No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen

Back by popular demand this week is insights guru, semiotician, and NSTS listener favourite Charles Leech!    This time around Charles uses the concept of synesthesia, which is the crossing over of intrapersonal senses, as a platform to discuss his musical insights. Once again, his perspectives and acumen are absolutely mind-blowing, to the point where you may find yourself mouthing the word 'wow'...

Want to hear some incredible rock and roll stories from a guy who was right there, collaborating with The Pogues, Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads, and others? My guest this week is that guy, three-time Grammy winner and five-time Juno winner, mister Chris Birkett. Chris was the chap responsible for producing Sinead O'Connor's smash hit "Nothing Compares 2 U", after having worked with Steve Earle, Alis...

I'm thrilled to host the great Kevin Breit this week on NSTS. Kevin has played guitar alongside the likes of Celine Dion, Norah Jones, Marc Jordan, and so many others.  I was particularly happy to have Kevin in because he grew up in the same Northern Ontario small town I did a few years before, and after he left he was mythologized up there during my teen years. I really enjoyed the chat we had ab...

Indie singer songwriter Jordan Paul is an exciting young talent with an awesome voice and smart songs, and he drops by the NSTS studios this week with his guitar.        In between performances of two of his songs, we chat about Indian classical music, Radiohead's lesser-known records, skateboard videos, his favourite musical moment, Mazzy Star, and what awaited him at a mysterious Starbucks meetu...

Singer songwriter Laura Repo drops by the NSTS studios this week with a vinyl copy of her new record This Is My Room. She also brought her guitar, and she treats us to a song from the album, "Too Soon To Miss You". Check it out.      Repo's playlist: Billie Holliday - I Thought About You Koko Taylor - Honky Tonky Liz Phair - Stratford on Guy Murray McLachlan - Down By The Henry Moore John Holt - T...

Welcome back to my chat with storied drummer David Quinton Steinberg. Last week we didn't get to his songs, and so this week we get right into his playlist.  The insights continue, as David recounts his fondness for his favourite Beatles track, Stiv Bators' personal conspiracy theories, his first encounter with Frank Zappa, who the last real rock star is in his opinion, his chat with Gene Simmons,...

This week's NSTS guest has played drums with The Mods, punk legends Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys, and then Strange Advance and The Jitters. Now, he's Rush's lawyer. His name is David Quinton Steinberg, and he obviously has a lot to talk about.  Which is why this is only part one of our chat. We don't even get to David's songs until part two for all of the amazing stories and insights he shares ab...

Bermudian songstress Heather Nova is my guest this week on NSTS. She grew up on a sailboat in the Caribbean, and her songs appear on the soundtracks of The Crow and I Am Sam, and on shows like Dawson's Creek. Her new record, called Pearl, drops on June 28. Heather's list is full of skin-vibrating tunes, and we chat about Kris Kristofferson's advice to Joni Mitchell, Heather's reggae musician broth...

This week on NSTS, the great Blair Packham returns to the show for his third time, and he brings his guitar with him. We have a lengthy chat about all sorts of things, including No Sleep 'til Sudbury's upcoming first-ever live audience recording at Hugh's Room in Toronto on Thursday, June 27 featuring Carole Pope and Rob Preuss (get yer tickets at hughsroomlive.com!) In addition to a great chat ab...

Singer songwriter Lily Frost is one in a million. She's funny, super talented, insightful, and an absolute blast to have on the show.  Lily's new record Retro Moderne drops June 7, and we chat about it before getting into the songs that make her skin vibrate, along with all the topics that arise from them - Joni Mitchell's grumpiness, The Dirts, Pinochet, guys who sing in falsetto, the Seattle Fre...

You won't meet many people more genuinely passionate about music than my pal and friend of the show Bob Mayo. He joins me from Massachusetts this week with a new batch of songs that make his skin vibrate, and as always, he enlightens me on a few things.       Bob can always be counted on to bring in fascinatingly obscure tracks, because he's a believer in us discovering music we may have never hea...

I was delighted to be joined in studio this week by Chalk Circle vocalist and guitarist Chris Tait. I listened to him a lot as a teen (still do), so it was great to have him in for a conversation about his playlist AND my favourite Chalk songs.  I won't spoil it, but Chris does something really cool with his playlist here. Every song has a place on the list for a very specific reason, and I was im...

