Reviewed in KBOO (Portland, Oregon) Listeners Guide April 1997

Shanghaied on the Willamette

Bunco Kelly was a crafty card player who worked his way up and down the West coast. For some easy money, he would accede to shanghai a few drunken sailors and use the money for his card games. Word was out about the noxious "Bunco Kelly knock-out-drops." The drugs would mesh easily into a glass of wine or cheap beer. When the drunken men awoke from their stupor, they would already be out to sea. Slave labor was their only guarantee to touching shore ever again. Bunco Kelly became noted for the time he broke into an undertakers building and located eight bodies already embalmed. He wrapped up these eight "dead drunks," and sold them to a ship captain. He also got extra money for bringing so many liable workers!

Stories such as Bunco Kelly's inspired Jonathan Lay and Gordy Euler to perform various ballads and legends, specializing in traditional sea chanteys. Shanghaied on the Willamette is a well-balanced acoustic duo blending fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandola, bodhran (Irish drum), tin whistles, and harmonicas.

Gordy Euler is a gifted vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist who flavors their music with the waves and struggles of the sea life they portray. Jonathan Lay supplies his deep and poignant voice which carries into his percussion and guitar.

Shanghaied on the Willamette made its first appearance in 1992 at the Work Songs of the Sea Festival in Portland. Since then, they have performed in such events as the Northwest Folklife Festival, Oregon State Fair, Saltwater Maritime Music & Arts Festival, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and many local farmers markets. They will be at the eleventh annual concert "Work Songs of the Sea" on the 26th on the steamer, The Portland .

Shanghaied on the Willamette is now releasing their new CD, "Weighing Anchor." The album has 15 tracks, including traditional songs like "Finnegan's Wake," "Star of Oregon," and "Rollin' Down the River." Shanghaied on the Willamette has also added prominent ballads, such as "Harbo & Samuelson" and "Old Zeb." Several talented musicians helped lay the background for Shanghaied on the Willamette's CD; Dee Ann Davidshofer on acoustic bass, Fred Nussbaum on cello and Mark Bautista on mandolin, to name a few.