Great Lake Swimmers
Performing at the Burlington Sound of Music festival
Background information
Origin	Wainfleet Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Folk rock, Indie
Years active	2003 (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
Past members	Darcy Yates Julie Fader Colin Huebert Mike Overton Sandro Perri

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]

History [edit]

The band released two albums, Great Lake Swimmers in 2003 and Bodies and Minds in 2005, on the independent label (weewerk) before signing to the larger Nettwerk 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 (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 2011, Dekker participated in the documentary series National Parks Project, visiting Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia with filmmaker Keith Behrman and musicians Daniela Gesundheit and Old Man Luedecke.

The band's fifth studio album, New Wild Everywhere, was released on April 3, 2012.^[9] 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 region of Ontario, also released in April 2012.^[10]

Discography [edit]

Playing at the Tsunami Club in Köln.

Albums [edit]

• Great Lake Swimmers (weewerk, 2003)
• Bodies and Minds (weewerk, 2005)
• Ongiara (Nettwerk, 2007)
• Lost Channels (Nettwerk, 2009)
• New Wild Everywhere (Nettwerk, 2012)

EPs [edit]

• Hands in Dirty Ground (weewerk, 2006)
• Live at the Church of the Redeemer (Nettwerk, 2007)
• The Legion Sessions (Nettwerk, 2009)

Singles [edit]

Compilations [edit]

• See You on the Moon! (2005): "See You on the Moon!"
• The Sound the Hare Heard (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, Julie Fader and United Steel Workers of Montreal.)
• Friends in Bellwoods II (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 cover)

Soundtrack [edit]

• 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)

Other [edit]

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.^[12]

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 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 8, 2011 episode of Warehouse 13, entitled "3...2...1..."

Awards [edit]

Canadian Indie Awards [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Great Lake Swimmers official website
• Great Lake Swimmers on (weewerk) Records