Gilbert & McHagar to appear at Candlelight Concert online

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A cowboy and an Englishman walk into an Irish pub.

No, it’s not a joke. It was the inspiration for the next performance in the Candlelight Concert series, which offers a night of “rollicking, roaring shanties and ballads o’ the sea.” 

Hosted by Trinity United Methodist Church, the online concert series will feature Port Townsend troubadours Gilbert & McHagar. From pubs to yacht clubs to festivals around the Sound, the duo have entertained audiences with their spirited shanties and “songs of the sea.”

The band is comprised of Chris Gilbert and Jay McHagar. 

Gilbert, a native Englishman, is no stranger to the various folk traditions of his home country and has participated in many a pub song circle. Now a resident of Port Townsend, he finds the environment “ideal for developing as a singer and a storyteller.”

McHagar grew up in Northern California where his days were filled with horseback riding and rodeos. Cowboy songs and the hum of a harmonica were his soundtrack. On his travels around the world, he became enamored with Irish pub singing. After settling in Port Townsend, he stumbled into a shanty circle and was soon taken by the art form, re-igniting his innate love of music.

The two met at the shanty circles and discovered their shared passion for preserving and sharing the songs that once echoed across waterfronts and shoreside shacks.

Viewers are invited to tune at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25 at trinityumcpt.org as they share their amusing stories and beautiful ballads. In the tradition of pub culture, audience members are encouraged to sing along (song sheets will be posted on the Candlelight Concert webpage).

Free-will donations will be accepted and half of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Jefferson County (namijeffcowa.org).

For more information on the duo, head to nwshanties.com.