Wallpaper March 2013

I thought I’d share a somewhat different image this month, not just to revisit summer, but to celebrate the fact that Great lake Swimmers' latest album, New Wild Everywhere, was just nominated for a Juno.  For those who may not know, the Junos are Canada’s top music awards, our equivalent to the Grammies and this is the second time the Swimmers have been so honored.

If you don't yet know them, Great Lake Swimmers are an acclaimed band that CBC has termed as “Canada’s national treasure,” who have aligned themselves very closely with the 1000 Islands region. 

This all began when they recorded tracks at Singer Castle, the Brockville Arts Centre and Rockport’s St. Brendan’s Church in 2008. Just as I had been when I stumbled across the 1000 Islands by accident, the band’s leader/singer/songwriter Tony Dekker was blown away by what he found here. He titled that album Lost Channels and then spent two years singing and talking about the River in concerts and interviews around the world, as far away as China.

This was followed in 2009 by a GLS concert on the deck of the Tall Ship Fair Jeanne in Brockville’s harbor, an event staged by Tall Ships Landing, a major, multi-faceted project, which at that point was still in its formative stages. The music video Palmistry came next, filmed aboard the Fair Jeanne under sail, at Singer Castle and on Raleigh Island. Another music video from that album, River’s Edge, was released in ’09.

In 2010, the Swimmers sold out 3 concerts here, including at the Brockville Arts Centre and the Clayton Opera House (both of which ran in conjunction with the launch of my final printed book, “The very best of Ian Coristine's 1000 Islands”) and a third concert to support Lake Ontario’s Waterkeeper on Wolfe Island.

In 2012, my sixth book, One in a Thousand was released as an interactive iPad app. It is a true story, co-written by the astonishingly talented Donna Walsh Inglehart, that chronicles my discovery of the region and many subsequent adventures here, similar in theme to A Year in Provence, Under the Tuscan Sun or The Olive Farm.

Thanks to a wonderful team of creative tech geniuses, the McLellan Group re-imagined the future of publishing by bringing the story to life in ways not previously possible, as an iPad App. It is told with an 86,000 word text, illustrated with over 450 images, numerous videos, nature sounds, narration, an interactive map and very significantly, 18 unpublished instrumental versions of Great Lake Swimmers’ hits.

Early last summer, Tony performed solo at Kim Lunman’s Island Life Magazine launch party for One in a Thousand at the Ivy and later, Tony brought the band back for McLellan Group to shoot an outstanding music video, Ballad of a Fisherman’s Wife at various locations, including aboard this funky barge which served as the stage for what must be one of the River’s most unique ever concerts. The only fans in attendance were the film crew and the loons until a Gananoque tour boat spotted us and provided an impromtu and very enthusiastic triple-deck audience! You’ll find more behind the scenes images from this magical day on my Pinterest page.

This summer, the Swimmers will return on June 14th for a major River event that should definitely go on your calendar now. An elaborate War of 1812 tall ships festival in Brockville (featuring 13 tall ships) will serve as the backdrop to the building dedication ceremony for Tall Ships Landing and (coming in 2014) the 1000 Islands' own discovery center - Aquatarium, which is the Genesis of a hugely important initiative - RiverQuest, that is uniting the entire region to present it to the world like another Tuscany or Provence.

The stage and setting for the Swimmers' (free) concert will again be the Fair Jeanne, this time lit up under the stars in Brockville’s harbor. If weather requires, the show will move to the nearby Brockville Arts Centre. This will be a truly magical evening. 

A set of 6 - 8 x 10 prints goes out to the person who shares the most interesting story about the spot where this barge concert image was captured or perhaps a Swimmers story.

Enjoy!

Ian Coristine

Download wide-angle version

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