myspace music my music | music videos | featured playlists | top artists | shows | classifieds | forums 

Great Lake Swimmers
Ambient / Folk

new album 'lost channels' out now



Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Profile Views:  816897




Last Login:  7/14/2009
View My: Pics | Videos | Playlists

   Contacting Great Lake Swimmers

 MySpace URL: 

   Great Lake Swimmers: General Info
Member Since3/20/2006
Band Websitegreatlakeswimmers.com
Band MembersTouring band members: Tony Dekker, Erik Arnesen, Julie Fader, Bret Higgins, Greg Millson.
Influences





Sounds Like
Join The Great Lake Swimmers Email Newsletter
I am 13 years old or older.
Name:
Email:
Age:





LOST CHANNELS
IN STORES NOW
ORDER NOW AT:
iTunes l Amazon l Amazon MP3 l Amazon Vinyl



LIVE SESSION EP
IN STORES NOW
ORDER NOW AT:
iTunes



ONGIARA
IN STORES NOW
ORDER NOW AT:
iTunes l Amazon



SONG SUNG BLUE EP
IN STORES NOW
ORDER NOW AT:
Zunior



BODIES AND MINDS
IN STORES NOW
ORDER NOW AT:
iTunes l Amazon



GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS
IN STORES NOW
ORDER NOW AT:
iTunes l Amazon


Verizon Wireless Ringtones

Pulling On A Line l Still l I Am Part Of A Large Family
Record LabelNettwerk & (weewerk)
Type of LabelIndie


Get Flash now!

In order to listen or view this content you will have to upgrade your version of Flash.



   Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Jul 18 2009 8:00P
Vancouver Folk Festival Vancouver, British Columbia
Jul 19 2009 8:00P
Vancouver Folk Festival Vancouver, British Columbia
Jul 25 2009 8:00P
Hillside Folk Festival Guelph, Ontario
Jul 26 2009 8:00P
Hillside Folk Festival Guelph, Ontario
Aug 8 2009 8:00P
Edmonton Folk Festival Edmonton, Alberta
Aug 9 2009 8:00P
Edmonton Folk Festival Edmonton, Alberta
Aug 23 2009 8:00P
3rd & Lindsley Nashville, Tennessee
Aug 26 2009 6:00P
WFPK Waterfront Wednesday At Harbor Lawn Louisville, Kentucky
Aug 28 2009 7:00P
WYEP Final Friday At Schenley Plaza Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Aug 29 2009 8:00P
The Ark Ann Arbor, Michigan
Sep 4 2009 8:00P
Shelter Valley Folk Festival Grafton, Ontario

Great Lake Swimmers's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

Great Lake Swimmers Make Polaris Music Prize Short List  (view more)

The Legion Sessions - Stealing Tomorrow  (view more)

Dekker Webisode With NBC's Brian Williams  (view more)

Coming Soon...  (view more)

Lost Channels Nominated For 2009 Polaris Award  (view more)

[View All Blog Entries]

   About Great Lake Swimmers







Great Lake Swimmers Present The Legion Sessions

Download Legion Sessions Videos On iTunes



Download "Pulling On A Line" Music Video On iTunes
For tons of new videos, b-roll, live, behind the scenes, and more, check out the Great Lake Swimmers YouTube Channel





Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels

When Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker wrote the song “Everything is Moving So Fast,” he couldn’t have predicted that it would foreshadow the rapid success of the Toronto band’s fourth album, LOST CHANNELS. For a project that has seen a slow upward trajectory since its humble beginnings in 2001, the Great Lake Swimmers are suddenly getting exponentially more attention across North America and Europe, entrancing newcomers to the band with Dekker’s unforgettable voice and compelling songwriting.

That LOST CHANNELS was a success in Canada is no surprise: Great Lake Swimmers have long been a word-of-mouth favourite for whom critical mass was inevitable, and they are regarded as a national treasure by the country’s public broadcaster, the CBC; LOST CHANNELS recently topped the chart on CBC Radio 3 (which is also broadcast in the U.S. on Sirius Satellite Radio). It also sat at 1 on iTunes’ Singer/Songwriter chart.

