Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels [March 31 2009]

Great Lake Swimmers are one of those cult following groups that for some reason gets forgotten about all the time. Their last album, Ongiara was on top of quite a few list in 2007, mine included. Tony Dekker, song writer and vocalist for GLS has a matchless power to craft beautiful folk songs around surprising lyrics.

LOST CHANNELS, their fourth album set for release on March 31st, finds them once again recording at historic locations. This time in the Thousand Islands region of Ontario and New York state, telling tales of hidden histories, still "mining for light in the dark wells," still "tuned to an instrument of greater and unknown design."

That the album was created in both rural splendour and urban Ontario makes perfect sense for a band that has always navigated the parallels between natural and urban rhythms. River imagery recurs throughout LOST CHANNELS; the title of the album is a reference to a certain passage of the St. Lawrence, close to the recording locale, where a reconnaissance boat from a British warship went mysteriously missing in 1760. There’s no specific reference to the incident in the lyrics, though there are plenty of night skies, howling winds and raging rivers in almost every song which captures an elusive sense of mystery. As the album closes, Dekker sings the final lyrics—“Like the unstoppable river… Your beauty is gentle/ but forceful, and fast”—before the band ends on a suspended note. There is no resolution there, only eternity, a continuum, an endless river. - www.greatlakeswimmers.com

Track list:
1. PALMISTRY 2:32
2. EVERYTHING IS MOVING SO FAST 4:19
3. PULLING ON A LINE 3:18
4. CONCRETE HEART 3:31
5. SHE COMES TO ME IN DREAMS 4:02
6. THE CHORUS IN THE UNDERGROUND 3:20
7. SINGER CASTLE BELLS 0:48
8. STEALING TOMORROW 2:50
9. STILL 2:50
10. NEW LIGHT 3:18
11. RIVER’S EDGE 4:17
12. UNISON FALLING INTO HARMONY 3:25


Supporting Tour:

Jan 29 - Kalamazoo MI The State Theatre www.jamusa.com – opening for JEFF TWEEDY
Jan 30 - Indianapolis, IN @ Locals Only
Jan 31 - Urbana, IL Foellinger Auditorium (Univ. of IL) www.foellinger.uiuc.edu opening for JEFF TWEEDY
Feb 07 - Gueph, ON
Mar 06 - Corner Brook @ Black Thorn Stick Café
Mar 07 - St. John's @ The Ship Inn 2nd show added
Mar 08 - St. John's @ The Ship Inn SOLD OUT
Mar 11 - Halifax @ St. Matthews Church
Mar 12 - Fredericton @ The Capital
Mar 14 - Quebec City @ Le Cercle
Mar 19 - Sudbury @ The Townhouse
Mar 20 - Sault Ste Marie @ Loplops
Mar 21 - Thunder Bay @ The Study
Mar 23 - Winnipeg @ Winnipeg Folk Exchange
Mar 24 - Regina @ The Exchange
Mar 25 - Saskatoon @ Amigo's
Mar 26 - Calgary @ Grace Presbyterian Church
Mar 27 - Edmonton @ McDougall United Church
Mar 29 - Vancouver @ St. James Hall
Mar 30 - Vancouver @ Norm Theatre - UBC
Mar 31 - Seattle @ The Tractor Tavern
Apr 01 - Portland @ Doug Fir
Apr 03 - San Francisco @ The Bottom of the Hill
Apr 04 - Los Angeles @ Spaceland
Apr 05 - Tucson @ Plush
Apr 07 - Austin @ Stubbs Bar-B-Q
Apr 08 - Denton @ Hailey's
Apr 10 - Atlanta @ The Earl
Apr 13 - Charlottesville @ Gravity Lounge
Apr 14 - Washington @ Black Cat
Apr 15 - Philadelphia @ Johnny Brenda's
Apr 16 - Northampton @ Iron Horse Music Hall
Apr 17 - New York City @ The Bowery Ballroom
Apr 18 - Cambridge @ The Brattle Theater
Apr 20 - Newport @ The Southgate House
Apr 21 - Chicago @ Schubas
Apr 22 - Minneapolis @ 7th Street Entry
Apr 23 - Madison @ High Noon Saloon
Apr 25 - Toronto @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre