Tony Dekker Explained

Tony Dekker
Birth Place:	Wainfleet, Ontario, Canada
Genre:	Indie folk
Current Member Of:	Great Lake Swimmers

Tony Dekker is a Canadian singer and songwriter.^[1] Most noted as leader of the indie folk band Great Lake Swimmers,^[2] he has also released two solo albums.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Wainfleet, Ontario,^[3] Dekker studied literature at the University of Western Ontario.^[4]

Career

Dekker recorded his band's first two albums, Great Lake Swimmers and Bodies and Minds, in Wainfleet, in an abandoned grain silo and a Catholic church, respectively. By the time of the band's third album Ongiara, Dekker and the band were based in Toronto full time.^[5] In 2008, Dekker composed the score for Song Sung Blue, a documentary film.^[6]

In addition to his work with Great Lake Swimmers, Dekker released his debut solo album Prayer of the Woods in 2013.^[7] He followed up in 2014 with Tony Dekker Sings 10 Years of Zunior, an album of covers of other Canadian artists, including Old Man Luedecke, Chad VanGaalen, Christine Fellows, Ohbijou, Rae Spoon, Matt Mays, Martin Tielli, Jennifer Castle and Cadence Weapon.^[8]

Notes and References

1. "Tony Dekker tries to get back to nature". The Globe and Mail, January 18, 2014.
2. "Making A Splash; Great Lake Swimmers has new energy, fortified by band members' time apart on other projects". Ottawa Citizen, April 21, 2015.
3. "Tony Dekker's rural roots". Welland Tribune, July 22, 2005.
4. "Dekker's music is his art". Welland Tribune, July 12, 2003.
5. "Songs to dive into". The Globe and Mail, March 30, 2007.
6. Web site: T. Dekker / Great Lake Swimmers – Song Sung Blue EP: The Original Score To The Documentary Film By Greg Kohs – (weewerk) records . 2023-01-09 . weewerk.com.
7. https://exclaim.ca/music/article/tony_dekker-prayer_of_woods "Tony Dekker: Prayer of the Woods"
8. http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2014/7/First-Play-Tony-Dekker-sings-10-years-of-Zunior "First Play: Tony Dekker sings 10 years of Zunior"