No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen

This week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury we did things a little differently - we taped the episode live from former Triumph frontman Rik Emmett's home. Yep - Rik was gracious enough to welcome me in with open arms and cold beer, and he even sang and played some guitar during our chat.  Through 70 episodes of doing this show, I've been fortunate enough to enjoy some pretty incredible experiences. Doing R...

Back by popular demand, singer Suzi Kory returns to the studio for Episode 069 of the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast with a new batch of songs that make her skin vibrate.  This time around Suzi talks about sharing the mic with Steven Tyler, what her hidden agenda is in bringing in French songs, her plans to convert me into a hippie, Lana Del Rey's connection to Axl Rose, and why she's the Forrest G...

Talking with this week's NSTS guest Bob Mayo was a genuine pleasure. In this episode, Bob speaks honestly and courageously about his upbringing, and I commend him for that. He brings in the songs that helped him get through the difficulties he faced during his high school days, and speaks frankly and articulately about how they provided a sense of security to him as a kid.  A lot of my personal fa...

This week I'm joined by Dr. Malcolm Galloway, a neuropathologist, musician, and actor from London, England.  I invited Malcolm on the show to expand the breadth of our consideration of music beyond the typical, in the interests of how we interpret it. In our discussion about the songs that make his skin vibrate, Malcolm intertwines the emotionality of music with the technical aspects that contribu...

I'm joined this week by entrepreneurial juggernaut Terry Moshenberg, founder of The League of Rock.  Terry's a true blue old school rock and roll disciple, and we have a great chat about the Seventies, Mark Knopfler, the gypsy lifestyle, The 27 Club, John Holmes (not that one), the last real rock and roll band, and a true story Terry tells about running away to the Jersey Shore that could have eas...

Coney Hatch's Carl Dixon is one of Canada's most respected musicians, and he's also my guest this week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury. Carl is funny, humble, thoughtful, and sentimental, and it was a pleasure hosting him. I invited him to bring in his guitar and he did, treating us to a song from his new record to wrap up our chat.       Carl tells great stories from his days recording the first Coney H...

New York City author and singer/songwriter Chris Campion joins me on the show this week. Chris gets what we're doing on the show and he welcomes the result of his honesty - we have a laugh that his playlist is solely comprised of songs by middle-aged white men.   In this episode we have a great talk about the vitriol of YouTube commenters, our mutual fondness for "Send In The Clowns", electric con...

Canadian rock singer Suzi Kory is a woman who goes after what she wants. And in NSTS Episode 62, you'll see that she gets it. Suzy drops by the studio to talk about the songs that make her skin vibrate, and she shares some pretty incredible stories in the bargain - meeting Axl Rose and Jim Cuddy, playing The Whiskey in Los Angeles, and her views on what sexiness truly is. It would be a mistake to...

It's my distinct pleasure to introduce this week's No Sleep 'til Sudbury guest, former Joydrop lead singer and current Sportsnet Hometown Hockey co-host Tara Slone. Tara joins me in person to talk about the songs that make her skin vibrate, and the result is a great discussion in which she graciously shares some fantastic stories, insights, and laughs.    In this episode T and I have an emotional...

On the 40th anniversary of the release of the KISS solo records, friend of the show and KISS lunatic Chris 'The Pink Chief' Long joins me this week from Florida to talk about the songs from those records that make his skin vibrate (spoiler alert - they all do). I wisely limited The Chief to 6 selections, and here's what he came back with:   Chief's playlist: Paul Stanley - Tonight You Belong To Me...

Returning to the studio for NSTS episode #60 is former Jitters frontman Blair Packham, to cover off the songs we didn't get to during his first appearance in episode #58. Blair is a compelling guest for a lot of reasons, two of those being his great sense of humour and the visceral insight he provides while dissecting the songs that make his skin vibrate. During this week's chat Blair and I discus...

This week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury I'm thrilled to host one of my favourite guitar players from my early teen years, Autograph's Steve Lynch. Steve was one of the earliest innovators of fretboard tapping. After hearing Autograph's 80s megahit "Turn Up The Radio" in my car recently, I called Steve up to do the show and talk about the songs that make his skin vibrate.      Steve brings in some great...

Canadian veteran singer songwriter and former lead singer of The Jitters Blair Packham joins me live in the studio this week to talk about the multitude of projects he has on the go these days, and he brings in some great songs and tremendously thoughtful lyrical insights to chat about. Blair really gets the show's gist, and his perspectives bolster some great discussion. Blair and I talk about ou...

