Thanks to the small film with a big heart that shares their name, the story of the original Cornish ‘buoy band’ is known around the world – bound by shared experience, for 40 years they have met on the Platt on the harbour in their native Port Isaac to sing the songs of the sea.
“And now we can’t wait to show the rest of the country what they’ve been missing – singing live is in our blood, almost as much as the sea,” says extravagantly moustachioed MC and bass man Jon Cleave.
This year, despite the best efforts of the global pandemic, the boys have kept fans entertained in lockdown posting weekly songs and poems on their YouTube series Mares Tales & Mackerel Scales. They also played sell out summer shows at Cornwall’s iconic Minack Theatre and performed at screenings of the film at the Wavelength Drive-In Cinema in Watergate Bay.
Cornwall’s best-known musical export, a decade ago The Fisherman’s Friends were persuaded to sign the million-pound record deal that saw their album Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends go Gold as they became the first ever traditional folk act to land a UK top ten album. Since then they’ve sang at HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, played Glastonbury festival and been honoured with the Good Tradition Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. They’ve also been the subject of an ITV documentary, released the hit albums One and All (2013), Proper Job (2015) and Sole Mates (2018) and continued to play to tens of thousands of fans at home and abroad.
The Fisherman’s Friends are: lobster fisherman Jeremy Brown; writer/ shopkeeper Jon Cleave; smallholder and engineer John ‘Lefty’ Lethbridge; builder John McDonnell (a Yorkshireman who visited Port Isaac more than 30 years ago and never left); Padstow fisherman Jason Nicholas; film maker Toby Lobb and the new boy, former ambulance driver Pete Hicks.
The Princess Theatre first opened its doors on Wednesday 7 June 1961. Top of the bill on the opening night were the late, great Tommy Cooper and the legendary Morecombe & Wise. In 1963 The Beatles appeared live on stage singing the then newly released single “She Loves You” causing some hysteria in the town!
The Princess Theatre is South Devon’s largest theatre with a seating capacity of 1,491. Big musical productions that have thrilled our audiences include Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Chicago, Starlight Express, Rocky Horror, Cats, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Icons of the stage and screen Sir Roger Moore, Elaine Page, Joan Collins and the beloved Joan Rivers, have also graced our stage. Comedians Jimmy Carr, Alan Carr and Dawn French have performed here too and chart toppers Mumford & Sons, Jamie Cullum and Ronan Keating have included the theatre on their UK tours.