Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. The current touring line-up includes

Tony Dekker Tony Dekker is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Most noted as leader of the indie folk band Great Lake Swimmers, he has also released two solo albums. Early life and education Born and raised in Wainfleet, Ontario,"Tony Dekker's rural roots" ...

on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arnesen on banjo, electric guitar and harmonium, Joshua Van Tassel on drums, Bret Higgins on

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

and

Miranda Mulholland Miranda Mulholland is a Canadian fiddle player and singer. Biography Mulholland is a member of Great Lake Swimmers, Belle Starr, and The Rattlesnake Choir as well as the founder and lead singer for the Roaring Girl Cabaret. She makes select ap ...

on violin and backing vocals. Past members included

Julie Fader Julie Fader is a Canadian musician, songwriter and visual artist, best known as a keyboard player and backing vocalist for Sarah Harmer, Chad VanGaalen and Great Lake Swimmers. In September 2009, she released ''Outside In'', her debut album as a ...

on backing vocals, Sandro Perri on guitar, and Greg Millson and Colin Huebert on drums. The band's style has been compared to Red House Painters,

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

Iron & Wine Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a l ...

and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

, as well as Will Oldham (

Bonnie "Prince" Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

) and

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nom ...

. Dekker has cited influences including

Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...

and

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

History

The band released two albums, '' Great Lake Swimmers'' in 2003 and '' Bodies and Minds'' in 2005, on the independent label (

weewerk Weewerk, stylized as (weewerk), is an independent folk, roots, bluegrass, country record label and artist-management company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2002 as an art-and-music salon series in the apartment of Teenage U ...

) before signing to the larger

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

in 2007. The band released its third full-length album, '' Ongiara'', on March 27, 2007 in Canada and in May for the rest of the world. Although signing to Nettwerk early in 2007, Great Lake Swimmers continue to be managed by (

). In September 2007, (weewerk) released a limited edition vinyl version of ''Ongiara''. It was available in Australia through native indie label

Speak N Spell Speak n Spell Music (or Speak n Spell Music Publishing Pty Ltd) was an Australia and New Zealand based Record Label, Artist Management, International Touring Company and music licensing company. The record label was based in Collingwood, it was f ...

. Their fourth album, '' Lost Channels'', was released on March 31, 2009. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, and was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

, in the category of Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group, and a

Canadian Folk Music Award The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards prog ...

. In 2009 Great Lake Swimmers took part in an interactive documentary series called ''

City Sonic ''City Sonic'' is a documentary series about Toronto-based musicians and the places that influenced their music.http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2009/8/Watch-This-City-Sonic-Film-Series The first five ''City Sonic'' films were previewed at Toronto's 2 ...

''. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had Tony Dekker talk about his daily underground commute along Toronto’s subway system. In 2011, Dekker participated in the documentary series ''

National Parks Project The National Parks Project is a Canadian music and film project. Released in 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Parks of Canada system,Cape Breton Highlands National Park Cape Breton Highlands National Park is a Canadian national park on northern Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. The park was the first national park in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and covers an area of . It is one of 42 in Canada's syste ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

with filmmaker Keith Behrman and musicians

Daniela Gesundheit Daniela Gesundheit (born 15 April 1982) is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, lyricist, and Cantor living between Los Angeles, California and Toronto, Ontario. Daniela Gesundheit holds a BA in music from Wesleyan University, where she focus ...

and Old Man Luedecke. The band's fifth studio album, ''

New Wild Everywhere ''New Wild Everywhere'' is the fifth studio album by Canadians, Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers, released April 3, 2012 on Nettwerk.Great Lake Swimmers: "Easy Come Easy Go"
. ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', January 9, 2012. The band also composed an instrumental soundtrack for photographer Ian Coristine's ''One in a Thousand'', an e-book of photography from the

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

region of Ontario, also released in April 2012. Dekker released a solo album, ''Prayer of the Woods'', in October 2013."Great Lake Swimmers Frontman Tony Dekker Goes Solo for 'Prayer of the Woods'"
''

'', August 13, 2013. The album includes eight original songs as well as covers of

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1 ...

's " Carefree Highway" and Human Sexual Response's "Land of the Glass Pinecones". In 2014 he followed up with ''Sings 10 Years of Zunior'', an album of covers of other Canadian artists — including Old Man Luedecke, Chad VanGaalen,

Christine Fellows Christine Fellows (born 1968) is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba. History Born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in France and Kelowna, British Columbia, Fellows lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Guelph and Montreal before ...

, Ohbijou, Rae Spoon, Matt Mays, Martin Tielli,

Jennifer Castle Jennifer Castle is a Canadian singer-songwriter, based in Toronto, Ontario. Born in Toronto, she was raised in Mississauga and Orangeville,

and

Cadence Weapon Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, ''Breaking Kayfabe'', in 2005 with posi ...

— released to mark the 10th anniversary of Canadian web music store

Zunior Zunior.com is a Canadian online independent record label and music store founded in 2004 by Dave Ullrich, formerly of The Inbreds.A Forest of Arms ''A Forest of Arms'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers, released April 21, 2015 on Nettwerk.Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

-themed EP ''They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore''. In February 2018, the band released the single "Falling Apart"/"The Talking Wind", as an advance preview of the forthcoming album ''The Waves, the Wake''.

