Press Kit

Pressgang Mutiny, Toronto's shantymen. We are a group of musicians and sailors dedicated to challenging conventional understanding of sea shanties from a place of deep immersion in their roots. We've travelled the globe to discover where this work song tradition really came from, who sang it and why, and what it still has to say. Along the way, we discovered that sea shanties share musical roots with other popular forms such as hip hop, soca, dancehall, and ska. Those roots are an often-erased history that we have an opportunity to shine a light on.

Our latest project, Departure, aims to do just that by drawing connections with the genres that share the same social, rhythmic, and communal roots. It features collaborations with Carl Harvey of Toots and the Maytals, Al Cross and Terry Wilkins of Big Sugar, Toronto hip hop artist Matt Somber, reggae MC Sunray Grennan and many other great musicians we're privileged to share a city with. We believe Departure represents a first step in restoring our tradition's multicultural, trans-Atlantic origins and showcasing sea shanties as a living global form rather than a museum piece.

We've toured and performed at major festivals across North America and Europe as well as the Caribbean, and were an official Showcase Artist at the Folk Music Ontario Conference in 2023. In Summer 2026, we'll tour the UK including performances at Sidmouth Folk Week, Whitby Folk Week, Shrewsbury, and FolkEast.

We are Richard Kott, Christan Mariyanayagam, James McKie, Michael O'Grady, and Stefan Read and we love singing together.