Sons Of The Hammer Overcome Tragedy

With the success of Teenage Head With Marky Ramone, Teenage Head were having their best year in ages.

This made the tragic death of frontman Frankie Venom even harder to comprehend. Someone upstairs has a sick sense of humour.

Blackie And The Rodeo Kings member Tom Wilson replaced Venom at Teenage Head's "Tigertown" performance at the Grey Cup in Montreal last month, and the collaboration seemed natural.

"I've known Tom for 30 years," says guitarist Gord Lewis. "We're both lifers in this.

"He said, 'Gord, I'll help you out with anything. Just name it and I'll do it."

It wasn't the first time Wilson had played with Lewis, bassist Steve Mahon and drummer Jack Pedlar. But the spirit of camaraderie felt between the players inspired the partnership to continue. The group (and whatever other friends they choose to bring aboard) will play under the hometown-proud moniker of Sons Of The Hammer at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on Boxing Day and Hamilton's Casbah on New Year's Eve.

Sons Of The Hammer will perform Teenage Head material and songs from Wilson's past projects (The Florida Razors, Junkhouse). They'll also cover songs that inspired them over the years, including the New York Dolls' "Pills," The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."

Besides Blackie And The Rodeo Kings, Sons Of The Hammer and his ongoing solo work, Wilson also fronts "acid-folk" collective Lee Harvey Osmond. It features many of Wilson's longtime friends and members of such groups as the Cowboy Junkies, the Skydiggers and Junkhouse.

There are potential Teenage Head projects in the works, too. Lewis hopes to release his collection of old Teenage Head recordings and demos — some from as far back as 1976. Lewis and his brother Brian are also busy organizing a foundation in Frankie Venom's name that's intended to assist musicians in need.

In the meantime, Lewis is thrilled to remain on stage with his longtime bandmates.

"It's pretty intense rock 'n' roll," he says of the Sons. "Just venturing, stepping outside and approaching things differently, has been good for us."