No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

Here's the second half of my chat with Rik and Ian live from Rik's place. We couldn't talk about the upcoming Triumph tour as it hadn't been formally announced yet, and I was sworn to secrecy. But, there was so much more to cover - the retirement of Ian's longtime band Lunch at Allen's, how Ian used to get accosted by women at his shows and the hilarious commentary that ensues, the lyrics Rik and Ian chose to be engraved in their CSHOF awards, Rik's inspiration behind the lyrics of "Fight The Good Fight", and to add a Christmas flavour to this year-end episode, we wrap up with Rik and Ian sharing some Christmas party stories from years past.  Merry Christmas to NSTS listeners everywhere - I sincerely hope you have a wonderful holiday, however you celebrate. Thank you for listening. 

I joined Rik Emmett and Ian Thomas at Rik's home recently to talk to them about being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame together. This episode is the first of two parts.  The conversation was fantastic, complete with a look back on the ceremony, plenty of fascinating details about their songwriting tendencies, how Rik and Ian's mothers taught them how to sing harmonies, the fact that they both had a hit called "Hold On" (and whose charted higher), and how when they wrote their music, they both hoped it would be of some use to future generations. Was it ever. 

And now for something completely different! Catherine Fearns is a fascinating human being. Hailing from Liverpool and joining me from Geneva, Switzerland, she's a pianist, a composer, a guitarist, an author of six books, and an absolutely wonderful person to talk music with.  I contacted her because of a stunning video I saw on YouTube of her playing an Iron Maiden song on the piano, masterfully so. One of the most compelling guests I've had on the show in some time.      

Terrible news recently that one of rock's most authentic guitar players, Ace Frehley, passed away unexpectedly. I was obsessed with Ace and KISS as a kid, and they provided me with a lot of great memories from back then.  CHUM-FM producer and Famous Lost Words co-host Tom Jokic joins me in person to dig through those memories, he being a massive Ace fan as a child himself. Together, we go through our top Frehley songs and ruminate over The Spaceman's unusual life spectrum.  

The country music genre has undergone some pretty significant changes, with some particularly radical shifts coming within the last few years. Bree Taylor is an artist that embraces those shifts. She's been described as a cross between Carrie Underwood and Joan Jett, infusing her brand of country with a rock and roll grit that's getting a lot of attention lately.  Bree joins me on NSTS this week to bring me up to speed on where she's at - songwriting in Nashville, when her new record drops, her recent and upcoming shows, and what her special "Daddy-Daughter" song is (it's not country, and it's not a ballad). 

It's that time, folks. Time to set everything else aside and really think about why Night Ranger never quite reached the same heights of fame as their rock brethren.  Was it the clothes? The saccharine? The genre confusion? Tim Durling, author of Sing Me Away: The Night Ranger Album Review, is here to help us make sense of the mystery that is Night Ranger - why didn't the band who wrote "Sister Christian" and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" take over the world? Join us and find out.   

Heavy episode. Songwriter and producer Rob Wells has worked with some of the industry's biggest stars - Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Adam Lambert, and loads of others. He feels music. In this episode Rob drops by my studio and there are laughs, misty eyes, and some really meaningful musical insights.  Rob talks about how he almost killed Dave Grohl at The Grammys, the day he met his producer idols in LA, and how his very special perceptions of the first Superman movie as a 7-year-old boy in Peterborough prepared him for a career as an award-winning songwriter and producer. Rob Wells is a quality person. Listen to him validate the singular purpose of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, and see if it doesn't make you even just a bit emotional.    

In a lot of ways, the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast was created for people like this week's guest, emerging singer songwriter Becky Prokova. The range of emotions she evokes with her song selection is deep, and the stories she shares to accompany them are equally compelling - how she moved to LA to become a star, breaking swim records with Switchfoot, crashing cars with Coldplay, and her granting of her grandfather's wish.  Becky and I also talk about her newest single "Long Ride", an incredible song in its own right. I highly recommend you give it a listen, along with this episode.   

Here's part two of the two part series featuring Rik Emmett live at Black Bellows in Collingwood, hosted by NSTS.  In this set, Rik takes us through some songs by Jimmy Webb and Brian Wilson (RIP) that he wishes he'd written, along with insights into how they were composed. We also go through some Triumph material and the stories behind those songs, and wrap up with a Q&A with the audience. This was an incredible evening, and Rik made it fun and memorable.   

As the host of No Sleep 'til Sudbury for the past eight years, I've been fortunate enough to enjoy some pretty gratifying experiences. This one ranks up there with all of them.  Doing the show live in front of an audience was something I'd always wanted to do, and to do it alongside the legendary Rik Emmett just made it that much more unforgettable. Rik has always been one of my favourite guests, and as he always does, he made this night easy. I'm proud to call him a friend and I'm grateful for his contributions. Special night indeed.   

