Great Lake Swimmers – Great Lake Swimmers

Great Lake Swimmers, the debut album from the band of the same name, was purportedly recorded in an abandoned grain silo in Wainfleet, Ontario. I recently purchased this album, which comes with a cool black ribbon to hold the lyric book. It appears that Great Lake Swimmers, at this time, were little more than singer-songwriter Tony Dekker; however, Great Lake Swimmers received decent international reviews:

• AllMusic gives it a 4 stars out of 5
• Pitchfork gives it a 7.8 out of 10

In 2015, Tracy and I flew standby to and from St. John's, courtesy of our daughter Sara's Air Transat employment. Both directions, we became separated in Halifax, Tracy taking the earlier flight and me catching up later. On the way home, when we finally met up at the Toronto Island airport, we headed over to Amsterdam Brewhouse for dinner and a drink, and then noticed that there was someone playing at Harbourfront Centre – we wandered over and caught the end of a Great Lake Swimmers' set, a wonderful conclusion to a summer vacation in Canada.

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Track Listing

1. "Moving Pictures, Silent Films" (Tony Dekker) – 5:31
2. "The Man with No Skin" (Tony Dekker) – 5:26
3. "Moving, Shaking" (Tony Dekker) – 5:22
4. "Merge, A Vessel, A Harbour" (Tony Dekker) – 4:44
5. "I Will Never See the Sun" (Tony Dekker) – 3:35
6. "This Is Not Like Home" (Tony Dekker) – 3:45
7. "The Animals of the World" (Tony Dekker) – 5:31
8. "Faithful Night, Listening" (Tony Dekker) – 4:08
9. "Three Days at Sea (Three Lost Years)" (Tony Dekker) – 3:52
10. "Great Lake Swimmers" (Tony Dekker) – 6:45

Personnel

• Tony Dekker – vocals, guitar
• Walter Kofman – piano (on 1, 10), organ (on 7), accordion (on 5)
• Sandro Perri – cello (on 1), lap steel guitar (on 8, 10)
• Victor Szabo – percussion (on 10)