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 Tom Wilson |
Cute. Whatever you call Tom Wilson, don't use that word to describe him or his music.
Down the line from Hamilton, where he is in the midst of plotting spring and summer dates in support of his second solo release, "Dog Years," and penning songs for Jimmy Rankin's next disc, the 46-year-old former member of Junkhouse and full-time conspirator with Colin Linden and Stephen Fearing in the roots-country offshoot, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, says if there's one thing he doesn't try to be, it's cute.
"I've been playing music my whole life and the cliche is true," he says. "I'd be doing this with or without any sort of fame."
But after having created a "fairly groovy computer record" with his first release - 2001's "Planet Love" - Wilson came to the realization that what he really likes is collaborating with other musicians.
"I found that having people standing around playing music with me was really important," he says, with a low drawl. "The challenge of confronting the songs with a small army of session players was far more interesting."
Joining forces with producer, and co-musician on the album, Colin Linden, Wilson took the project south of the border, recording some of the disc's ten tracks in Nashville and New York City.
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Phone cradled to his ear, Wilson says the plan worked fantastically. "Colin wanted me to play with people who had no preconceptions about what I did. Going there, no one gives a shit that I've never had a record played on pop radio. Nobody is going to say, 'You're this kind of an artist and you write these kind of songs.' Nobody said that. People just liked my music and were really into playing and writing with me."
On the eerily good "Talk Of The Town," Wilson evokes country's black-clad statesman in a gravelly, whiskey soaked duet with the legend's daughter - Rosanne Cash - that haunts with its refrain, "I know for certain/ Young heart's get broken."
"She became a fan of mine, and a fan of Blackie & The Rodeo Kings (after they covered "Folsom Prison Blues" for 2003's, "Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash")," he recalls. "I think it was a perfect choice by Colin to call her up."
With a melodies that fuse Wilson's seductive grit to the disc's timeless hybrid of rock, blues and country, the record dives into a broad range of ideas. From bittersweet love songs (the "Harvest Moon"-sounding, "Dreamland," and the wiggly guitar howl of "Little Domino" come to mind) to tongue-in-cheek reflections on the music industry ("If this world don't change me baby/ I'm still the same," he issues on "I'm In Love With The System") to standing up to "politicians running for their lives" (on the foot-stomping, keys-tickling, "Tell It Like It Is").
And tucked neatly between all these musical and philosophical zigzags, Wilson ends up in Junkhouse territory with the album's first single, the "Out Of My Head"-ish "Super Sun Natural," thanks to a twisting chord arrangement.
"I'm more alive than I've ever been," he says, explaining the disc's wide-ranging musical excursion. "I've seen a lot of people crash and burn, but I managed to avoid those things. I never killed myself and I didn't buy into my own bullshit."
Hot on the heels of "Dog Years," Wilson is also gearing up for the release of Blackie & The Rodeo Kings' "Let's Frolic," which is due out on September 12.
Regaling it inception (the album was written as the trio toured with Merle Haggard in 2004, and later recorded in Woodstock, NY), Wilson says it's the group's strongest batch of songs. So strong that there's a good chance the 20-plus tracks they laid down last year will appear on two discs.
"If you ever listen to old Everly Brothers or early Beatles, there's a sense of brotherhood going on," he says. "Like those bands, in Blackie, even though we all come from different backgrounds, our voices have all become one. It was pretty fucking scary when we were recording it down in Woodstock.
"We are kind of misfits in our own right," he continues. "We have never attempted to be cool or hip, individually or as a group. We're all men. We aren't boys. We don't try and be cute. And we don't try to fit in with whatever is happening in today's music.
"As a result, what we share is a love for the music that we're standing there playing. That will sustain anybody as an individual artist or a band until they're walking around with false teeth and a colostomy bag pushing their walker around the home."
Clearly not shy, Wilson rattles on about contemporary artists ("There's just no passion in music anymore"), "Canadian Idol" ("It's people who don't know what they want, playing music for people who don't know what they want to hear") and manliness ("Joe Strummer was a man, you know. He talked like a man and walked like a man"). But as our interview draws to a close, one question lingers: What's it like knowing that the world's most powerful man has his iPod queued to one of your songs?
Wilson laughs good-naturedly. "When I heard that George Bush had Blackie's 'Swinging From The Chains Of Love' on his iPod, my reaction was simple: It's good to have another fan, even if he is going to kill the world."
Turning serious for a moment, Wilson is mockingly pensive. "It's like my relationship with God. I want God to like me, but I don't want him coming over for dinner anytime soon."
Here are Tom Wilson's upcoming tour dates:
April 28: Oshawa, ON -- Le Scratch
May 14: Ottawa, ON -- Tulip Festival
July 7: Orillia, ON -- Mariposa
July 8: Orillia, ON -- Mariposa
July 9: Orillia, ON -- Mariposa
Sept 15: Wolfville, NS -- Deep Roots Festival
Sept 16: Wolfville, NS -- Deep Roots Festival