Former Jitters frontman and songwriter extraordinaire Blair Packham drops by this week to talk about his brand new record The Impossible Dream, and he brought his guitar to do a couple of the album's songs for us.    In addition to playing the tracks, Blair shares the stories behind the songs, which leads to some conversation around Canadian history, touring hijinks, and why he sometimes has to close his eyes while he performs. 

Here’s part two of my hang with Rik Emmett, live from Eli’s Loft, to talk about his newest project Ten Telecaster Tales. As always, the conversation is rich, insightful and a lot of fun.   Rik performs four tracks from the record that accompanies the book, for the very first time since they’d been recorded. In turn, he talks about performance as communion, from the smallest (this one for NSTS listeners) right up to Triumph’s US Festival appearance. He also shares great insights about the reggae influence in “Fight The Good Fight” and how he was asked to hurriedly come up with a single by the record company for the The Sport of Kings album that resulted in “Somebody’s Out There”.    On Friday, March 21 at 8pm, Rik and I will be recording two episodes of No Sleep ‘til Sudbury with a live audience at Black Bellows in Collingwood, Ontario. Go to www.blackbellows.com for details. 

He's back! The legendary Rik Emmett returns to No Sleep 'til Sudbury, or rather we return to his home studio, Eli's Loft, to discuss his new Ten Telecaster Tales project.  It's always plenty of fun hanging out with Rik - the stories, the music, the insights, the voices he can do...in addition to talking about Ten Telecaster Tales, Rik and I go way off track and talk about his violin lessons, his way-too-tight pants days, little known Beatles facts, his three wedding rings, and lots more.  Later this month on Friday, March 21, Rik and I will be recording two LIVE episodes of NSTS at Black Bellows in Collingwood, Ontario. Don't miss it!        

Executive chef and massive music fan Christian Pritchard drops by the No Sleep 'til Sudbury studios this week, armed with some great songs and stories.   Christian, a Type II diabetic, discusses his plans to develop dishes geared more towards a healthier lifestyle, and also how much the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast sucks because he was only able to talk about five songs that make his skin vibrate (he was thus granted six).     

It was my pleasure to host executive producer Stuart Coxe on the program this week. Stuart's credentials include producing CBC TV news program The National, developing the Dragons Den and Shark Tank TV programs, and working alongside Gord Downie on the Secret Path multimedia project. Stuart has since founded his own production company called Antica Productions, focusing on podcasts, television and film.   He comes to the show bearing soundtracks to discuss, and his stories featuring his work with Downie, will.i.am, Ron Sexsmith and NASA's Space Shuttle are incredible. 

It's that time once again, and this year I thought I'd combine music history and Christmas music to close out the 2024 No Sleep 'til Sudbury programming schedule.  Christmas music actually evolved from Gregorian chanting to celebrate the winter solstice and the return of longer days, as far back as the 4th century. From there, a number of eras were responsible for the gradual development of the 'carol' onward through the centuries, and in this episode we touch on all of them. Merry Christmas everyone!       

CHUM-FM producer, Famous Lost Words podcast host and friend of the show Tom Jokic makes his return to NSTS this week with a brand new angle. Tom does a segment on his podcast called "When Rock Stars Attack", a hilarious take on snippy-ish musician interviews found in the CHUM-FM and MuchMusic archives. Today he graciously shares some of these clips with us, featuring Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr, Jann Arden, April Wine's Myles Goodwyn, and a Beatles skirmish involving George Harrison and Paul McCartney. Lots of laughs and great conversation.       

Ah, the eternal question - of all of those truly great Beatles albums, which one is the best? In this special episode of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, we go through the discography of the one of the greatest musical groups of all time, and arguably, the band that started it all, to determine their best work. Which album is it? Press play and find out.   

Jazz singer songwriter Lori Cullen calls into No Sleep 'til Sudbury this week to talk about The Thunder and The Bay, her new record dropping this Friday, June 7.    Lori goes in a slightly new direction with this release, introducing elements of electronica and taking the material to new places - the songs are airy, colourful and dynamic. And with her selection of songs that make her skin vibrate, she completely stumps me - I'd never heard of any of them, a first for NSTS. But as always, it's all about the discovery.     

We'd crossed paths previously over the years, but today Andy Kim sits down with NSTS for his first complete episode. The occasion is significant - on May 10, 2024 Andy's megahit "Rock Me Gently" turned 50.  Andy shares the tremendous story of growing up in Montreal tenement housing and hearing "Be My Baby" for the first time, which compelled him to move to New York City and co-write smash hits like "Sugar Sugar". This gave way to him being handed his gold record for "Rock Me Gently" by John Lennon, hanging out with Phil Spector, Cher, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and others, and forging an unforgettable career in music.