in the Dunes, Boardmasters and Celtic Connections. Due to being “semi-professional” the band do not tour extensively and will usually embark on 12-15 date tours in November and February/March. They also often perform in Port Isaac, regularly singing on the platt (beach) in the summer for charity.

The group had released three CDs themselves before signing with Universal. In 2002, under the name Port Isaac's 'Fishermen's Friends', they recorded an album, primarily to raise funds for the RNLI, which was released on the Clovelly Label, Catalogue Number CLCD12702. The album, entitled Fishermen's Friends Are Home from the Sea, has 20 tracks and was recorded in St Peter's Church Port Isaac on the 26 and 27 April 2002. All the tracks are sung in the traditional a cappella style. The album was engineered by Bob Whitney and produced by John Perkins. Their first album with Universal, Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends, was recorded in St Kew Parish Church, Cornwall,[8] and released in April 2010.[7]

In 2010 they re-recorded their single, "No Hopers, Jokers or Rogues", with new lyrics, in support of England's World Cup campaign in South Africa.[9]

A second album with Universal, One and All, was released on 26 August 2013.[10] The single "Mary Anne", taken from the album, was released on 25 June 2013.[11]

In July 2015 the album Proper Job was released on the Sony Music label, in association with the St Austell Brewery, who brew a beer of the same name. This album also saw the first appearance of new member Toby Lobb.[12]

2018 saw the release of Sole Mates, an album produced by Giles Woolley and band member Toby Lobb. The band’s aim was to celebrate their history and create a simpler album that represented their live sound more accurately. Sole Mates was made up of tracks that the band had performed during their previous two tours and featured additional instrumentation from Phil Beer from Show of Hands and Emma Murfin from Cornwall-based folk act Black Velvet.

Gareth Malone's documentary on sea shanties, shown in May 2010 on BBC 4, included a contribution from the group.[13] The Fisherman's Friends have also starred in an advert for fish company, Young's Seafood.

The band have appeared on BBC One’s ‘The One Show’ on two occasions, been the subject of an ITV1 documentary that charted their early success, a SKY ARTS documentary which featured their performance at the Celtic Connections festival, BBC’s Countryfile with John Craven and many local news items. 2018 also saw them feature in the Songs of Praise Christmas Special.

The producers of the hit film Fisherman's Friends bought the band’s life rights to be made into a feature film. The writers Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth adapted their story for the screen. Principal photography commenced on 30 April 2018 for 5 weeks on location in Port Isaac and London. The film was released in cinemas nationwide in the UK on 15 March 2019, and was directed by Chris Foggin.[2]

The film stars an ensemble cast headed by James Purefoy, Daniel Mays and Tuppence Middleton, with David Hayman, Dave Johns, Noel Clarke, Maggie Steed, Sam Swainsbury and Christian Brassington playing key supporting roles. The film is based around a largely fictional story of Danny, a music industry executive who signs them to a London record label and develops a relationship with one of the band's daughters, played by Middleton, and covers the period up to their first album release.[2]

All members of the band have cameos in the film and Ashworth explained “the singing is a blend of the voices of the group themselves and of the actors.”[2]

In May 2019 a sequel titled Fisherman’s Friends 2: Bound For South Australia was announced which will take them from performing at Glastonbury to struggling to put their second album together.

At the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The Fisherman's Friends received The Good Tradition Award for keeping folk music alive and bringing it to new audiences.[14]

"Home From the Sea", released 2002 on Clovelly record label CLCD12702.