No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

I finally talked former Tragically Hip manager Jake Gold into coming to the studio to do a NSTS episode.  As you can imagine, he told some terrific stories - about how he came into contact with the Hip for the first time, what the Road Apples record was originally supposed to be called, the dark stories surrounding "Locked in the Trunk of a Car". But also the special reason why a Cat Stevens song made his list, and what he and Andy Frost thought of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". Don't miss this.        Gold's playlist: Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes The Tragically Hip - Locked in the Trunk of a Car Bob Marley - the Redemption Song Cat Stevens - Father and Son Genesis - Supper's Ready

I have so much in common with Steve Jones. We both grew up in small towns in Northern Ontario, used music to cope through our small town isolation, went on to write music-based books, and now we both speak on what can be learned from music and applied to various aspects of work and life. And this week, we sit down and shed light on our intriguing similarities. We chat about Sudbury, The Violent Femmes, Bob Marley's Canadian connection, the story behind that little laugh that can be heard if you listen closely at the beginning of The Police's "Roxanne", and how the music we both chose offered Steve and I the community we desperately needed as kids. A truly enjoyable conversation for me.    Jones' playlist: Morrisey - Suedehead Bob Marley - Redemption Song The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns, and Money Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run

This week marks the first time I've ever hosted a full band in the NSTS studios, and that band was the very talented Jessica Rhaye and the Ramshackle Parade. Jessica's new record Just Like A Woman dropped last month, and the band stopped in to talk about it and also to discuss some skin-vibrating songs - each band member brought in one each. They wrap the show by playing Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" live, and you're not going to want to miss it. It's damn good.            Rhaye's playlist: Robyn Hitchcock - 1974 (Chris)  Joe Henry - Our Song (Clinton) John Hartford - The First Girl I Loved (Bill) Buffy Sainte Marie - You Got To Run (Sandy) Jann Arden - Unloved (Jessica) 

My pal Kevin Comeau, guitarist of Crown Lands, drops in this week for an impromptu chat on the latest with the band and what it's been like opening up for Jack White and Rival Sons across North America.He came up with his song list on the drive over.            As always, Kev and I have a great chat, and after we talk about Crown Lands heading down to Nashville to record the new album, the conversation goes into some interesting places - his interest in coffee on tour, why Saskatchewan is so underrated, Jack White's vocal warmup routine, The Goonies, Tool and modal jazz, and if bands were sandwiches, what Crown Lands, Motorhead, and Queensryche would be. I love this guy.      Comeau's playlist: All Them Witches - Am I Going Up Elder - Dead Roots Stirring John Carpenter - Escape From New York Soundtrack Haim - Nothing's Wrong         

I've been talking forever about music's ability to elicit an emotional response. My guest this week is musician Rob Carli, and he's created a special campaign that embodies this very idea - The Awesome Music Project.  Rob and his business partner Terry Stuart created The Awesome Music Project as a collection of stories detailing music's transformative impact on people, which eventually developed into a book and a campaign whose goal is to build a community that can accelerate mental health solutions using music. The book is incredible, full of stories from celebrities and everyday people alike, who have been positively impacted by music in some way. It launches everywhere Thursday October 10, Mental Health Day, and it's available for pre-order on the AMP website. This is a great cause, one I fully endorse. Buy the book now!         Carli's playlist: Skye Wallace - Not Ready for This To Start Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song Rheostatics - Queer Tame Impala - Led Zeppelin Anderson Paak - Make It Better Aretha Frank

Garage rockers Alissa Klug and Brendan Albert of Queens & Kings join me on the show this week, celebrating the release of their hot new single and video "You Got Me".     We play a snippet from the single and talk about some songs that make their skin vibrate, along with other stuff like stage fright, photography, Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder, and where the intensity in their music really comes from. Check it out.    Queens & Kings playlist: PJ Harvey - Grow Grow Grow The Kills - Last Day of Magic Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows Bucky James & Alissa Vox Raw - Walkin' the Fine Line

Julian Taylor drops by the NSTS studios this week to talk skin-vibrating tunes. His new record Avalanche is a funk and soul tour de force, and if you haven't heard it yet, you should. Julian is a super talented musician and songwriter who should be a lot bigger than he is.  We chat about his old band Staggered Crossing, a band I've loved since the late 90s, and lots of other stuff - the Funk Brothers, what sounds good and what doesn't sound good driving in his new '66 Mustang, bagpipe solos, hanging with Noel Gallagher, and more. But my favourite part of his visit was him playing an acoustic version of Staggered tune "Further Again". You're gonna love it.              Taylor's playlist: Sturgill Simpson - All Around You Mipso - People Change The Frighteners - Nothing More To Say Greyhounds - What's On Your Mind John Farnham - You're the Voice  

No Sleep 'til Sudbury is back with Canada's Queen of Punk, Bif Naked!  Bif's achieved a lot of things - topping charts with hit singles, beating cancer, and performing in Lilith Fair to name a few. We talk about the 20th anniversary of Lilith Fair and lots more - Desmond Child, New Wave, where I Bificus came from, Sudbury, protest songs, Iron Maiden and Madonna, and her upcoming seniors burlesque school. I love this woman.     Naked's playlist: Foxy Brown - Hot Spot Asking Alexandria - Moving On Grimes - Realiti Tarkan - Kuzu Kuzu Belly - Now They'll Sleep Youssou N'Dour - No More New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle  

