Tom Wilson Unleashes His Dog

Tom Wilson's in love again: in love with a new gal and with himself. He's also happy to have his kids back in his life. Musically, all this love has translated into one of the most creative and productive periods of the singer/songwriter's career.

"I've been in a constant writing and recording mode for the last year-and-a-half," says Wilson. "I did an album with Bob Lanois last year called The Shack Recordings, Vol.1. In June, I recorded my new solo album [Dog Years] with Colin Linden.

"Then, I went right back to touring with The Shack last summer. This past January, I was in Woodstock, New York, where we just recorded two albums for Blackie And The Rodeo Kings. I came home from that and started to get ready to do some shows for Dog Years, then I started recording a second Bob Lanois record."

Rising from a mid-day nap at his Hamilton home, the affable and larger-than-life Wilson talks candidly about his rock 'n' roll journey, his newfound sobriety and the spiritual balance that he's found in his life now that drugs and alcohol are no longer needed to fuel his muse. He confesses that he's gone six years without alcohol and three years without cocaine. The result of banishing these addictions is a renewed ability to multi-task with ease and write and record constantly.

"Right now, I'm balancing three different projects," says Wilson. "I like to say it's easy because my health is pretty good, but mostly my mind is clear and my heart is true.

"I sound like one of fuckin' Robin Hood's merry men. Those are key components for me, though, not only being happy in my life, but I'm kind of like a dog that has to run all the time."

Friend and confidante Linden produced Dog Years, which was recorded mostly in Nashville and recently released by True North Records. Linden convinced Wilson to escape the cozy confines of Hamilton and journey to Music City to showcase his talent to some other seasoned players, and it resulted in Wilson coming up with some of his most observant and finely crafted songs.

"I think part of going down there [Nashville] was that Colin has been telling me for quite a while now that I'm a good musician, and I haven't really been buying it," Wilson explains. "He wanted to put me together with musicians that challenged me and were capable of pulling off my material.

"It was a real pleasure to be sitting there playing these songs with people like Bob Babbitt, Gary Tallent and Rosanne Cash."

While Dog Years is billed as a solo disc, the Hamilton hipster isn't hitting the road alone. Wilson's new band features the rhythm section from Junkhouse and a piano player who works with Levon Helm and Peter Gabriel. "Basically Hamilton guys," he says.

"I haven't had a band of my own in years. We did four shows last week and every one of them was in a different venue. The album I made represents me doing whatever the fuck I want to do, and the band represents me being able to do that live."

For the better part of the past 30 years, Wilson has been toiling the rock 'n' roll road, playing live around the world. Through it all, though, from his early days with the punk-with-a-twist band The Florida Razors to the no-nonsense rock of Junkhouse, the singer has called Steeltown home. Wilson weighs in on why Hamilton's music scene is forever fertile.

"It's always an inspiration," he says. "I think that a lot of the most creative stuff doesn't come from major centres, it comes from smaller places.

"I'm not looking over our shoulder at four, five, six or 10 other people who are doing exactly the same thing that I'm doing. Hamilton musicians stand pretty independent amongst themselves. It doesn't make us special or better than anybody.

"What I'm doing on my street, Kathleen Edwards lives around the corner from me and does something different. Chris Houston, who used to be in The Forgotten Rebels and wrote 'Surfin' On Heroin,' lives down the street from her and does something different. Daniel Lanois' house is two blocks away from that, and he does something different. Bob Lanois lives out in a shack in Waterdown, and he's on another planet.

"None of us are looking over our shoulder running faster or trying to compete with one another because we work in different fields. There also is not the same amount of outlets to go and experiment with your music live. As a result, places like Winnipeg and Hamilton will always be hugely creative powerhouses."

Here are Wilson's tour dates:

April 1 Halifax, NS @ Casino Nova Scotia
April 5 London, ON @ London Music Club
April 7 Toronto, ON @ Rivoli
April 21 Stratford, ON @ Tango
April 22 Port Dover, ON @ Lighthouse Festival
April 28 Oshawa, ON @ Le Scratch
May 14 Ottawa, ON @ Tulip Festival
July 7-9 Orillia, ON @ Mariposa Festival
September 15-16 Wolfville, NS @ Deep Roots Festival