Tune in for a virtual concert and lecture by Debra Cowan! This program offers an engaging and informative look at the often overlooked and varied roles and experiences of women and the sea through the lens of Maritime songs and ballads. The program will be live-streamed on the Center’s Facebook page.
Cross-dressing? Heroic young girls saving manly men on storm-tossed seas? Beautiful women luring unsuspecting sailors to their doom? Women working in seafood processing plants? All these subjects and more are the focus of Debra Cowan’s Women and the Sea: Exploring Women’s Roles in Maritime Song program.
There are an abundance of songs that describe the many different and diverse roles that women have played in Maritime songs and stories. Sirens and supernatural women, the women left behind and women disguised as men are among the themes explored in this program. Debra also discusses these roles and sings examples of contemporary and traditional sea-songs in which women are featured as the main characters. Debra emphasizes that women can overcome adversity and in some of these songs and stories, take charge and win the day.
“Stunning” is a word that is often used to describe Debra Cowan’s vocals. She performs unaccompanied and with guitar, interpreting a wide range of traditional and contemporary folk songs. Debra’s performances impress listeners with her clarity, warmth, agility, all the while encouraging the audience to join in on choruses and refrains. Her four recordings have been met with high praise world-wide and in June 2015, she was featured in the UK folk music magazine, Living Tradition.
This program is part of a series related to the Center’s project, Women’s Work: At Sea, On Shore, At Home, In the Community. Funding for this project is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Women’s Fisheries Network, the Mass Cultural Council, and the New Bedford, Dartmouth, Westport, and Mattapoisett Cultural Council.
