When the Straight contacts Tom Wilson at an Edmonton hotel, he’s feeling refreshed after an afternoon session of “adult nap time”, the benefits of which he learned from legendary punk Joe Strummer. “When you gotta rebel against the world with music, you need a little bit of time to relax,” the 49-year-old tunesmith points out.

Despite his penchant for catching a few midday winks, Wilson has never been the type of musician to slack off in the career department. After first catching people’s attention with the meat-and-potatoes guitar rock of Junkhouse in the mid ’90s, the Hamilton native hooked up with Colin Linden and Stephen Fearing to form the Canadian roots-rock supergroup Blackie & the Rodeo Kings. He’s also released two solo albums and collaborated on another one with Daniel Lanois’s older brother, Bob. Wilson’s latest project is Lee Harvey Osmond, whose music he has labelled, for his own purposes, “acid folk”.

“We knew we wouldn’t get accepted as folk,” says Wilson, “so I figured I would start my own genre of folk. We probably won’t be asked to play the Vancouver folk festival, so we’re gonna have a Vancouver acid-folk festival, and my first question to you is: do you have a barbecue and a case of beer?”

If those are the only requirements for hosting the first annual VAFF, I’m in. And as long as Lee Harvey Osmond brings the moody Americana stylings of its debut disc, A Quiet Evil, a cosmically laid-back time is guaranteed. Wilson’s current fave track on the album is “Cuckoo’s Nest”, a jazzy, nuanced story song that sees his gravelly voice quietly dropping the names of everyone from Elvis and Madonna to Sonny Liston and Robert Mitchum.

“It really is everything that I wanted to accomplish with this kind of recording,” he explains. “It has a mood that reminds me of putting on J. J. Cale records—or even, to a certain extent, Carole King’s Tapestry—as a kid. Even more so—and I don’t mean to be so bold—but Dave Brubeck’s ”˜Take Five’ or ”˜Walk on the Wild Side’ by Lou Reed. I’m not saying that I have the artistry of a Dave Brubeck or Lou Reed. I am saying that I was kind of able to dip my toe into their waters, though.”

LHO was originally formed as a collaboration between Wilson and members of the Skydiggers and Cowboy Junkies, but its current touring configuration includes Wilson on vocals and guitar, Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel, former Junkhouse drummer Ray Farrugia, and Wilson’s son Thompson—member of the up-and-coming Steeltown folk-roots act Harlan Pepper—on bass.

“I look for players who are interested in serving the music,” Wilson explains, “and that’s what we’ve managed to do with this project. There’s nobody doing any kind of wanker guitar solos; there’s nobody oversinging. I learned from the Lanois brothers, Bob and Daniel, that it’s a real plateau in your musical career to be able to perform your music without showing off. Rock ’n’ roll really is a show-off business, you know, but there’s no David Lee Roth in this band.”

Lee Harvey Osmond plays Venue on Saturday (December 4).