Welcome back to No Sleep ’til Sudbury’s 2020 Christmas special, live from legendary Triumph frontman Rik Emmett’s home studio.

In this episode, Rik continues to deconstruct the songs that make our skin vibrate, this week’s picks being Lulu’s “To Sir With Love”, The Beatles’ “And I Love Her”, and “Planet Caravan” from Black Sabbath. Rik sings and plays them section by section, breaking them down with fascinating technical analysis and humour, insight, and some great stories. He and I have been doing the Christmas shows for a while now, but his enthusiasm still amazes me. Another incredible episode you don’t want to miss.     

Emmett/Jensen playlist:

Lulu – To Sir With Love

The Beatles – And I Love Her

Black Sabbath – Planet Caravan

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I am SO excited to share this with you. Legendary Triumph guitarist Rik Emmett is back for his annual NSTS Christmas episodes, but in planning this year’s content, we decided we would do something different…

Rik told me earlier this year that he had exhausted his list of Christmas songs that make his skin vibrate. But, in keeping with the theme of that special warmth Christmas brings, he proposed an idea – that I offer five songs that make MY skin vibrate, and in turn he would bring five songs to match mine that make him feel a similar way. He also proposed to do two things – illustrate why these songs make us feel this way by demonstrating on his guitar how they’re composed, and, outline the science behind how our brains process music. Crazy! Nobody works harder on their NSTS appearances than Uncle Rikky, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed working with him on this. You really do not want to miss these shows, trust me.               

The Emmett/Jensen Christmas 2020 playlist (Episode I):

Stereophonics – Handbags and Gladrags

Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden – The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Paul McCartney – Maybe I’m Amazed

The Beach Boys – God Only Knows

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What better way to wrap up the Steam Whistle live on location sessions than with my dear pal, the incredibly gifted Stephen Stanley? In this finale episode, Stephen and I cover a lot of ground – his new record, his new radio show, his new t-shirt…!

In addition to sharing some fantastic skin-vibrating songs, Stephen also shares some great stories, like the time when he was introduced as “Steve and Stan Lee”, his experiences in America with Lowest of the Low, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck playing his guitars during a Horseshoe gig, and how an owl both terrified him and inspired him to write a very special song which he performs live for us. Thanks and sincere apologies to Lisa Taillefer (in fact pronounced ‘tie-fair’) and everyone at Steam Whistle for making the live on location series an unforgettable experience.

Stanley’s playlist:

The Flaming Lips – Mother Please Don’t Be Sad

David Bromberg – Mr. Bojangles

Drive By Truckers – Thoughts & Prayers  

The Weather Station – Robber

Daniel Romano – (Gone Is) All But A Quarry of Stone 

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Friend of the show and one-woman hurricane Suzi Kory drops in this week for episode four of the No Sleep ’til Sudbury Steam Whistle live on location series recorded at the Steam Whistle Roundhouse in downtown Toronto.

As she always does, Suzi brings her unique high-energy blend of engagement, inspiration, and lots of laughs. And this time around as an added bonus, she’s joined by guitarist Jeff Brown for her NSTS singing debut, performing her single “Outlaw”. 

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Back by popular demand, R&B songstress Sandra Bouza returns to the show as my guest for part three of the NSTS Steam Whistle live on location series.

Her first appearance on the show got a lot of attention, and now she’s back with a new list of songs and another searing acoustic performance. Highlights of our chat include Janis Joplin, her very unique way of forgiving others, Blood on the Tracks, and Sandra’s tendency to surreptitiously sneak extra songs into her NSTS playlist.           

Bouza’s playlist:

Andreya Triana – Woman

Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue

Jill Scott – You Don’t Know

Bob Dylan – Simple Twist of Fate

Howling Wolf – Smokestack Lightning

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Sandy Horne and Gord Deppe of The Spoons join me this week for Episode II of the No Sleep ’til Sudbury multi-show series live on location from the Steam Whistle Roundhouse facility in downtown Toronto.

Sandy and Gord have both been on the show solo previously, so we thought it would be cool to have them come in together and play, and fool around with the idea of skin vibrating songs. They attempt to guess each others’ selections, which results in a lot of laughs and also sheds light on some interesting Spoons trivia. And, they perform a great song from their new record called “Landing Lights”. Really fun episode. 

Deppe’s playlist:

Liam Gallagher – It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way

Post Malone – Circles

The Weeknd – Feel It Coming

Horne’s playlist:

Original Theme From Star Trek

Styx – Light Up

Beethoven – Moonlight Movement Number 14

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Welcome to the special NSTS five-episode series created in partnership with the Steam Whistle Brewery, recorded live on location at their Roundhouse facility in downtown Toronto. This is a cool project I’ve been working on for a while, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. 

Steam Whistle is a brand I’ve always liked, but it wasn’t until I learned more about their deep affinity for music and the arts that I became a real fan. As such, the collaboration between Steam Whistle and No Sleep ’til Sudbury was a natural fit, and I was happy to put together a series of episodes with them that showcases some of my favourite talents and favourite people – Stephen Stanley, The Spoons, Sandra Bouza, and Suzi Kory. As an introduction to this series, I wanted to speak with Steam Whistle VP and music fan Tim McLaughlin, who shares some history and some of the great things they’ve done for indie artists, as well as how Steam Whistle came to be known as The Cathedral of Beer. And trust me, if you’re into music and beer, this is most definitely a place of worship. Cheers!   

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This coming Friday, October 30, Glass Tiger will be doing something they’ve been waiting to do for more than three decades. And in what I believe is a global exclusive(!), Glass Tiger keyboard player Samuel Reid is on No Sleep ’til Sudbury this week to talk about it. 

I don’t want to ruin the surprise, and if I list the songs Sam brought in, I’d be giving it away.

So what are you waiting for? Press play already!!! 

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If you’re a regular No Sleep ’til Sudbury listener, you know that I love hosting up-and-coming artists whom I think are special. And this week, I welcome a very special talent – R&B singer Sandra Bouza. 

There’s a story behind this episode – one that didn’t start out so well, but now has a happy ending. This episode was originally recorded live at The Spoke Club on Friday, December 13, 2019, but for unknown reasons there were technical issues with the file that rendered it unusable (the Friday the 13th thing freaks me out a bit). Recently, I was finally able to recreate a copy of the episode, and it sounds great – particularly Sandra’s incredible voice. My biggest disappointment initially was that Sandra did something special for me during our chat, a totally spur-of-the-moment gesture that was potentially lost forever – but thankfully, it’s been reclaimed for the whole world to hear. Check it out! 

Bouza’s playlist:

Buffalo Springfield – For What’s It’s Worth

Amy Winehouse – What Is It About Men

Erykah Badu – Window Seat

Neil Young – Old Man

Radiohead – Electioneering

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