Basic Folk 196 – Tom Wilson

By the mid-2010’s Canadian rock legend Tom Wilson’s life was already pretty epic: he had perfected his blue collar roots rock sound in his bands Blackie and The Rodeo Kings and his seminal 90’s outfit Junkhouse. He was a home-grown rock and roller with humble Hamilton, Ontario roots. In addition to his musical output, he had overcome addiction, he was a father, grandfather and painter. However, his life completely changed when, by chance, he discovered he had been adopted and that he was actually of full blood Mohawk descent and not Irish like he was raised to believe. His birth-mother was actually a “cousin” of his, who had been forced into Canada’s cruel residential schools. The people he thought were his parents, had actually been his great Aunt and Uncle. At 53 years old, his world was about to get 100% more wild.

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Ever since then, Tom has been on a path to identity. He’s written a memoir, made a documentary, an album as his musical alter-ego Lee Harvey Osmond and his latest project, collaborating with fellow Canadian, the Cree-Métis musician iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ. Tom’s new mission at this point in his life is to tell his story, “Our greatest job as storytellers is to open up the door to the next person and let them know they can tell their stories too.”

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2 Comments

  1. Mark Gallagher on January 19, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    Great (and fun!) listening interview. Tell it Tom.



  2. Chris Peitchinis on January 20, 2023 at 12:38 pm

    Hi Tom, That was a great interview and your story is unbelievable. As a public school and high school friend, it has been wonderful to watch you grow in the Canadian Music Industry. Also, as an author, artist and family man. Well Tom, you have many years to tell your life story. I hope to meet up with you one day.