When: 7.00pm on Wednesday 19 May 2009
Where: Dulcimer, 567 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0AE

Great Lake Swimmers are a Canadian band built around the melodic folk rock songs of singer-songwriter Tony Dekker, from Wainfleet, Ontario. The current touring line-up includes Tony Dekker on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arneson on banjo, electric guitar and harmonium, Greg Millson on drums, Darcy Yates on upright bass and Julie Fader on keyboards and vocals.

The band’s style has been compared to Red House Painters, Nick Drake, Iron & Wine and Neil Young, as well as Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) and Sufjan Stevens. Dekker has said his influences include Gram Parsons and Hank Williams.

Here’s how the Guardian described them last year:

The delicate folky melodies are so touching and the alt-country beats so soothing that you want to give over every bit of you to taking them in. They have a great knack of building songs up slowly – first with the guitar, then the banjo, then the double bass and finally drums – to create a complex screen of sound.

Tour support comes from Brooklyn’s Sharon van Etten, who in April is touring with Beirut, while local support from one of our favourite Manchester bands, Last Harbour. They’ve not been having bad press coverage either:

‘Swooning dustbowl rumbles, blackly turbulent like 16 Horsepower or Lift To Experience, with a Wild West baroque feel akin to Okkervil River‘ – Plan B

‘Classic outback brooding recalling the deathly pallor o contemporary Australians The Drones but also the intimate lethargy of Tindersticks‘ – Metro

This show takes place at Dulcimer, Manchester’s celebrated ‘folk bar’ in central Chorlton. Regular buses (85 and 86) run to Chorlton from the city centre, plus the 23 and 23A from Didsbury and West Didsbury and the 168 from Fallowfield. We recommend using GMPTE’s JourneyPlanner to arrange your trip.

This is a co-promotion with Pineapple Folk.

Tickets from WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk, SeeTickets.com, Piccadilly Records on Oldham Street, Dulcimer’s bar, Ticketline Box Office in St John’s Centre, Liverpool, and on 0161 832 1111.