Connecticut based folk musician Don Sineti passed away last Thursday night. For anyone who is a fan of sea music and sea chanties, this is a very noteworthy death. Sineti played the banjo and had a loud booming voice that was absolutely perfect for sea chanties, which was certainly his specialty. After serving in the Vietnam War, Don Sineti became a Connecticut based folk musician in the 1970’s. Sineti was a founding member of the Connecticut based folk group The Morgans at that time, and also performed with others and as a solo act. He was also a regular at the Sea Music Festival, which was held for many years at Mystic Seaport, and last year in Essex, CT. For many years Don Sineti was employed as a Chanty Man at Mystic Seaport, where he would sing chanties and perform music of the sea. Don was also instrumental in the drive to have the Sperm Whale named as the Connecticut State Animal.
My then future wife and I first came across The Morgans when we were students at UConn in the early 1980’s. At the time The Morgans were regular performers at UConn, it seemed they played in the Student Union Ballroom at least once a semester at the time. After my future wife and I graduated UConn, we moved to Norwich, and found that The Morgans often performed summer concerts on town greens and at other venues, including various folk venues such as The Sounding Board in the Hartford area. In the late 1980’s we saw The Morgans a lot, and got on a first name basis with Don Sineti and other members of The Morgans including Tom Callinan (by the way, Callinan in 1991 was named the first Connecticut State Troubadour by the Connecticut General Assembly, a new State Troubadour is still named every year to this day). Anyway, it was through Don Sineti that my wife and I found out about the Sea Music Festival, which we went to for the first time in 1991. We have been to every Sea Music Festival that has been held since 1996. At any rate, we became huge fans of both Don and The Morgans, along with many others.
Here is a link to a brief Don Sineti biography on Tom Callinan’s music website. The website has not been updated to include Don’s passing, my wife recently talked to Tom Callinan (he lives about 5 minutes away from us in Norwich), and she found that Tom is pretty much in a state of shock from of the death of his long time friend who for many years worked together performing in The Morgans.
Crackerbarrel Entertainments
There is also a link to The Morgans on that website as well:
Untitled Document
There is also a brief biography of Don Sineti on the GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical/death expenses:
Fundraiser by Raj Dansinghani : Donald Sineti Fundraiser (gofundme.com)
If you do an internet search, you can find a number of video recordings of Don Sineti and/or The Morgans. Here is a link to one of his signature songs that he would sing near conclusion of each Mystic Seaport/Connecticut Sea Music Festival:
My then future wife and I first came across The Morgans when we were students at UConn in the early 1980’s. At the time The Morgans were regular performers at UConn, it seemed they played in the Student Union Ballroom at least once a semester at the time. After my future wife and I graduated UConn, we moved to Norwich, and found that The Morgans often performed summer concerts on town greens and at other venues, including various folk venues such as The Sounding Board in the Hartford area. In the late 1980’s we saw The Morgans a lot, and got on a first name basis with Don Sineti and other members of The Morgans including Tom Callinan (by the way, Callinan in 1991 was named the first Connecticut State Troubadour by the Connecticut General Assembly, a new State Troubadour is still named every year to this day). Anyway, it was through Don Sineti that my wife and I found out about the Sea Music Festival, which we went to for the first time in 1991. We have been to every Sea Music Festival that has been held since 1996. At any rate, we became huge fans of both Don and The Morgans, along with many others.
Here is a link to a brief Don Sineti biography on Tom Callinan’s music website. The website has not been updated to include Don’s passing, my wife recently talked to Tom Callinan (he lives about 5 minutes away from us in Norwich), and she found that Tom is pretty much in a state of shock from of the death of his long time friend who for many years worked together performing in The Morgans.
Crackerbarrel Entertainments
There is also a link to The Morgans on that website as well:
Untitled Document
There is also a brief biography of Don Sineti on the GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical/death expenses:
Fundraiser by Raj Dansinghani : Donald Sineti Fundraiser (gofundme.com)
If you do an internet search, you can find a number of video recordings of Don Sineti and/or The Morgans. Here is a link to one of his signature songs that he would sing near conclusion of each Mystic Seaport/Connecticut Sea Music Festival:
