The Pilots of Tiger Bay came together in 1990 as a result of the perceived need for serious fun in folk music, taking their name from the dockside women of British Isles port cities who would "steer" the mariners of the world through the straits and narrows of the rowdy sailor towns. The women's folk duo leads their audience back to those lively days with rollicking songs, comic ditties, music hall melodies and sweet ballads, reflecting a woman's perspective on the absurdities of life. Its members combine their broad and varied musical experiences to produce a lively performance.

Andrea Aldridge favours 19th-century traditional music of the British Isles, including the maritime heritage of sea chanteys and work songs. She has recorded as a member of St. Elmo's Choir and has performed with What's All This Then? and other Seattle groups over the last twenty-odd years, including the women's chantey group Broadside (ex Grace's Darlings, ex St. Elmo's Choir) and Hellfire!. She frequently serves as chanteyman aboard the Washington State Tall Ship Lady Washington, and has appeared on local commercial and public radio, as well as National Public Radio.

Kathi McKenzie has an extensive background in medieval and folk music: from 1978 to 1985 she was a (founding) member of Bawderie and Blisse, and subsequently performed as part of the popular trio Coracle. She has entertained audiences up and down the West Coast, and has lent her voice to several albums produced in both California and the Pacific Northwest. She currently performs as part of the Celtic rock band Omadhaun. The two women, recognized as well for their songwriting talents, bring from their respective traditions the humorous, the bright, the witty, and the stories with a twist to their tails.

The Pilots of Tiger Bay have performed from Bellingham to Roseburg and points in between, with a de rigueur stop at the Northwest Folklife Festival every year, where they have played to overflow houses since their inception. Their album By the Tale received highly favourable reviews in the Victory Music Review and airplay on many radio stations in the Northwest and beyond. Their Victorianesque ballads, comic songs, sea chanteys, and other musical samplings of the joys of life ensure that their time on stage is a riotous one for all.