Great Lake Swimmers lead singer Tony Dekker is soft spoken and relaxed, much like the melodic folk songs he writes and performs with bandmates Erik Arneson and Greg Milson. His voice is angelic with a hint of fragility, and his songs range from melancholy to heartbreaking to hopeful. Tony and his band released their fourth album, Lost Channels, this past March through Nettwerk. Dekker himself claims to draw influence from Gram Parsons and Hank Williams, but comparisons to Mark Kozelek, Eliott Smith, Nick Drake, Neil Young, Iron & Wine and Will Oldham abound.
Dekker's reputation at a notable lyricist seems to grow with each release, and for good reason. He has the keen ability to tap into his own blue-collar soul and express the fear and optimism necessary to get his listener to buy in. You trust him. You believe in him and you hope for him. It was for precisely all those reasons that when we hosted GLS in my home, it was comfortable, like have old friends over for dinner.
At the time of our session, Dekker and crew weren't quite ready to break out any of the new material from Lost Channels, so they played us four selections that spanned all three of their previous releases.
MP3 Session Downloads :
Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine
Great Lake Swimmers - Various Stages
Great Lake Swimmers - Moving Pictures Silent Films
Great Lake Swimmers - Let's Trade Skins
Recorded and Mixed by Jeff DuPont
Filmed and Edited by Doug Fellegy, Joe Wallace, and Stacie Grissom
