| Great Lake Swimmers | |
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Performing at the Burlington Sound of Music festival |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Wainfleet/Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Folk rock, Indie |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | (weewerk), Nettwerk |
| Associated acts | Siskiyou, Barzin, Audiotransparent, Julie Fader, The Roaring Girl Cabaret |
| Website | greatlakeswimmers.com |
| Members | |
| Tony Dekker Erik Arnesen Greg Millson Miranda Mulholland Bret Higgins |
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| Past members | |
| Darcy Yates Julie Fader Colin Huebert Mike Overton Sandro Perri |
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Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian band built around the melodic folk rock songs of singer-songwriter Tony Dekker. Originally from Wainfleet, Ontario,[1] the band is currently based in Toronto.
The current touring line-up includes Tony Dekker on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arnesen on banjo, electric guitar and harmonium, Greg Millson on drums, Bret Higgins on upright bass and Miranda Mulholland on violin and backing vocals. Past members included Julie Fader, now a solo singer-songwriter, on backing vocals, Sandro Perri on guitar, and Colin Huebert, now associated with the band Siskiyou, on drums.
The band's style has been compared to Red House Painters, Nick Drake, Iron & Wine and Neil Young,[2] as well as Will Oldham[3] (Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Sufjan Stevens.[4] Dekker has said his influences include Gram Parsons and Hank Williams.[5]
| “ | Music is interesting because it brings people together, and the more that I do this the more I realize the importance to that. | ” |
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—Tony Dekker, Great Lake Swimmers[6] |
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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 (weewerk). In September 2007, (weewerk) released a limited edition vinyl version of Ongiara. It was available in Australia through native indie label Speak N Spell.
Their fourth album, Lost Channels, was released on March 31, 2009. It was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize,[7] and was nominated for a Juno Award, in the category of Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group, and a Canadian Folk Music Award.
In 2009 Great Lake Swimmers took part in an interactive documentary series called City Sonic. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had Tony Dekker talk about his daily underground commute along Toronto’s subway system.[8]
In June 2011, the band announced that recording had begun on their fifth studio album, scheduled for release in 2012. A title and release date have not yet been announced.
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In 2006, the band released a "digital box set" on Zunior, consisting of their first two albums, the limited edition Hands in Dirty Ground EP, several digital tour photos and the video for their song "To Leave it Behind" on a 512 MB USB flash drive.[9]
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 splitsingle with the Dutch band Audiotransparent. This release includes a cover of the Elvis Presley 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 song "Moving Pictures Silent Films" was featured in the August 15, 2011 episode of Warehouse 13, entitled "Don't Hate the Player."
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Great Lake Swimmers | Favourite Folk/Roots Artist/Group[10] | Won |
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