Over the past 10 years, Great Lake Swimmers have gone from word-of-mouth folk-rock favourites to critical darlings of CBC, NPR and industry influencers Robert Plant and Josh Groban. Lead singer and songwriter Tony Dekker claims a kinship with the likes of Gram Parsons and Hank Williams and it’s easy to see why: his songs, which touch on themes such as love, mortality and escape, are self-assured and multi-layered. In 2013, Dekker released the solo album Prayer of the Woods, and in 2014, he released a tribute album for the artist-loving digital-music distribution site Zunior on the occasion of its 10th year anniversary, entitled Tony Dekker Sings 10 Years Of Zunior. 2014 marked the Swimmers’ debut headlining performance at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall, which was documented for the Live At Massey Hall series ( https://youtu.be/Xm-pl9AzVUI ). The band also participated in the Polaris cover sessions with their version of Sarah Harmer’s “I’m A Mountain.