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Featuring a blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, Great Lake Swimmers are a critically acclaimed indie-folk group led by songwriter/vocalist Tony Dekker with a revolving backing band. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the group emerged with a succession of heavily atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music has developed that pastoral warmth over subsequent albums through a continued vision to record and perform in acoustically unique and historical locales. They are renowned for their homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana in their live shows.
With Opening Act
Abigail Lapell
Toronto songwriter Abigail Lapell returns with Stolen Time, her elemental and powerfully evocative third album. Produced by Howard Bilerman at Montreal’s Hotel2Tango, Stolen Time feels unhurried, psychedelic and otherworldly in the vein of Gillian Welch or Karen Dalton. A theme of recovery runs through the album, with songs about becoming sober, or a partner’s sudden illness, exploring the cycle of rehabilitation and relapse. The title comes from tempo rubato, a music term referring to the loose push and pull of expressive phrasing—a fitting metaphor for the shifting rhythm of uncertain times. An eclectic cast of musicians underscores the power of Lapell’s vocals on live-off-the-floor, 70s folk rock arrangements featuring bass, drums, horns, strings and steel. But many of Stolen Time’s standout tracks are solo guitar or piano songs, backed by little more than ghostly accordion or harmonica. The result is Lapell’s most ambitious and confident album to date.