My guest this week is Brainsights CEO Kevin Keane, whose organization measures brain activity and more specifically, emotional and physiological reactions to stimuli. Fascinating stuff. Not surprisingly, Kevin also possesses a massive appreciation for the propensity for music to make our skin vibrate, and he shares some incredibly personal experiences he's had in this regard. Conversations like this one define why I do this show.           Keane's playlist: Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey  Elton John - Your Song Radiohead - High and Dry Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer Pearl Jam - Black Fela Kuti - Suffering and Smiling 

The conclusion of my discussion with Twisted Sister founder and guitarist John 'Jay Jay' French airs this week, and what a discussion it was. His playlist is centred around John's summer spent in London in 1972 and the music he experienced there, but the span of our discussion is limitless.  We talk about motivational speaking, the similarities of our top five records, continued reinvention, the one question he would ask The Beatles, riding a stolen motorcycle on Broadway in New York in the 60s, his perspectives on previous Twisted Sister members who abused alcohol, the details behind each of the six beers he's ever had over the course of his life, and how The Rolling Stones and his other records got him through the day. He's also a stickler for music trivia, and he tests my knowledge on the British Invasion (spoiler alert - I fail).    French's playlist (Part II): Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up Curtis Mayfield - Super Fly The Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone

He's back! Twisted Sister founder and guitarist John Jay Jay French joins me via Skype this week for part one of a very lengthy chat about all manner of musical things. In part one, John and I talk about the recording of Twisted Sister record Under The Blade at the site of The Battle of Hastings, best of Beatles versus best of Stones, his guitar collection, four hundred thousand dollar turntables, the summer he spent in England in 1971, and so much more. And that's only part one!   French's playlist (part one): The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story The Who – Baba O’ Riley    

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' as you listen, likely more than once. Prepare to be fascinated, friends.          Leech's playlist: Heaven 17 - Let Me Go Journey - Don't Stop Believing Bjork - All is Full of Love Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy Michael Kiwanuka - Cold Little Heart     

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, Alison Moyet, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and David Bowie's producer Tony Visconti. The stories he tells during his visit are incredible - jamming with Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin, the hilarious way he met Peter Gabriel, the recording technique Sinead absolutely hates, and so much more. Oh, and his band Love Affair is responsible for that megahit "Everlasting Love". You don't want to miss this.     Birkett's playlist: Love Affair - Everlasting Love Omaha Sheriff - Clothes Horse Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U Steve Earle - Johnny Come Lately Buffy Sainte Marie - Starwalker Chris Birkett - Be Creative (2019 remix)    

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 about his incredible and tasteful playlist. His musical acumen is staggering, his stories are fascinating, and his new record Stella Bella Strata is unbelievably good.      Breit's playlist:  Bob Dylan - Brownsville Girl King Curtis - Whiter Shade of Pale Randy Newman - Wandering Boy Rosetta Thorpe - Didn't It Rain Mary Gauthier - I Drink Hawksley Workman - We're Not Broken Yet Joni Mitchell - Sunny Sunday

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 meetup.       Paul's playlist: David Bowie - Five Years Bob Dylan - It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Sharon Van Etten - We're Fine Elliott Smith - Everything Means Nothing To Me Radiohead - Paranoid Android  Death in Vegas - Help Yourself Nat Bhairav - Hundstani Raag  

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 - Treasure of Love Joan Armatrading - Get in Touch With Jesus Dolores Keane and John Faulkner - Johnny Lovely Johnny   

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, the grim details behind Rush's "Nobody's Hero", David Bowie's connection to punk, and David's "Karmic Boomerang" theory.            Steinberg's playlist: The Beatles - Penny Lane Badfinger - Baby Blue Frank Zappa - Peaches En Regalia David Bowie - Life On Mars Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer Rush - Nobody's Hero Blair Packham - Proof     

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 about hanging out with Dee Dee Ramone, getting spit on during shows, playing The Horseshoe during The Garys era, and what it was really like to be at the forefront of the punk and new wave movement as it was unfolding. Don't miss this.               

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 brother Mishka, seeing Patti Smith live, Neil Young's guitar solos, and our introductions to Kate Bush. Next time she's bringing her guitar.     Nova's playlist: Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Come Over Neil Young - Like A Hurricane Patti Smith - Dancing Barefoot Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill Joni Mitchell - All I Want Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees Mishka - Above The Bones    

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 about The Boss, sticking it to The Man, how Tom Petty came up with "Swingin'" on the spot, heroin, and John Prine, he also performs a Springsteen classic, some of his own tunes, and a Dylan song to close out the show that chokes me up.     Packham's playlist: Bruce Springsteen - The River Tom Petty - Swingin' The Isley Brothers - Fight The Power Public Enemy - Fight The Power John Hiatt - Learning How To Love You