Tom Wilson pinky-promises us the Rodeo Kings (photos)

"Now I know why the only band to come out of the Sault was Treble Charger," said Tom Wilson as he performed an emergency tuning of his guitar, citing our cold weather as the issue.

"I know there's a lot of good musicians here and I'll bet they're all out of tune right now," he added over the laughter of the audience at Loplops Gallery-Lounge Thursday night.

Thus, the tone was set for the rest of his dazzling performance as he told tales of his travels, his life in Hamilton Ontario and joked with his bandmates and audience.

The 70 or so attendees were held firmly in his grip as Wilson performed not only his own material past and present, but also that of Willie P. Bennett, Fred Eaglesmith and many others he considers inspirational.

The air of high expectation was perfectly balanced by his low, spine-chilling, resonating voice, most notably during an a cappella rendition of John Henry.

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Wilson, who's been in the music business for 30 years, is the ex-frontman of Junkhouse, current member of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and is the proud owner of two pairs of the hippest pants in show business.

"I feel like I should be on stage with David Bowie or something," he stated, looking like Johnny Cash meets Johnny Rotten.

After Junkhouse exploded onto the scene in the mid-90s, Wilson fell into a life of parties, drink and drugs, stating at that point in his career that he was more interested in the band getting off the stage to party rather than performing.

But he has since given up those indulgences and hasn't had a drink in seven years or engaged in cocaine use in three years.

"I cleaned up a lot of my karma and now I feel a little more deserving of a more accepting life, I think. It took a long time to clean up my life. It took a lot longer to clean up my karma."

Although Wilson realizes what Junkhouse achieved was something fresh and new, he deems what he is doing now more important and fulfilling.

"I found that I was really frustrated because I was trying to make music in Junkhouse that would communicate with people. We did things like Burned Out Car. I did a duet with Sarah McLaughlin -we had a hit with that - we did that song and people were still throwing beer bottles and body surfing and beating the s*** out of each other, and I realized I wasn't getting through.

"When I entered Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, we'd be playing and people were listening. We'd be playing the Edmonton Folk Festival to 10,000 people and everyone would be listening, and it freaked me out. But it's something I realized I wanted to do. Actually communicate with people who have paid to come and see me. So if I end up playing here for 70 people, that's more satisfying than playing for 1,000."

Starting as many musicians do, Wilson got his feet wet at a very young age, playing the songs of his idols in cafes and coffee houses.

He began writing his own material at age 13.

Although his parents were not musicians themselves, (e jokes: "My father was blind and my mother was French-Canadian, two very crippling ways of life.") they were always very supportive of his aspirations even if they didn't understand what he was doing.

All Tom Wilson ever wanted to be was a musician.

"What I did tonight in a small room, I saw when I was about 16 or 17 in a coffee house with Willie P. Bennett. I had been to big concerts in arenas and things, but I'd never been at a concert where you could see the guy sweat, where you could feel his breath or know he had just smoked a joint or had a drink. That you were so close to him that you could smell him. And I think that smelling someone off the stage, I fell in love with it.

"I fell in love with the Canadian writers. People who were never really that well known or got the recognition that I feel they deserve who I still respect. I still play their songs."

Possibly an inspiration to every Canadian songwriter, Willie P. Bennett is Wilson's biggest influence and admits Bennett is on his mind every time he writes a song.

In fact, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings formed as a tribute to Bennett and was supposed to be a one-time thing.

Four records later, with more on the way, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings has achieved a respectable following, but more so in the US than in Canada.

"More than having a huge following, we have a lot of respect in the musical community of what they call Americana and roots music. In Canada we couldn't get any airplay on Canadian country radio although the people that are fans of ours - Merle Haggert - Buck Owens was a fan - the Cash family are fans. We were making our record and Pam Tillis called up and came over to the house and recorded with us. We have a following of traditional country artists, but we couldn't get arrested on country radio in Canada."

This could be because they're not as pop or pretty as Shania Twain, but Wilson claims it is the non-conformist nature of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings that keeps their music off the radio.

They do what they want, when they want, how they want and strive to avoid being labeled as folk, country or roots.

Hopefully sometime in the near future we will be able to witness firsthand this Canadian super-group the radio stations love to hate.

Wilson all but promised more than once during his performance that Blackie and the Rodeo Kings would perform in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Sault should be so lucky.