Seattle novelist and friend of the show Sean Beaudoin returns with more cool tunes in episode 57 of No Sleep 'til Sudbur y. Sean consistently brings in really great songs, often by artists I've never heard of, so it's always great and very educational to chat music with him. Sean's songs all represent an individual theme and this time around, we cover musical plagiarism, selling out, platform shoe...

It was my pleasure to host Grapes of Wrath vocalist/guitarist Kevin Kane in the studio for Episode 56 of NSTS. I really admired this band during my university years, as a lot of their songs really resonated with me and still do. Kevin still performs with Grapes, but is now also a member of The Northern Pikes, another great Canadian band. Kev and I have a great chat about the songs that make his sk...

Bob Mayo joins me via Skype from the Boston area for this week's episode of No Sleep 'til Sudbury. Bob is the former bassist of thrash metal act Wargasm, and he writes an absolutely killer music blog called Mayonoise which I highly recommend. Bob discusses some impressive insights on Cheap Trick and the oft-overlooked depth of their lyrics. We also discuss Blue Oyster Cult's relationship with Blac...

My guest this week touches on all the aspects that make for a really great show - engagement, keen insight, great stories, interesting little known facts, honesty, and humour. CEO of content marketing agency Church + State with a background in comedy, Ron Tite brings in the songs that make his skin vibrate for a variety of reasons, and the result is an extremely enjoyable conversation.  Ron recoun...

NSTS episode 53 is part two of my chat with former Melody Maker journalist Chris Charlesworth. Chris has so many personal stories about rock stars like David Bowie that I just sit back and let him lay them all out. Chris talks about Bowie's death and what it was like to be his press officer, which ABBA member had stage fright, how the bass player is the secret weapon of most bands, and the celebri...

If you want to hear some absolutely fascinating stories about Elvis, John Lennon, and the guys from Led Zeppelin and The Who, listen to this episode. Legendary Melody Maker journalist and former Omnibus Press managing editor Chris Charlesworth is someone who occupied the inner circles of many a rock star in the 60s and 70s, including those named above along with several others. Over the phone from...

Former Spoons and Honeymoon Suite keyboardist Rob Preuss is a great man and a great Canadian. And he makes his return to the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast with a fun Canuck twist! Rob brings in five songs that make his skin vibrate that were hits in Canada but nowhere else in the world (with the exception of maybe one of them). He's always been hilarious and super knowledgeable during our musical...

We made it to 50! Joining me to celebrate are legendary Toronto on-air personality Lee Eckley and rising stars Cody J.R. Bowles and Kevin Comeau of Crown Lands. We figured we'd do something a little different for the 50th episode. The Crown Lands boys showed up with some gear, and while talking about the songs that make our skin vibrate, we jammed out a greasy Queen cover with Eckley on drums, Kev...

Author of the new book The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History David McPherson joins me for a chat in Episode 49 of No Sleep 'til Sudbury . The book is an excellent testament to one of Canada's greatest all-time live music institutions, The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.  We discuss the 70th anniversary of the 'Shoe and some of the really great shows that have taken place there, and why l...

Brother Zakk Wylde talks to me from his tour bus in Akron, Ohio about two lists of songs that make his skin vibrate - the first one is the 'exclusive' list best not shared beyond the tour bus, and the second being the more PG version. Zakk's hilarious and still a super genuine guy.     During our chat he tells some great Ozzy stories complete with a spot-on Oz impression, the importance of payola,...

In episode 47 of No Sleep 'til Sudbury , Rheostatics guitarist and prolific author Dave Bidini returns to the studio with a few more songs to discuss.  This time around we talk about a new Rheostatics record, Spanish roosters, Michael Stipe, the unsettling science experiment that was Devo, and the late great Stompin' Tom Connors.    Bidini's playlist: Ian Tyson - Gallo de Cielo REM - It's The End...

Dave Bidini is a very interesting individual and one hell of a storyteller. Despite having a cold, Dave drops by the Spoke Club studio for Episode 46 to share the songs that make his skin vibrate. He tells some unbelievable stories about Stompin' Tom Connors wearing disguises to Rheostatics gigs, what it was like to record with Jimmy Page's amp and Bob Marley's ghost in the Bahamas, and what plays...