The Hogeye Men: Around the World and Back Again

First published in the June-July 2022 edition of Folk London Magazine

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Garry and Mike of the HogEye Men at the

weekly Zoom singaround hosted by the London Sea Shanty Collective over the course

of the past two years, and it has been a delight to hear them sing each week. The

HogEye Men has quickly become one of my favorite shanty groups in that time, and this

album does not disappoint.

The ambitious fifteen-song tracklist includes a great selection of traditional favorites

interspersed with Cicely Fox Smith poems and a couple of new Garry Walker originals,

all excellent choices and well-ordered. The arrangements are pleasant and the

harmonies tight - all in all, a gem of an album that any shanty enthusiast would be wise

to add to their collections.

Of particular note: Matthew Fielding opens the album with a rousing “Johnny Come

Down to Hilo”; Steve Jackson presents an exceptional “Golden Vanity” (based on an

arrangement by folk singer Sam Kelly); “Merchantmen” and “Mobile Bay,” two Cicely

Fox Smith Poems arranged by Tyneside group “The Keelers,” are warmly and

thoughtfully sung by Phil Weight; and Mike Green’s “Hog Eye Man” is exactly what I

was hoping it would be - a saucy and energetic take on the group’s namesake.

My personal favorite is “Don’t Let This Sailor Die,” an original by Garry Walker which

serves as the album’s closer. Garry sang this one at singaround a few months back,

and I was immediately taken with it (and later quite touched to see the dedication in the

liner notes). The story is of an old sailor perhaps past his prime, struggling to find work

aboard a vessel - as the notes say, age brings us all ashore eventually.

Around the World and Back Again is the third album of London-based shanty group the

HogEye Men and it is their finest yet. You can download a copy of your own on

again

SOPHIE SCHLEICHER