Tony Dekker Swims Solo In Sharbot Lake

Oct 24, 2013

A self-proclaimed nerd is how Tony Dekker introduced himself to a capacity crowd that packed the Sharbot Lake Country Inn for an out of the ordinary Monday night show, which was, not surprisingly, sold out. Dekker is the front man and singer/song writer for the Great Lake Swimmers, a band that was named a national treasure by the CBC, has won numerous awards, and was invited to open for Feist, and The Tragically Hip, to name just a few.

The geek reference Dekker made was regarding a circa 1918 cylindrical phonograph, which he set on stage at the show and upon which he broadcast to listeners a rousing 1920's rendition of the Maple Leaf Forever. Dekker explained how he acquired the cylinders at a yard sale in Regina, Sask and fell in love with their sound. Following that opening act, Dekker took to the stage for an intimate two-set show that made it apparent how he not only attracted other like-minded swimmer/musicians to his wake but also demonstrated that he is more than capable of swimming very beautifully and buoyantly on his own.

What makes Dekker so special is his singing and song-writing prowess; he is a gifted poet that can put to music the personal workings of his heart and mind, both of which he sings with a voice that is oh- so lovely.

He played a wide selection of the many new songs from his first solo recording titled "Prayer of the Woods", a collection of songs that demonstrate his love and wonder of nature, as in "Somewhere Near Thunder Bay", a song about love in the landscape that he sings in a voice that is both taut and loose, youthful and wise. The song he said came from a cross country encounter when he nearly drove into a herd of deer on the highway near Thunder Bay. Luckily he stopped within inches of them and recalled how they “fanned out in front of me and I could see the mist coming from their breath.” He played from his solo album "Final Song", a tune about his personal “existential crisis”, a haunting, fragile tune that sounds biblical, a bit like Leonard Cohen's best, especially when Dekker speaks of his “head rejecting his body and his arms not knowing his legs".

Dekker did not disappoint fans of the Great Lake Swimmers and he played a number of older band tunes like “I Saw You in the Wild" from the band's second album, a song he introduced as “creepy things that happen”. He sang “The Great Exhale", a tune from his band's latest album and “tried his best not to screw it up". He spoke of what inspired the title of his solo album “Prayer of the Woods", a hand carved wooden sign he came across while hiking the Bruce Trail. The sign had a poem, an inspiration that he decided to put to music. “I thought it was amazing to see a piece of poetry out there in the woods like that and I got home and did some research and found out that the poem has been used in forest preserves all over North America.”

Dekker also showed some of his musical influences. In “Where in the World are You” he seems to lean to Neil Young's "After the Goldrush" and his guitar intro was definitely one of his best. Similarly his boat song titled “On the Water”, in which he sees his own body in the body of water that surrounds the boat he is lost in, sounds reminiscent of Lyle Lovett's “If I Had a Boat".

Dekker proved by his show at the Sharbot Lake Country Inn, that it is no great wonder that he is the leader of one of Canada's most acclaimed bands and one who is taking a brave and solo plunge into unknown waters.