This week’s NSTS guest needs no introduction. Canadian broadcaster Alan Cross returns to the show to talk tunes!

As always, Alan is an engaging guest – highlights include the future of rock, his new gig with Q107, his first impression of U2’s “Vertigo”, his days as a DJ, some great Beatles recording stories, and what’s buried very, very deep in the mix of Pearl Jam’s “Alive”.

Cross’ playlist:

U2 – Vertigo

Nine Inch Nails – Head Like A Hole

Pixies – U Mass

The Beatles – Hey Jude

Rush – 2112

Pink Floyd – One of These Days

Pearl Jam – Alive

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Radio and television broadcaster Todd Miller is my guest on NSTS this week, and he brings with him songs from a wide array of musical genres. I do love when that happens.

In this episode Todd and I chat about the career twists and turns of Judas Priest, radio playlist secrets, the dulcet tones of jazz artists Weather Report, the AC/DC song he never needs to hear again, and why Monty Python is good for you.

Miller’s playlist:

Judas Priest – A Touch of Evil

Gary Moore – The Messiah Will Come Again

Jeff Beck – Where Were You

John Entwistle – Too Late The Hero

Weather Report – A Remark You Made

David Gilmour – The Blue

Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

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This week we’re doing something a little different.

My guest is Toronto Tabla Ensemble artistic director Ritesh Das, in to talk about his new album Bhumika that launches November 9. Ritesh has performed with The Tea Party’s Jeff Martin, Loreena McKennitt, and other notable musicians, and he takes me through the history and cultural significance of the tabla, a percussion instrument originating in the Indian subcontinent.

Das’ playlist: 

Bhumika

Sare Nau

Faceoff

Casual

Sare Panch 

Regenesis

New Routes

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This year’s Halloween episode guest is former Spoons and Honeymoon Suite keyboardist Rob Preuss. Rob took me to a studio on 72nd Street in New York City so he could play the spooky songs that make his skin vibrate on a piano.

Rob is a ridiculously talented musician and an insightful individual. Rather than go through a specific list of songs, we go over some of the stuff you’d expect and some you may not. And I learn a few things in the bargain – like the fact that the theme song from The Simpsons is basically the Devil’s Interval, the degree to which Gene Simmons terrified Rob as a kid, and how changing the key of Spoons’ classic Romantic Traffic can make it sound like a funeral dirge.

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Country singer songwriter Kelsi Mayne drops by the NSTS studios this week, and she brings guitar player Annette Haas along to play her latest single “Woman Waiting” live.

Kelsi and I chat about her favourite place to play in Nashville, what separates Nelly from other hip hop and rap artists, what she has to wear when she raps, who her famous ‘home girl’ is, and how alarmingly different audiences are to play for today.

The internet is calling Kelsi Mayne Canada’s next great country singer. Listen to these harmonies and you’ll see why.

Mayne’s playlist: 

Wynonna Judd – No One Else on Earth

Aretha Franklin – Never Loved a Man

Little Big Town – Girl Crush

Brothers Osborne – Shoot Me Straight

Extreme – More Than Words

Nelly – Country Grammar

Justin Timberlake featuring TI – My Love

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My pal Stephen Stanley is with me in studio this week, and I always love having him in. He was gracious enough to bring his guitar with him to play two songs from his excellent Jimmy & The Moon album – if you haven’t heard it yet, you really must.

Mister Stanley brings in a collection of songs representative of his band’s recent European tour. Some I knew, some I didn’t, but I liked ’em all. Stephen shares his tour experiences through the songs, and it makes for a really interesting conversation. We also address the month-long ‘self-prohibition’ he imposed on himself following the completion of the tour, and the possibility of him breaking it after we wrap the episode. Will he, or won’t he? Listen and find out!

Stanley’s playlist:

David Corley – Zero Moon

Prinz Grizzley – Irene

Shane Joyce – The Spider

Van Morrison – Song of Being a Child

Bobbie Gentry – Ode to Billie Joe

Kate Fenner – This Divorce

Warren Zevon – Something Bad Happened To A Clown

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The very talented Christina Martin drops by the NSTS studios with her guitar player Dale Murray this week to play tunes and talk music.

Christina’s latest record Impossible To Hold is full of really fantastic songs, and she plays a couple of my faves live amidst chatting about Columbia House, Paul Westerberg, the night she became a vampire, what it was like to have Don McLean open for her, the power of Tom Petty’s lesser known tunes, and the grading system her husband uses to rate her bottom.

Martin’s playlist:

Don McLean – Vincent

Tom Petty – Room at the Top

Shawn Colvin – Even Here We Are

Annie Lennox – Love Song For A Vampire

David Bowie – Where Are We Now

Stevie Nicks – Stand Back

The Pretenders – I’ll Stand By You

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This week on the show I welcome broadcaster and former educator Stephen Hurley to the NSTS studios. In addition to going through Stephen’s skin-vibrating songs, our chat is centred around music education, and the fact that in schools, music is often a subject when it should instead be an experience.

I love talking music with guys like Stephen, because he’s an old soul that truly cherishes music for what can be learned from it, and what it can tell us about ourselves. The highlights of our chat include critical points in music’s evolution, Sting’s bass lines, Elton John’s piano playing ability, the importance of having a musical ‘pusher’, and our differing opinions involving Eric Clapton. Fun episode.

Hurley’s playlist:

The Eagles – Desperado

Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing

Vanity Fare – Hitching a Ride

The Band – The Weight

Neil Young – Long May You Run

Looking Glass – Brandy

Garfield – Give My Love To Anne

Cat Stevens – Father and Son

Eric Clapton – Lay Down Sally

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It doesn’t get much better than this, folks. Coney Hatch frontman Carl Dixon comes back for his second episode, and who should turn up to sit in but our pal Canadian broadcasting icon Ron MacLean!

I love hanging out with these guys, and this episode was a real treat for me to do. Lots of laughs and so many great music and sports stories…Lee Trevino’s response to Tom Watson’s open fly, Gord Downie’s surprise answer when he was asked if he was a poet or a rocker, the song that triggered Phil Esposito’s trade, the challenges Alannah Myles faced on the road, and much more.

All this, and we wrap up with a Tom Petty group singalong with Carl on guitar (I’m the one singing flat). Great fun.

Dixon’s playlist:

Queen – Now I’m Here

The Who – The Real Me

The Black Crowes – Descending

Alannah Myles – Sonny Say You Will

Bob Dylan – Simple Twist of Fate

Santana – The Nile

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Fleet-fingered Brighton Rock lead guitarist Greg Fraser calls into the show this week to talk tunes. Greg is an incredible player and a great dude, and our conversation was a lot of fun.

Topics of interest include technology’s impact on today’s music, our favourite Zeppelin tracks, the Sudbury-Soo rivalry, Al DiMeola, Steve Harris’ favourite song, Michael Schenker’s unique response to Greg’s dinner invite, and hanging backstage at the Junos with Liona Boyd.

Fraser’s playlist:

Elton John – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me

Elton John – Your Song

The Beatles – Yesterday

Led Zeppelin – The Rain Song

Liona Boyd – Air on a G String

UFO – Love To Love

UFO – Try Me

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