Juno award-winning musician, producer, songwriter, and actor Marc Jordan joins me this week to talk about the songs that make his skin vibrate.  Marc has written songs for Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Cher, and others, and we talk about that and some other stuff too - like why we love the art that we do, the band he plays in with Murray McLauchlan and Ian Thomas, how "Walk On The Wild Si...

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Kings' guitarist and founder, Mister Zero!  Everybody knows The Kings megahit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide". This week, band founder Mister Zero drops by to talk about how the song came together, why it's two songs in one, Bob Ezrin's contribution to the recording to the song, The Kings appearance on American Bandstand, the night he and Kings singe...

In episode 106, international woman of mystery Audra Santa makes her return to No Sleep 'til Sudbury. And, she brought an electric guitar and an amp with her! This time around, Ms. Santa and I chat about her upcoming gigs, her chance encounters with various Barenaked Ladies, the mystique of Kate Bush, Arkells' very noble Juno gesture, and the examination of her dark side. All this and a live perfo...

It was my privilege to welcome legendary Canadian musician Murray McLauchlan to the show this week. I grew up listening to his music, and he's an engaging conversationalist with some pretty terrific stories.  Join us as we talk about the unique musical charity Murray supports, the time John Prine opened up for him, his insightful interpretations of Ray Charles, his opinion of grunge, why Blossom D...

Dr. Gillian Turnbull, professor and author of Sonic Booms: Making Music in an Oil Town, returns to the NSTS studios this week with a whole new batch of tunes to talk about. It's always fun to host Gillian - she's a really smart woman who really feels music.  Listen in as the good doctor discusses Kathleen Edwards' gift, the life of a cowboy, her love of yodelling, a topless Neko Case, who she want...

97.7 HTZ-FM music director and on-air personality Siobhan Woodrow joins me this week to chat about a most impressive list of skin-vibrating tunes.  The HTZ-FM website says she loves punk rock, and she clearly does - L7, Rancid, and Mr. Bungle grace her list - but it's balanced with songs by Stevie Wonder, Janis Joplin, and Lauryn Hill. She explains this perspective during our chat, in addition to...

My guest on NSTS this week, singer Stacey Kay, is no stranger to the spotlight. She's advanced to the final rounds of America's Got Talent, performed live at Massey Hall with k.d. lang, and has been praised by the likes of Fergie and David Foster. She's also a proponent of positive body image and speaks on the topic at schools.  During our chat, Stacey tells some great stories about going viral wi...

Juno-nominated jazz songstress Barbra Lica joins me in the NSTS studios this week for show number 101. CBC Radio 2 recently called Barbra one of Canada's top female jazz singers, and you'll see why after listening to her perform at the end of this episode. Barbra brings with her a fine assortment of tasteful songs, some of which I've added to my own personal playlist. I've also been playing her si...

I thought it would be prescient to celebrate the one hundred episode milestone with a look back at some of the great moments that took place on the way to getting here. Of those there were many, and while I regret not being able to include them all, I did gather a good number of them for this special retrospective. There are laughs, tears, insights, insults, interesting facts, and some incredible...

NSTS episode 99 features Ashley Jane and Timor Wientzek of folk pop duo In The City. It's always a treat to have organic musicians on the show, and these two did not disappoint. They were good enough to perform their current single "Best Time", a moving song about loss.     During their visit, we chatted about Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift, Jon Bon Jovi's mp3 dilemma, Tragically Hip lyrics, Tim...

The happiest person on planet Earth, singer Suzi Kory, returns to the NSTS studios this week to chat about all sorts of fun things.  It's always a pleasure to host Suzi, and during this episode she catches us up on everything she's currently doing - her foray into country music, the video shoot for her latest single Pretty Little Things, learning to play guitar, and who her girl crush is. Bonus: I...

This episode is definitely for the low-fi indie rock crowd. I travelled to Seattle late last year and chatted with co-founder of premier indie label Barsuk Records Barry Gordon at the Starbucks Center. My good pal Kevin 'Wyatt' Reid also drops in for a few laughs. Barry's music IQ is deep and sophisticated, and we talk about his role in discovering Death Cab for Cutie, watching Arcade Fire ascend...

This week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury we welcome Canadian Folk Music nominee and super cool lady Andrea Ramolo. She's currently touring her newest record Homage, a collection of Leonard Cohen songs, and she was good enough to take a few minutes to chat with me about the songs that make her skin vibrate. Andrea is a self-proclaimed 'lover of the darkness' in music, and her playlist reflects it. We hav...