Tony Dekker is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer and songwriter. Most noted as leader of the

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

band

Great Lake Swimmers Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto. The current touring line-up includes Tony Dekker on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arnesen on banjo, electric guitar and ...

, he has also released two solo albums.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Wainfleet,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

,"Tony Dekker's rural roots". ''

Welland Tribune The ''Welland Tribune'' is a daily newspaper that services Welland, Ontario and surrounding area. The ''Tribune'' was one of several Postmedia Network newspapers purchased by Torstar in a transaction between the two companies which concluded on ...

'', July 22, 2005. Dekker studied literature at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

."Dekker's music is his art". ''

'', July 12, 2003.

Career

Dekker recorded his band's first two albums, ''

'' 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 ''Ongiara'' is the third studio album by Canadian folk rock band Great Lake Swimmers, released on March 27, 2007. The album was released on Nettwerk. The band recorded most of the album in London, Ontario's historic music venue Aeolian Hall wit ...

'', Dekker and the band were based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

full time. In 2008, Dekker composed the score for ''Song Sung Blue'', a documentary film. In addition to his work with Great Lake Swimmers, Dekker released his debut solo album ''Prayer of the Woods'' in 2013. 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 Old Man Luedecke is the recording name of two-time Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and banjo player Chris Luedecke of Chester, Nova Scotia. He is most noted as a two-time Juno Award winner for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year ...

Chad VanGaalen Chad VanGaalen (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and artist from Calgary, Alberta. Career ''Infiniheart'' Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released ''Infiniheart'' (2004 ...

Christine Fellows Christine Fellows (born 1968) is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba. History Born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in France and Kelowna, British Columbia, Fellows lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Guelph and Montreal before ...

Ohbijou Ohbijou was a Canadian indie pop band that was based in Toronto, Ontario. The music of Ohbijou draws on pop, folk and bluegrass influences. History Ohbijou began as the solo project of Brantford singer-songwriter Casey Mecija.Sayej, Nadja. "Und ...

Rae Spoon Rae Spoon is a Canadian musician and writer. Their musical style has varied from country to electronic-influenced indie rock and folk punk.Matt Mays Matt Mays (born August 10, 1979) is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter and was the lead singer of Matt Mays & El Torpedo, a rock music group based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and New York City. Previously, Mays was a member of a Canadian Ind ...

Martin Tielli Martin Tielli is a Canadian singer-songwriter. He was a member of the Rheostatics, and has also released material as a solo artist and with the side project Nick Buzz. As well, he has appeared as a guest musician on albums by Barenaked Ladies, ...

, Jennifer Castle and

Cadence Weapon Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, ''Breaking Kayfabe'', in 2005 with positi ...

."First Play: Tony Dekker sings 10 years of Zunior"
.

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, July 29, 2014.

References

Canadian folk rock musicians Canadian folk-pop singers Canadian rock singers Canadian songwriters Canadian folk guitarists Canadian people of Dutch descent Indie folk musicians Musicians from the Regional Municipality of Niagara Living people University of Western Ontario alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Great Lake Swimmers members 21st-century Canadian male singers {{Canada-singer-stub