Great art comes from great collaboration. Simon and Garfunkel, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Lil Nas X and Beelzebub. Tom Wilson and iskwē are a match made in Canadian songwriter heaven.
iskwē is a Juno-award winning artist whose electrifying electronic pop pushes sonic and social boundaries. Engaging her Cree Métis heritage and her two-spirit identity, iskwē takes the stage with facepaint and remarkable costumes, engaging Indigenous tradition with her own contemporary style.
Tom Wilson has been barking at the moon alongside Colin Linden and Stephen Fearing in the legendary roots rock ensemble Blackie and the Rodeo Kings since the '90s. After a late-life discovery of his Mohawk Heritage hidden from him in childhood, Wilson has had an artistic renaissance, fueling an emotional memoir, recording some of the best records of his career, and emerging as a visual artist.
The two’s musical mingling first began with a song called Blue Moon Drive from Wilson's 2015 album Beautiful Scars, originally released under his alter ego Lee Harvey Osmond. The smoky driving song immediately gained new wheels as Wilson’s soft baritone is lit up by iskwē’s intense vocal delivery. Wilson’s great stories deserve iskwē’s powerful messages, and we cannot wait to see just how many expectations this collaboration can upend.
Biography by Liam Prost