The success of Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends is one of the most unlikely musical stories of the last couple of years. They’re a group of genuine Cornish blokes, who met up on a Friday night down at the quayside in the small fishing village of Port Isaac, to sing a few sea shanties and traditional songs, then sink a few beers together. Over the years, this group of men who had known each other most of their lives – trawlermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards among them – noticed that the audiences who were turning out to see them were steadily growing, drawn by their lusty harmonious singing style, and their between-song banter.
“We have a very full sound,” says their bass singer and humour-monger in chief Jon Cleave. “You’ve got the different grades of baritone in the middle, which all blend, and then there are the tenor harmonies at the top and I do the bass underneath – so it makes a fat sound, a full sound, a solid wall of sound. Like Phil Spector.” After releasing a couple of self-financed albums, they were eventually signed up by a major label in early 2010. Their self-titled album sold millions, went gold, and led to memorable appearances at Glastonbury, as well as the last two Cambridge Folk Festivals. They’re back in the city this month for what should be a rousing and entertaining night of traditional music with a difference.

Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends, Tuesday 21 February, 19:30. Cost: £19.50. T: 01223 357851 www.cornex.co.uk