Many folksongs and ballads are built around a conversation between two or more characters, and the singing may be shared by different people, clearly differentiating the characters and bringing them and their story to life. Linn Phipps and Doug Huggins are traditional song singers living 500O miles apart, who collaborated for four years in the Covid Lockdown period and beyond, as The Sillertides, in shared-singing of conversation songs, https://linnphippsfolk.co.uk/sillertides/ . They performed together as The Sillertides on zoom ceilidhs, and virtually at festivals such as Spring Harmony, Tumbleweed Virtual Music Festival, New England Folk Festival, the Mermaid’s Tavern and Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, as well as Linn’s Themed and Single-Shanty Big Sings; and in 2022 in person in Dublin at Drogheda, Malahide and An Góilín.
The Sillertides’ Youtube channel with many shared songs is here https://bit.ly/3hzmYNC, Youtube Catalogue below. The Sillertides CD “Silk and Leather” (Conversation Songs from the Folk Tradition) is on bandcamp here, sillertides.bandcamp.com. The Sillertides’ CD launch concert in October 2021, hosted by Lynn Noel of The Mermaid’s Tavern and Crosscurrents Music, Boston Massachusetts, is on Youtube at https://youtu.be/nwMIMDOWU_U. The Sillertides’ 4-track EP “The wind, the land, the sea and the traveller” is on Bandcamp as a free download at https://sillertides.bandcamp.com/dashboard
In 2022, the Sillertides collaborated on a special project with artist Lionel Coates. Lionel had a major exhibition at Clare Museum running spring 2022, and featuring paintings of Ireland with three distinct themes of Famine, Fields and Fishing. The Sillertides matched Lionel’s wonderful paintings with songs reflecting the theme and the scene portrayed. All twenty songs recorded for this project are on the Sillertides Youtube channel at https://bit.ly/3hzmYNC.
Sillertides Youtube catalogue:
A chuisle grá mo chroí: https://youtu.be/i0zH1LrayLI
Báidín Fheilimí: https://youtu.be/f2Wut9vilco
Banks of the Nile: https://youtu.be/5BZ7CsEw0sI
Band o’ Shearers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=394B_RUD1N8
Banks of the Nile: https://youtu.be/5BZ7CsEw0s
Blackbirds and Thrushes / Hares on the Mountain: https://youtu.be/dY1bYet8k0U
Braw Sailing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njlBC4s8Eho&t=7s
Bring me a Boat: https://youtu.be/Khl-INkfTUM
Down by the Salley Gardens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqMs0g61ZOg&t=1s
Fields of Athenry (Pete St John): https://youtu.be/OErR959RBQc
Galway Shawl: https://youtu.be/pYDkhl3-Wf4
Hind Horn / Young Hind Horn (dedicated to Dan Milner): https://youtu.be/vBMiTbKG2z4
Inisheer (Inis Oírr, by Ethna Carbery, English language version): https://youtu.be/NwnUpnAfsW0
John Dead – Grey Goose Gone Home (dedicated to Ronald Graham): https://youtu.be/hK8QpHgVW0M
Johnny ma Man (dedication to Lisa Null): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJFwSZiCmo&t=10s
Jutland (Les Sullivan): https://youtu.be/6u6Ct3gusLM
Lady Margaret and William: https://youtu.be/a0h-1zcAbgY (dedicated Casey Casebeer)
Le mariage secret: https://youtu.be/f4Ri4Q8DOCY with Benoit Lemiegre
Lovely Joan (dedicated to Bob Lewis) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDDUUIlfVhM
Lovely Molly: https://youtu.be/z9wczJd_ygs (dedicated to David Ingerson)
Lowlands away: https://youtu.be/6ysi_qC2m5U
Norland Wind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D31VHE0WlRw&t=6s
Over the hills and far away https://youtu.be/SD-pKTJCk5I (dedicated to Ruth & John Yule)
Pleasant and Delightful https://youtu.be/77yJCmyVy9o
Scarborough Fair (dedicated to Lynn Noel): https://youtu.be/zd5KwrgVMS8
Siúil a rún: https://youtu.be/CE9NlurGEWo
Southwind: https://youtu.be/W2_P3_lVgq8
Sovay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=364-0eyL1Dw&t=2s
Spancil Hill: https://youtu.be/2Ux38YDZvS8
The Barring of the Door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ipDiNDXNIo&t=4s
The Ballad of Sammy’s Bar, https://youtu.be/lFmQjPlou-8
The Bold Fisherman: https://youtu.be/-q9EWzWoD_Y
The Dark Eyed Sailor: https://youtu.be/1y5XogfOP-s (dedicated to Doug’s Dad)
The Fair Flower of Northumberland: https://youtu.be/3RdIV0uoOZI
The Fisherboy: https://youtu.be/In0ZpEYMzKU
The Frog’s wedding (dedicated to Annette O’Connell & Cathal McConnell) https://youtu.be/-HkmRIT7SvE
The Lass of Glenshee https://youtu.be/MCZiHVdV1jA
The May Morning Dew: https://youtu.be/UjypEShPDQc
The month of January: https://youtu.be/q1M8JAVO4bM
The Moorlough Shore (dedication Alice Farrell): https://youtu.be/V5Wj2qVK–Y
The Snow it melts the soonest https://youtu.be/uQJ1D0B6pzg
Three Fishers: https://youtu.be/XXGOr9Va-ug
Unquiet Grave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ruBgsisuSo
Verdant braes of Screen: https://youtu.be/y2FvOqz9YyQ
When my love and I parted: https://youtu.be/HkyEs7l6GJQ
William-O (dedicated to Bill Moore): https://youtu.be/Ib1aceL8cas