Jerry Bryant is a singer, entertainer, and independent folk scholar focused on curating great songs from the past 500 years of American, Irish, and British traditions. His repertoire includes hundreds of traditional and contemporary folk songs, with a special emphasis on the musical artifacts of maritime culture. Accompanying himself on concertina, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and bones (not all at the same time), he presents old and new songs that open windows on the human experience. By researching the music he is able to add historical insights to his performances. This has also provided him with subjects for making new songs, in the spirit of the tradition.

Featured on a number of recordings, Jerry has released two CDs of his own: The Ballad of Harbo and Samuelsen, and Roast Beef of Old England. He created the concertina soundtrack for the first-edition audiobook of Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea, and sings and plays concertina on the soundtrack of the new historical film The Lightkeepers.

As a teacher Jerry appears regularly at folk music camps and festivals. Workshop topics he has presented range from Working With Guitar And Voice to African-American Sea Chanteys to How To Play The Bones to Tin Pan Alleys Songs For The Ukulele.