Emma’s Gutbucket jams on the bay with sea shanties, bluegrass

Every Friday afternoon a troupe of musicians gathers under the shade of a giant tree at De Anza Cove in Mission Bay Park, armed with a mix of violins, flutes, acoustic guitars, banjos, and mandolins, for an impromptu concert of old-time sea shanties and bluegrass.

The group, “Emma’s Gutbucket,” was named after the bucket used for making instruments from the guts of animals in the 17th century.

“This group has been around for 50 plus years,” said organizer Sylvia Castelluzzo. It was named after the founder, a woman named Emma.

“I started about 16 months ago. I just invited everybody to come play with me in the park and they all showed up. We started at the former visitors center and then moved over here (to De Anza Cove.) Every Friday we meet here and play old-time sailing shanties, Irish songs, and bluegrass music from noon to 2 p.m.

“This is my first time here,” said Quinn Herron. “I play fiddle and flute; I heard about this group and wanted to learn more, ‘old time’ music. I play a lot of Irish tunes. This is an amazing place to jam, on the sand under the shade of a huge tree, it doesn’t get much better than this.”

Under the shade of a giant tree at De Anza Cove, a group of musicians gathers weekly to jam bluegrass and sea shanties. PHOTO BY TERRY L. WILSON

“Bluegrass originated in the ’40s and ’50s,” Castelluzzo said. “‘old time’ precedes ‘bluegrass’ and has more fiddle music – ‘Turkey in the Straw,’ ‘Golden Slippers,’ songs like that.

“It’s interesting how one style of music will morph into another, a lot of the fiddle tunes started in England, Ireland, and Scotland when they migrated to America, and that includes songs sailors sang called sea shanties, like the ‘Wellerman,’ that recently started a cyber dance fad.”

“There once was a ship that put to sea

The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea

The winds blew up, her bow dipped down

Oh blow, my bully boys, blow (huh.)”

If the words sound familiar, it’s because that sea-fairing shanty has joined other great dance videos made famous on social media. Everyone from grandma to a duo of dancing poodles has put their own unique spin on the 17th-century toe-tapping melody.

“I was just walking by when I heard them playing that song from the internet; everybody is doing dance routines to it on TikTok,” said Glenn Moses.

“I had no idea that it was an old sailor’s song. My wife and I live in Reno, Nev. and we’re here for the weekend – we came across this group and got a free concert on the bay and a history lesson.”