Shanties & Sails: June 1 – Rick Spencer and Dawn Indermuehle

ONRUST
Onrust is a re-creation of the vessel Adriaen Block built in 1614.  She is available for public cruises as well as private charters.  Built over several years in upstate New York using traditional plans and means, the Onrust is a wholly unique ship that serves to educate and entertain visitors curious about the age of exploration, the fur trade, and our early colonial history.

Rick Spencer and Dawn Indermuehle
Rick Spencer and Dawn Indermuehle develop and present a series of theme-based music and history programs. They present songs that give cultural insight into interesting times, places and events in American history.  Rick and Dawn carefully craft their vocals and accompaniment to sound as true to a song’s era or style as possible.  Their vast repertoire includes music from the Colonial era to the present day.  Rick and Dawn use these songs to illustrate the evolution of our nation’s culture and history in an informative and entertaining way.

Rick’s resume includes 20 years as a staff musician, researcher and program developer at Mystic Seaport Museum.  He toured widely in America and Europe as a member of the sea chantey quartet “Forebitter.”  Rick worked at two historic house museums in eastern Connecticut. He was site administrator of the Hempsted Houses in New London, as well as curator and director of the Dr. Ashbel Woodward Museum in Franklin. He served on the board of directors of the New London County Historical Society.

Dawn is responsible for researching and developing program material and creating period-appropriate vocal accompaniment on a wide range of historical songs from throughout American History.  In addition to her duet work with Rick, she also performs as a member of the ensembles LongSplice and Locomotive Shipwreck.  She has worked as business manager for several performing artists.  Dawn is a proud host Mom for four wonderful high school students from China and is an Airbnb “Superhost”.