Wilson was born in North York, Ontario, Canada to Scottish immigrants and performed his first night club show when he was only 14 years old with Canadian reggae pioneers
Messenjah. He later led the band Tabarruk, whose debut self-titled album included a duet with Wilson and
Alanis Morissette. With Tabarruk, Wilson performed over 2,000 shows around the world, more than any other Canadian reggae act.
Amanda Marshall was once a member of the band. Following their debut, the act's name was changed to Jason Wilson & Tabarruk who released
Dark Corners in 1998 (which included the song "Icarus' Lament"), followed by the Juno-nominated
Jonah (2000) and then the critically acclaimed
Dread & Blue (2004) which spawned Wilson's anthem "Keele Street" which has been featured several times on Canadian radio, film and television, including on the Canadian television production
Da Kink in My Hair. Following this album, Wilson embarked on a solo career releasing the Juno-nominated and Canadian Reggae Music Award-winning ''The Peacemaker's Chauffeur'' in 2008. The album incorporates Wilson's historical take on elements of war and peace. Wilson was awarded the Karl Mullings Memorial Award for commitment to reggae in Canada in 2007. Wilson's life story and music have been featured many times on radio and television, including a mini-doc entitled
The Grateful Dread on
CBC's
The National with Peter Mansbridge as well as a feature documentary on
BBC Radio. Wilson is also one half of the successful Marley/Dylan tribute act The Two Bobs, alongside Fergus Hambleton, the lead singer of the two-time Juno-Award-winning reggae act
The Sattalites. Wilson is also one-half of the reggae-folk combo Wilson & Swarbrick and is the leader of
Soldiers of Song, a tribute to
The Dumbells, Canada's famous concert party of World War I.
Soldiers of Song was also featured on
The National in 2013. An award-winning author, Wilson co-wrote
Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup with
Kevin Shea in 2006 that won the New York-based Heritage Award for Outstanding Sports Research and Writing. Winner of a
SSHRC scholarship, Wilson received his PhD in Canadian History at the
University of Guelph in 2013. In the summer of 2009, Wilson served as the lone professional musician on the advisory committee alongside Senator
Pamela Wallin and others for the "Cantos at the King Eddy" project in Calgary that will soon serve as the nation's music museum. In 2014, Wilson released a full-length album with English fiddler and former
Fairport Convention member
Dave Swarbrick entitled The
Lion Rampant. The critically acclaimed album included special guests
Martin Carthy,
Peggy Seeger,
Pee Wee Ellis and
John Kirkpatrick. British folk music critic Ken Hunt called the album: "Head and shoulders, the most eclectic, catholic and coherent musical banquet of 2014 thus far." In 2016, Jason Wilson and the Perennials released the first album of trilogy entitled
Perennials. Wilson wrote the album in New York City while his wife was working at the UN. The sextet, which includes trumpet, sax, bass, guitar, cajon and Wilson on piano and vocals, is playing several dates across Canada in support of the release. ==Style==