In the NSTS interview seat this month is Eye Eye and Bill Wood and the Woodies frontman Bill Wood, talking about the songs that have shaped him over the course of this life. 

In tandem with these songs, Bill shares some fascinating behind-the-scenes details of Eye Eye’s success and navigating the pressures of their record company, his Steve Earle-inspired revelation, the early days on the road with The Oh Nos, and the many projects he currently has in the works, including a reunion project of sorts with Eye Eye guitarist Andy Ryan. 

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Friend of the show and vocal powerhouse Sandra Bouza drops by for a cup of coffee and a chat about her incredible new record, A Sound in the Dark. 

Sandra turns the tables and asks me to go through MY favourite tracks from the record, followed by an exclusive live performance of a brand new and very personal song she just wrote.  

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A few months ago filmmaker Sean Menard released his MuchMusic documentary entitled 299 Queen Street West, celebrating the history and cultural significance of what would come to be known as “The Nation’s Music Station”. 

I attended the premiere screening at Roy Thomson Hall in downtown Toronto, spoke to Rick Campanelli, Denise Donlon, Ed the Sock, Sook-Yin Lee, Bill Welychka, and other Much alum as they walked the red carpet, and offer my personal thoughts on the film here.   

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In the last episode of 2023, No Sleep ’til Sudbury welcomes legendary pro football running back Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons, a man who’s equally celebrated for both his athletic achievements and his neverending kindness and generosity.   

Pinball and I discuss the accomplishments of his charitable foundation and the upcoming “Christmas with the Clemons” gala, a fundraiser in service of marginalized youth. We also find out what Christmas songs can be heard in the Clemons house over the holidays.

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This week on No Sleep ‘til Sudbury I’m joined by writer, musician, and fellow Sudbury kid Sean Barrette. Sean has written a book entitled Heartstrings – First Guitars, and it’s a very interesting project involving some notable guitar players and the stories they share with Sean about their very first guitars. 

Of course, we also talk about the songs that make Sean’s skin vibrate, as well as the ever-compelling Friday night pizza playlists he puts together using his old iPod. 

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He’s back! 

Rik Emmett’s new book, Lay It On The Line, is the focus of our latest chat live from the newly renovated music room of Rik’s home. As usual, the discussion is funny, insightful and highly entertaining – not unlike his new book. 

In part one of our two-part conversation, the insights are particularly interesting. Rik sheds light on his motivations behind writing songs like “Fight The Good Fight”, “Magic Power”, and “Hold On”, how a Triumph album cover tried to capture a Beatles motif (but with lasers!), how “Suitcase Blues” prepared his fans for a post-Triumph Rik Emmett, and so much more. 

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I have no idea how this happened, but my pal Famous Lost Words host Tom Jokic and I taped an episode of the show in early May of this year that’s just getting up now. 

Anyway, Tom is in fine form once again, recounting stories from his interviews with Lisa Marie Presley, Meat Loaf, and the late great Gordon Lightfoot (who had passed just days before we taped this). Tom even brought along a clip of Gino Vannelli telling him the amazing story of how he was signed by Herb Alpert. Enjoy, and be sure to check out the podcast Tom co-hosts with Christopher Ward, Famous Lost Words. It’s a fantastic listen. 

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The previous episode of little known behind-the-scenes facts about your favourite rock artists and records that aired a little while back was so popular with you guys that I decided to do another one. 

This time around, we look at stuff like what the actual “song from 1962” referenced in Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” is (and that it was in fact from 1963), how OMD and Depeche Mode’s influence over ZZ Top resulted in the biggest hit record of their career, what that strange noise is at the beginning of The Police’s “Roxanne”, and SO much more!    

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Speaking of The Redwood Theatre…

It was the site of my conversation with my pal Rob Preuss as we talked about his exciting new project, Rob Preuss and Friends. This episode was taped back in April, but I explain why in the intro – before Rob does his own show intro (and outro at the end of the show). 

If you’re in the Ottawa area this weekend, you can see the Rob Preuss and Friends show at Bar Robo on Saturday July 22. He also plays the El Mocambo on Saturday, August 26th. Don’t miss it!   

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I knew it would be enjoyable, but I have to say that this was one of my favourite all-time NSTS conversations. Songwriter to the stars Rob Wells joins me at my home this week, and the musical geek out session we have is off the charts. 

In addition to bringing in some fantastic songs, Rob shares his astonishing story about how a kid from Peterborough was eventually tapped to write songs with Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nick Lachey, The Backstreet Boys, and Weezer. We also discuss his imaginary finger theory, and the similarities between Neil Degrasse Tyson and Bruce Springsteen. Do NOT miss this. 

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