Lee Harvey Osmond - Mohawk [CD]

In his 50s, Wilson learned that the parents who raised him were not his birth parents; that, in fact, he was adopted and that his biological mother and father were Mohawk from the Kahnawake reserve, just outside of Montreal. Grappling with this newfound sense of himself plunged Wilson into a quest for his heritage and his truth. <p> The discovery of his true heritage and the culture that it carries now informs all of his art. On this fourth Lee Harvey Osmond album, Mohawk, Wilson continues down the path of his "long way home, "Wilson says. "It is my way of showing honour and respect to a culture that I'm just shaking hands with. My truth was hidden from me - I was born a Mohawk baby, and finally I'm becoming a Mohawk man," a line he sings on the LP's first single, "Mohawk". <p> Under the steady hand of producer Michael Timmins, the musician collective Lee Harvey Osmond revives the origins of 'Acid Folk' with appearances from old friends Ray Farrugia (percussion), Aaron Goldstein (steel guitar), Jesse O'Brien (keyboards) and introduces Anna Reddick (bass). The expanded use of Darcy Hepner's brass and baritone sax and brilliant harmonica flashes from blues veteran Paul Reddick and Wilson's son, Thompson Wilson, sound as guideposts behind the moody grooves of Wilson's literary recital. Suzie Ungerleider (Oh Susanna) provides the perfect backing vocal ingredient for Wilson's baritone. <p> Wilson's life has been an ongoing quest so it is perhaps inevitable that after decades immersed in poetry, literature and music he would turn attention to visual art, a language that transcends the verbal and the written. The packaging and visual elements of Mohawk incorporate Tom Wilson creations.