It’s my pleasure this week to host Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s on NSTS from her home in Austin, Texas to chat about her fantastic memoir All I Ever Wanted, and of course, the songs that make her skin vibrate. 

Kathy and I have a great down-to-earth discussion about the incredible events she’s experienced in life, both good and bad. She also shares what she had really hoped to convey in her book, how music helped her to feel normal, and how that unorthodox electronic handclap found its way into my favourite Go-Go’s song, “Head Over Heels”.            

Valentine’s playlist:

David Bowie – Rebel Rebel

Rod Stewart – Maggie May

Kenny Burrell – ‘Round Midnight

The Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil

Sinead O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U 

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Happy New Year everyone, good to be back. We’re going to kick the year off with a chat I had with a good friend of mine from England, bestselling author and editor of Bass Player magazine, mister Joel McIver.

Joel’s writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Classic Rock, and loads of other publications, and in having written more than 30 books on bands like Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Motorhead, and others, often alongside members of those bands, Joel has earned the trust, respect, and friendship of countless musicians. In this episode Joel and I discuss his latest book project, an upcoming official biography of an Icelandic folk metal band called Skalmold. Fascinating, super interesting cultural learnings in this discussion. And at the top of the show, some great bonus stories about having completely unlimited backstage access at the very first Big Four show in Poland, hanging out with members of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax.     

McIver’s playlist:

Skalmold – Skotta

The Beatles – Across The Universe

Hana – Chimera

Slipknot – Eyeless

Morbid Angel – Maze of Torment

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I had mentioned earlier that I left Rik’s house after taping this year’s NSTS Christmas special with almost four hours of material. After considering options, I decided to create THREE episodes, one more than the usual two we produce every year. So technically, we can consider this a bonus episode!   

This is just all fun, fantastic content. Laughs, insights, analysis, and intimate acoustic performances from Rik, including Burt Bacharach’s “Alfie” and a breakdown of Marcus King’s “Goodbye Carolina”, concluding with a composition of his own, “Cobalt Blue”. A perfect close to the year; regularly scheduled NSTS shows resume in January 2021. 

Merry Christmas everyone!   

Emmett/Jensen Xmas 2020 playlist:

Burt Bacharach – Alfie

Marcus King – Goodbye Carolina

Rik Emmett – Cobalt Blue 

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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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