But it’s not just the home team cheering on the Swimmers. LOST CHANNELS attained the 2 Most-Added position at the influential radio trade magazine Friday Morning Quarterback. It debuted at 10 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart in its first week, re-entering the Top 10 in May, and was 1 on the Amazon MP3 downloads chart. Meanwhile, an older non-album track, “See You On the Moon,” can be heard on prime time television in a Honda ad. And individual bloggers have been massive champions: Great Lake Swimmers reached “Most Blogged Artist” status on premier MP3 site Hype Machine.

No doubt much of this has been fuelled in part by public endorsements by the likes of Feist, Robert Plant, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and cyclist Lance Armstrong. The latter two have both raved about the band on their personal websites; the former have handpicked the Great Lake Swimmers to open shows and whole tours. They’ve also shared bills with Bela Fleck & The Sparrow Quartet, Hayden, Goldfrapp, and Bill Callahan of Smog.

This sudden exposure is new for a band that has always dwelled in shadows, telling tales of hidden histories, singing of "mining for light in the dark wells," of being "tuned to an instrument of greater and unknown design."

The instrument in question is the singular voice of Tony Dekker, a voice that summons ghosts from times past. It’s a voice that is capable of conveying heartache and comfort all in the space of a single phrase. Though his supporting cast has changed over the years—with the exception of longtime right-hand man Erik Arnesen — Dekker has always encircled him self with sympathetic players who value spacious arrangements that frame his vocals. Over time, the band has evolved from a sparse, delicate and hushed unit into a well-rounded folk rock band, sacrificing none of their original intimacy while upping both the volume and tempos when necessary.

Dekker chooses to record in old churches, community halls, abandoned grain silos and rural locations. It's easy to hear why. His voice doesn't need any studio embellishment, standing at its strongest when bathed in natural reverb and enriched by the historical context surrounding it.

To record LOST CHANNELS, Dekker and company went upstream on the St. Lawrence River to the Thousand Islands, halfway between Toronto and Montreal, a historic and picturesque area that straddles the Canadian/American border, and has been designated a World Biosphere Region. Great Lake Swimmers arrived at the invitation of fan and Thousand Islands photographer/regional historian Ian Coristine (www.1000islandsphotoart.com).

Coristine was able to arrange for the band to record in a number of acoustically unique spaces within the region, including one of the area's most storied landmarks, Singer Castle on Dark Island, near Hammond, NY (www.singercastle.com); as well as the historical Brockville Arts Centre (www.brockvilleartscentre.com); and at St. Brendan’s Church in Rockport, ON.

River imagery recurs throughout LOST CHANNELS; the title of the album is a reference to a certain passage of the St. Lawrence, close to the recording locale, where a reconnaissance boat from a British warship went mysteriously missing in 1760. There’s no specific reference to the incident in the lyrics, though there are plenty of night skies, howling winds and raging rivers in almost every song which captures an elusive sense of mystery. As the album closes, Dekker sings the final lyrics—“Like the unstoppable river… Your beauty is gentle/ but forceful, and fast”—before the band ends on a suspended note. There is no resolution there, only eternity, a continuum, an endless river.

LOST CHANNELS also features the talents of Julie Fader (flute/backing vocals), Greg Millson (drums), Darcy Yates (bass), with appearances by Erin Aurich on violin; Mike Olsen on cello; and Paul Aucoin on vibraphone; along with special guests / Swimmers collaborators Serena Ryder with vocals on “Everything Is Moving So Fast” and Bob Egan on pedal steel.





   Great Lake Swimmers's Friend Space (Top 20)
Great Lake Swimmers has 15827 friends.
 (weewerk) recordings 


 BARZIN 


 Andy Magoffin 


 Phil Klygo 


 Julie Fader 


 Darcy Yates 


 Bret Higgins 


 Greg Millson 


 Sharon Van Etten 


 TIMBER TIMBRE 


 audiotransparent 


 Scott Cudmore Film 


 Serena Ryder 


 Basia Bulat 


 Picastro 


 Kate Maki 


 Bahamas 


 We vs. Death (new album out april 11!) 


 Song Sung Blue 


 Lake Ontario Waterkeeper 





Great Lake Swimmers's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 1567 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
The Wind Up Radio Sessions





Jul 14 2009 1:08 AM

Im really looking forward to your show tomorrow in Ottawa! Best of luck:)
astrid & what else ?:)





Jul 14 2009 1:07 AM

Hello guys,
Please come to France ...
We love your music , we love you!
AtomicBetty:)





Jul 14 2009 1:07 AM

Thank you vetrenariannn:))


I love your songs!

