The Jack Tars Story

Formed in Yorkshire in the Spring of 2020 during lockdown the band struggled to meet and rehearse until 2021 when they first appeared at a Wakefield cultural heritage event, Ripon Boat Club & Skipton Canal Basin. Since then, 2022 proved to be a very good year for The ‘Tars’ as they played successfully at a number of Yorkshire Folk Festivals like Shepley, Holmfirth, Knaresborough, Grassington, & Robin Hoods Bay!

2023 saw The Tars build on their initial success and release a 5 track EP available on Spotify as well as music videos accompanying it on YouTube. ‘Roll The Old Chariot’ was released a month in advance as the single which to date has 23,000 views. They also had a big line up change before the spring just in time for the festival season. Highlights of the year were finally venturing out of Yorkshire to head down south to Wiltshire’s Vintage Nostalgia Festival, Tide Over Fest in Plymouth and Harwich International Sea Shanty Festival. A rather special moment was being asked to perform at Liverpool’s’ 80th anniversary commemorations of The Battle Of The Atlantic paying tribute to the brave sailors who perished during the longest campaign during WW2.

2024 was the busiest year yet with The Jack Tars recording and releasing their debut album ‘All Hands’, a full-length 14 track album on March 8th on Bandcamp. Along with it there was an official music video for ‘Drunken Sailor’ on YouTube which gained 8000 views. The album was later released to Spotify/YouTube in April and is still available to buy as a physical/digital copy on Bandcamp or at gigs. The Tars went on a summer tour to promote the album, setting sail from old blighty to go ‘A Roving’ on the shores of Europe to play at International Maritime Festivals in Bremen (GER) and Appingedam (NET). Other highlights were playing on The Endeavour Replica at Whitby Pirate Festival to raise money for the RNLI and returning to Harwich International Shanty Festival and playing at Made In Whitby’s Christmas Market’s.

Starting 2025 off with a full broadside, ‘The Tars’ are heading to Poland’s International Shanty Festival in Krakow in February and already have more voyages planned than any other year to date! Keep a weather eye on the horizon as they might just be sailing into a port-town near you!