No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
Author and music critic Brent Jensen hosts a wide range of music fans from all walks of life to discuss their special playlists and the stories behind them.
Episodes
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 C...
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 "Ho...
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 guest...
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 ...
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...
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 Lov...
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 p...
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 a...
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 m...
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...
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 kno...
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 beari...
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,...
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 Good...
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 nev...
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 h...
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