Great Lake Swimmers formed in Toronto in the late 1990s around singer-songwriter Tony Dekker. Their name came from a children's book about swimmers in Lake Huron. They put out their self-titled debut album in 2003, which didn't find much commercial traction at first.
Things shifted with their third album, 'Ongiara,' in 2007. The track 'Changing Colours' from that record got some attention, and the album itself drew more critical notice than their earlier work. They've kept making records since, like 'Lost Channels' in 2010 and 'A Forest of Arms' in 2022.
Songs like 'Your Rocky Spine' and 'Hands In Dirty Ground' have a quiet, steady quality to them. Dekker's writing tends to circle themes of nature and memory without much fuss.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.