Discography

Great Lake Swimmers at the Peterborough Folk Festival 2014 04

Albums

* '' Great Lake Swimmers'' (weewerk, 2003) * '' Bodies and Minds'' (weewerk, Misra 2005) * '' Ongiara'' (Nettwerk, 2007) * '' Lost Channels'' (Nettwerk, 2009) * ''

New Wild Everywhere ''New Wild Everywhere'' is the fifth studio album by Canadians, Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers, released April 3, 2012 on Nettwerk.A Forest of Arms ''A Forest of Arms'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers, released April 21, 2015 on Nettwerk.The Waves, the Wake ''The Waves, the Wake'' is the seventh studio album by Canadian indie folk band Great Lake Swimmers, released August 17, 2018 on Nettwerk.The Waves, the Wake (Acoustic)'' (Nettwerk, 2019) * ''When Last We Shook Hands: Cover Songs, Vol. 1'' (2020)

EPs

* ''Hands in Dirty Ground'' (weewerk, 2006) * ''Swimming Away'' (2016) * ''They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore'' (2017) * ''Side Effects'' (2018)

Live albums

* ''Live at the Church of the Redeemer'' (Nettwerk, 2007) * '' The Legion Sessions'' (Nettwerk, 2009) * ''Live in Ottawa at the 27 Club, October 3, 2019'' (2020) * ''Live at the Redeemer 2007'' (Weewerk, 2021)

Singles

Compilations

* ''

See You on the Moon! ''See You on the Moon!: Songs for Kids of All Ages'' is a compilation album, released in 2006 on Paper Bag Records. The album features a number of indie rock artists, mostly but not exclusively from Canada, performing songs written in the style ...

'' (2005): "See You on the Moon!" * ''

The Sound the Hare Heard ''The Sound the Hare Heard'' is a 2006 compilation of mostly acoustic arrangements by a number of singer-songwriters, both well-known and relatively obscure. Kill Rock Stars founder Slim Moon was the driving force behind the album, but not all o ...

'' (2006): "Where in the World Are You" * '' Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute to Neil Young'' (2007): "Don't Cry No Tears" * ''Peace on Earth'' (2007): "Gonna Make It Thru This Year" * '' Northern Songs: Canada's Best and Brightest'' (2008): "Your Rocky Spine" * ''(weewerk) is 6!'' (2008): "Song for the Angels (Miracle Version)", "Gonna Make It Thru This Year". (Dekker also appears as a guest musician on tracks by Audiotransparent,

and United Steel Workers of Montreal.) * ''

Friends in Bellwoods II ''Friends in Bellwoods'' is a compilation album, released in 2009 by Out of This Spark as a benefit for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. The album is a sequel to the 2007 compilation '' Friends in Bellwoods''. Where the original album was, in pa ...

'' (2009): "Send Me a Letter" * ''Introducing Townes Van Zandt via the Great Unknown'' (2009): "Our Mother the Mountain" * ''A Country Blues Christmas: The 2010 Zunior Holiday Album'' (2010): "When the Snow Starts to Fall" * ''Paint it Black: An Alt-Country Tribute to the Rolling Stones'' (2011): " Before They Make Me Run" * '' Have Not Been the Same - Vol. 1: Too Cool to Live, Too Smart to Die'' (2011): "What Was Going Through My Head" (

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

cover) * ''My Name Is Mathias'' (2014): "The Things That People Make (Part 3)"

Soundtrack

* ''This is not like home'' (Silver Road, 2007) * ''Your Rocky Spine'' (Weeds, 3x06 Grasshopper, 2007) * ''Passenger Song'' (Numb3rs, 5x08 Thirty-Six Hours, 2008) * ''Song Sung Blue'' (original film score, weewerk, 2008) * ''There Is a Light'' (The Light of Family Burnam, 2008) * ''I Could Be Nothing'' (Personal Effects), 2010) * ''Leave It Behind'' (Personal Effects), 2010) * ''Imaginary Bars'' (Out of Place: a Portrait of Surfing in Cleveland, Ohio, 2010)

Other

In 2006, the band released a "digital box set" on

Zunior Zunior.com is a Canadian online independent record label and music store founded in 2004 by Dave Ullrich, formerly of The Inbreds.USB flash drive Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply ( interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A bro ...

. In 2008, Dekker appeared on Jenny Omnichord's album ''Charlotte or Otis: Duets for Children, Their Parents and Other People Too'', performing a duet vocal on the song "Do You Know Karate". In 2009 the band released a limited double 7" vinyl split single with the Dutch band Audiotransparent. This release includes a cover of the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

classic "Don't Be Cruel" and the original song "Send Me a Letter". Dekker and Arnesen also appear on the Audiotransparent song "You Are a Movie". In 2010, the band contributed four tracks to the online music community Swim Drink Fish Music, including live versions of their songs "Your Rocky Spine", "I Could Be Nothing" and "Everything Is Moving So Fast" and a previously unreleased track, "Ballad of a Fisherman's Wife". The songs “I Became Awake” and “Various Stages” are heard in the 2010 independent Canadian horror film ''

The Corridor Corridor or The Corridor may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Corridor'' (1968 film), a 1968 Swedish drama film * ''The Corridor'' (1995 film), a 1995 Lithuanian drama film * ''The Corridor'' (2010 film), a 2010 Canadia ...

''. The song "Moving Pictures Silent Films" was featured in the August 8, 2011 episode of ''

Warehouse 13 ''Warehouse 13'' is an American science fiction television series that originally ran from July 7, 2009, to May 19, 2014, on the Syfy network, and was executive produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins for Universal Cable Productions. Describ ...

'', entitled "3...2...1..." In 2012 the band contributed the Christmas song "Hang a String of Lights" to ''Paste'' magazine's annual online Holiday Sampler music collection.

Awards

Canadian Indie Awards

, - , 2010 , , Great Lake Swimmers , , Favourite Folk/Roots Artist/Group , ,

References

External links

Great Lake Swimmers
official website
Great Lake Swimmers on (weewerk) Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Lake Swimmers Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from the Regional Municipality of Niagara Musical groups from Toronto Canadian folk rock groups 2003 establishments in Ontario Canadian indie folk groups Nettwerk Music Group artists Misra Records artists