{"podcast":{"title":"Basic Folk","slug":"basic-folk-1030186","podcast_index_feed_id":1030186,"rss_url":"https://feeds.redcircle.com/aaf5e937-14de-4377-8d58-100b59a5150d","website_url":"https://redcircle.com/shows/basic-folk","image_url":"https://media.redcircle.com/images/2025/1/2/2/39e58f92-5091-43dd-b05e-40970bca1ffe_1-426f-94e7-bd417e8f3751_basic-folk-logo-final.jpg","author":"The Bluegrass Situation","episode_count":371,"summary":"Basic Folk features honest conversations with folk musicians hosted by Cindy Howes and Lizzie No. We approach interviews with warmth, humor and insightful questions. Since 2018, this podcast has dignified under the radar roots musicians by providing a platform that they might not otherwise have. You’ll hear interviews from Three-time Grammy-winning guitar gods like Molly Tuttle, Haitian American folk legends like Leyla McCalla and deep feelers like songwriter John Hiatt. Basic Folk is dedicated to showcasing the best in folk, bluegrass, acoustic and americana including Black, Brown and Queer folx who have been excluded, or felt like they did not belong, in the folk world. Cindy & Lizzie each bring a unique perspective to these honest conversations with folk musicians. We are equally dedicated to repainting the broad landscape of folk music as we are to tearing down the ivory towers of the music industry. What would Bruce Springsteen do if he ever got the keys to that mansion on the hill? Let's find out together on Basic Folk. Basic is an official production of The Bluegrass Situation. Thanks for listening. Welcome to Basic Folk. Follow Basic Folk on social media: https://basicfolk…","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/basic-folk-1030186"},"episode":{"title":"Great Lake Swimmers' Tony Dekker: Accidental Bandleader, ep. 335","slug":"great-lake-swimmers-tony-dekker-accidental-bandleader-ep-335","published_at":"2026-01-22T07:00:21+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/basic-folk-1030186/great-lake-swimmers-tony-dekker-accidental-bandleader-ep-335","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/basic-folk-1030186","url":"https://basicfolk.com","audio_url":"https://audio4.redcircle.com/episodes/f211bca9-89af-4c2c-9674-31dd110d1a1f/stream.mp3","summary":"Accidental bandleader and beloved Canadian Tony Dekker joins us to talk about Great Lake Swimmers' new album, 'Caught Light.' Tony is up to old tricks again, like recording in a remote and weird place (in a century-old farmhouse in the middle of the woods) and working with his merry band of rotating musician friends, including producer Darcy Yates (Bahamas). The album was recorded in three days, the shortest amount of time he's ever spent on a record. In that very fast process, he had to learn to let go of control. In our Basic Folk conversation, he shares what he's learned about the beauty of letting go. We also get into how Tony feels most capable of confronting environmental and political themes in his songwriting and daily practice. In recent years, Dekker has moved his family from Toronto, the big city, back to the Niagara area in Ontario where he grew up, to establish a small town community and life. We revisit his early years in Wainfleet, ON, discussing the ins and outs of his family's farm, his love of country radio, and talent for picking any instrument. He learned the joy of playing music at a young age. The reward of music was enough, and that notion has translated into how Great Lake Swimmers operates and what kind of bandleader he is. As stated before, the fact that he is the group's bandleader is an accident, since he only wanted to organize the band and act as a background member. Finding himself more and more on the frontline, he did some serious work learning how to be a good leader and how to operate a band that's made up of good friends. It's clear that Tony's figured out how to be a humble leader and friend as his collaborators return to his orbit time and time again. Follow Basic Folk on social media: https://basicfolk.bio.link/ Sign up for Basic…","meta_description":"Accidental bandleader and beloved Canadian Tony Dekker joins us to talk about Great Lake Swimmers' new album, 'Caught Light.' Tony is up to old tricks aga…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3280,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/basic-folk-1030186/episodes/great-lake-swimmers-tony-dekker-accidental-bandleader-ep-335/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/basic-folk-1030186/great-lake-swimmers-tony-dekker-accidental-bandleader-ep-335.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}