Pete Morton | Talking Blues | Ghost of a Sailor Talking Blues

What's it all about?

The talking blues was a style made famous by Woody Guthrie and later by Bob Dylan on his early recordings. The show is a freewheeling unruly mix of comedy and storytelling, interspersed with popular singalong chorus from the last 400 years!

What's the format?

The show is flexible and available in various performance formats -from 15 mins slots to 90 mins concert.

Why the Ghost?

The ghost is a 17th century sailor who died in a shipwreck. He now spends eternity in a harbour pub influencing the patrons with silliness, satire and song.

The Ghost of a Sailor's talking blues is a new show of singing together, comedy and storytelling. The shipwrecked sailor from 1603 is now resident in a harbour tavern where he tells his tales in an unruly mix of stand up, tales and popular chorus. The show is primarily a community singalong that crosses the centuries with well known traditional ditties, music hall and modern day popular classics, with songs for all generations.

The sailors ghost winds his way back and forth through time, interacting with the audience, observing the world and history, whispering to famous characters, dancing with revellers and falling in love. The show is wrapped in the style of the talking blues -a simple guitar and spoken word technique invented by Woody Guthrie, and later made famous by Bob Dylan in his early recordings).

“...not only original, but a revelation.”

The Guardian

“Pete is everything we want our singer-songwriters to be. Fiercely creative, proudly independent, skilful, talented, and terminally unpredictable"

MOJO Magazine.

"A writer who manages to express everything, from the highly personal to the truely international"

R2 magazine

"As a chronicler of the human condition and wry observer of history and the march of progress, Morton is up there with fellow Englishmen Richard Thompson and Chris Wood"

Glasgow Herald

"An independent spirit, an old school troubadour...he continues his merry niche"

Froots Magazine