The Bowery Presents

The Bowery Ballroom upcoming shows

Great Lake Swimmers

Larkin Grimm / Kate Maki

Venue:
The Bowery Ballroom
Date:
Fri 4/17
Notes:
18+
Doors: 8:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
$13 advance / $15 day of show
Tickets
Great Lake Swimmers
official website
myspace
Tony Dekker, the singer/songwriter behind the musical project Great Lake Swimmers, will release his third full-length album "Ongiara" in Canada on March 27, 2007. weewerk will release the vinyl version of the album, containing a special gatefold jacket, and the CD will be released by Nettwerk Records. Like the first two critically acclaimed albums ("Great Lake Swimmers" in 2003, and "Bodies and Minds" in 2005), "Ongiara" continues to explore the worlds of indie folk, roots music and alt-country pop, with a focus on lyrics and the craft of songwriting. The new record is permeated with a rich natural reverb, courtesy of London, Ontario's Aeolian Hall, which creates the magical background on which the songs are painted.

These ten new songs are largely inspired by Canada's majestic natural environment ("Your Rocky Spine") and our reciprocal relationship with the land ("Put There By The Land"). "Where In The World Are You", "Passenger Song" and "Changing Colours" touch on themes of grace and understanding in life journeys, and the latter reflects on the cycle of living and dying. "There Is A Light" is a love song thinly veiled as a protest anthem, and similarly, "I Am Part Of A Large Family" contains a message of peace. Album closer "I Became Awake" is a country-infused lullaby which speaks to revelation and self-realization.

In addition to the core band of Tony Dekker (voice, guitar), Erik Arnesen (banjo, electric guitar) and Colin Huebert (drums, percussion, glockenspiel, timpani), the new album features special guest appearances by singer-songwriter Serena Ryder (backing vocals, autoharp), Bob Egan of Blue Rodeo (pedal steel and dobro), Sarah Harmer (backing vocals) and Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy and Arcade Fire (string arrangements). Mike Overton (upright bass), Darcy Yates (electric bass), Mike Olsen (cello), and Mike Bonnell (organ) also contributed their talents to this recording.

The title of the album was taken from the Toronto Harbour boat that carried the band to their initial recording sessions on Toronto Island with Dale Morningstar. However, "Ongiara" was mainly recorded in the Aeolian Hall, the centuries-old acoustic jewel in the heart of London, Ontario. It was engineered by Andy Magoffin, and mixed at the renowned House of Miracles. Renowned artist and Juno Nominee James Mejia (HolyFuck, Wintersleep) created the artwork for both releases.

Great Lake Swimmers have toured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia since 2004, and has shared the stage with musical acts as diverse as Feist, Andrew Bird, Vashti Bunyan, Final Fantasy, Akron/Family, Jon-Rae Fletcher, Album Leaf, Crooked Fingers, Jason Collett, Amy Millan, and Joel Plaskett Emergency. The songs of Great Lake Swimmers have appeared on numerous compilations alongside such artists as Sufjan Stevens, Hot Chip, Broken Social Scene, Junior Boys, Mark Kozelek, Hayden, Beulah, Joss Stone, Hawksley Workman, Montag, Rheostatics, Tobin Sprout, Richard Buckner, and The Shins.

Great Lake Swimmers have been compared to Nick Drake, Iron and Wine, Red House Painters, and "After the Gold Rush"-era Neil Young. They were awarded the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Galaxie Rising Star Award in March 2005 and were voted Favourite Folk/Roots Artist at the 2004 Canadian Independent Music Awards.
Larkin Grimm
official website
myspace
Parplar is the Young God records debut from fabulous itinerant force of nature Larkin Grimm. In addition to singing and writing the songs Larkin plays acoustic guitar, banjo, decrepit cassio, Chinese harp, and mountain dulcimer. She alternately moans like a woman-in-full, wails like a banshee, or coos like a crazed little girl, depending on her mood. Parplar was co-produced by Michael Gira (Devendra Banhart, Akron Family, Swans).

What Michael Gira says about Larkin Grimm: "Larkin is a magic woman. She lives in the mountains in north Georgia. She collects bones, smooth stones, and she casts spells. She worships the moon. She is very beautiful, and her voice is like the passionate cry of a beast heard echoing across the mountains just after a tremendous thunder storm, when the air is alive with electricity. I don't consider her folk though - she is pre folk, even pre- music. She is the sound of the eternal mother and the wrath of all women. She wears jewels, glitter, and glistening insects in her hair."
Kate Maki
official website
myspace
"Somewhere in the magical musical realm of Mazzy Star, Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, and Belle & Sebastian." - San Francisco Chronicle

"Like the best country singers, alt or otherwise, Maki's voice is conversational yet somehow self-contained, as if it'd be quite happy talking to itself sitting on an open plain, or whistling to itself behind a wheel." - Mojo

"She can sell a song with only her voice and an acoustic guitar." - Pitchfork
American Express — Are you a card member?

© 2010