Woohoo!

Come to Dallas TX!!!
everything's bigger!
:DDD
FRED





Jul 9 2009 12:52 AM

Class tunes lads.Can't wait for Guelph...it's gonna be something else.Pop along to our show if ye get a chance.All the best.Joe FRED
CHARTattack





Jul 9 2009 12:52 AM

CHARTattack.com Interview

Great Lake Swimmers Talk Polaris 2009 Nomination
http://www.chartattack.com/news/71906/great-lake-swimmers-talk-polaris-2009-nomination
allison





Jul 7 2009 8:34 PM

POLARIS SHORT LIST!
GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS, wooooooo!
Big Congrats!

XO
Lambs & Wolves





Jul 7 2009 8:34 PM

thanks for the add :)

best wishes!

lambs & wolves
STEVE





Jul 7 2009 8:34 PM

Fantastic awesome wonderful brilliant just plain good. Thats the album I'm talking about. Next time you travel to Australia bring the whole band.
Ted Leavitt


Online Now!


Jul 7 2009 5:00 AM

All new music. It's unique. It's different. It will make kittens meow. Check it out.
Brendan Arthur Ring





Jul 7 2009 4:59 AM

Redlight Greenlight by Brendan Arthur Ring
"Redlight Greenlight"
DrivingOnCitySidewalks





Jul 7 2009 4:58 AM

Just amazing.
I've been listening to "Stealing Tomorrow" for the last three days.
The Parlour Suite





Jul 7 2009 4:58 AM

...happy to see you on the Urban Outfitters compilation CD. Big bonus for me! A new shirt & great music:)
-Inga
This Great White North





Jul 3 2009 2:52 PM

Just a reminder to listen to GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS on THIS GREAT WHITE NORTH. It's an ALL CANADIAN music show FRIDAYS 4:30-6pm CST on 91.7 KOOP FM in Austin, Texas. You can listen online at www.KOOP.org.

Cheers!
Doug The Canuck
{My Lady’s House}





Jul 3 2009 2:52 PM

Hey, Tony.
We're now finishing off our first record. Give a listen to Once, first excerpt now online.



Take care,
My Lady's House.
Nashville Gamblers Tribute Page





Jul 3 2009 2:52 PM

Photobucket
Cheers from Germany!
Megan [take me on tour with youuu!]





Jul 3 2009 2:51 PM

I love your music it is so beautiful. Seriously, WHY MUST YOU SKIP CALGARY FOLK FEST?
doms





Jun 27 2009 2:09 PM

Hello, thanks for the add and for your nice music.
Cheers from Bordeaux.
Paper Streets





Jun 25 2009 9:14 PM

Thanks for the add!
and thank you for coming to Brockville. Seriously; the coolest show to come through here in a long time. Cheers.
Shawn Clarke





Jun 23 2009 3:41 PM

It was really great playing with you guys this weekend! It was a treat to see you live (especially in Montreal!). Thanks, hopefully our paths will cross again!
Renee





Jun 23 2009 12:29 AM

Thanks for the amazing Ottawa show on Friday, absolutely LOVED it!
Frédéric





Jun 22 2009 2:56 AM

Thank you so much for the gig in Montreal
Suburban Cruelty Centre





Jun 22 2009 2:56 AM

Thank you for the add, as they say.
Me very happy :-)

Salut,
Glowie
SCC

 

The Townes Van Zandt Project





Jun 20 2009 3:27 PM

Goose bumps, also called goose flesh, goose pimples, chill bumps, or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a person's skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear or awe.

Listen to the new track on our player: 'My Proud Mountains' by J. Tillman
Sponsored by Prozac





Jun 20 2009 3:26 PM

Saw you guys in Groningen. Nice show!




Renée





Jun 16 2009 3:50 PM

I hope Europe did treat you well and wanted to say thank you again for the lovely show in Roepaen: It felt like I was sitting there outside in nature. Great thanks and take care, Renée
Add Comment


©2003-2009 MySpace.com. All Rights Reserved.