All of Dick’s music is available to order on his Bandcamp

Three white men in striped shirts look off camera smiling.
Holdstock, Clegg, and Pratt

Holdstock, Clegg, and Pratt are a trio of experienced singers of shanties and sea songs. In July of 2025 they released West Coast Shanties and Sea Songs a collection of Songs from the golden days of sail off the west coast of the Americas. They continue to perform at the San Francisco Maritime Music Festivals.

Dick Holdstock has performed sea songs for more than forty years. Aaron Clegg has performed with the Celtic traditional band Charmas since 2014 and has built a following at his sea music sessions in the Santa Cruz area. Travis Pratt, part of the Bay Area’s folk-music-loving Pratt family, has sung sea songs and shanties all his life.

Black and white image of a band holding their instruments
Quite Carried Away

As a member of ‘Quite Carried Away’, Dick plays bouzouki and tenor banjo for the Sacramento English Country Dancers each month at locations within the Sacramento valley and at various Jane Austen celebrations. Quite Carried consists of David Wright, Susan Jones, Arlene Jamar, Sandra Westfall, Martin Lodahl, Jane Kostka, and Dick Holdstock.

A photo of Holdstock and MacLeod. Black and white image of two men looking at the camera, both with beards, one is wearing a hat.
Holdstock and MacLeod

Dick Holdstock and Allan MacLeod sang and played traditional songs from their English and Scottish roots. Widely known for their renditions of sea songs, they were equally at home on land and sea. Since meeting at the 1976 Santa Rosa Folk Festival, Holdstock and MacLeod performed authentic renditions of the songs of their homelands for decades. Whether performing shanties and other traditional music of the sea or nineteenth century ballads, Allan and Dick captivated audiences from coast to coast. Audiences always joined in by singing and laughing along to their outrageous songs and stories. In concert and on their albums, Dick and Allan traded off on mandolin and guitar accompaniments as well as frequently used a cappella arrangements. They mastered the art of traditional harmonies which often are described as descants. Their strong melodic tones resonated with all who had the pleasure of hearing them.  Allan stopped performing in 2015.

Black and white image of a white woman and man sitting down and looking at the camera and smiling. They are both holding musical instruments.
Dick and Carol Holdstock

Whether they are singing traditional ballads, songs of the sea, old time tavern songs, songs of the California gold rush, or contemporary songs of social significance, Carol Holdstock and Dick Holdstock are bound to please any audience that has the good fortune to see and hear them!  Dick and Carol have performed at festivals and folk music venues in England, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the east coast of the United States, Texas, and their home state of California. Their CD, “Shanties and Sea Songs From Way Out West,” with the backing of Nauticus, features an array of traditional songs from the west coast of North America and a smattering of contemporary songs in the tradition. They also have collaborated with the talented instrumentalist and singer Tom Murphey to produce an album called “San Francisco Sea Shanties and Sea Songs of California’s Gold Rush.”

Black and white image of 4 men on a ship looking at the camera. They are all holding musical instruments.
Nauticus

Nauticus perform authentic instrumental sea music, traditional ballads, and shanties. Nauticas is a four-person band of musicians, each outstanding in their own right, who together produce a delightful atmosphere. The group consists of Riggy Rackin, Shay Black, Dick Holdstock, and Peter Kasin.