Tony Dekker is the well-respected singer, songwriter, and founder of the celebrated Canadian band Great Lake Swimmers. This past fall, Dekker released Prayer of the Woods, his first solo album, and on Feb. 7 he plays the Hillside Inside festival in Guelph, ON. Here, Tony and I discuss why he released a record under his own name, our awesome ringtones, being sideswiped, touring a lot, why he started playing music, his early interest in Dischord Records, Minor Threat, and Fugazi, DIY community building, caring for the natural world and becoming more outspoken as an artist, recording and playing in unusual spaces and tapping into them, coffee and agave nectar, the Woody Guthrie Center, the BP oil spill, the Lake Ontario Waterkeepers, the Great Bear region and the Northern Gateway Pipeline controversy, hiking the Bruce Trail, the “Prayer of the Woods” poem, new Great Lake Swimmers music, the song “Somewhere Near Thunder Bay,” and more.
Related links: greatlakeswimmers.com hillsidefestival.ca vishkhanna.com
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