No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

97.7 HTZ-FM music director and on-air personality Siobhan Woodrow joins me this week to chat about a most impressive list of skin-vibrating tunes.  The HTZ-FM website says she loves punk rock, and she clearly does - L7, Rancid, and Mr. Bungle grace her list - but it's balanced with songs by Stevie Wonder, Janis Joplin, and Lauryn Hill. She explains this perspective during our chat, in addition to talking about what it was like to have to announce the news of Chris Cornell's death on air, who her favourite singer is (you'll never guess), and why you never outgrow punk rock. All in suitably salty language. Woodrow's playlist: Patti Smith - Summer Cannibals L7 - Shitlist Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered Janis Joplin - Turtle Blues Elvis Costello - I Want You Mr. Bungle - Pink Cigarette The Clash - Police On My Back Rancid - Nihilism Lauryn Hill - I Find It Hard To Say Amy Winehouse - Back To Black               

My guest on NSTS this week, singer Stacey Kay, is no stranger to the spotlight. She's advanced to the final rounds of America's Got Talent, performed live at Massey Hall with k.d. lang, and has been praised by the likes of Fergie and David Foster. She's also a proponent of positive body image and speaks on the topic at schools.  During our chat, Stacey tells some great stories about going viral with a rap in a Walgreen's aisle, how she really feels about Bob Dylan's voice, what an 11 o'clock number is, and the k.d. lang Coke can conspiracy. Great lady, great conversation.    Kay's playlist: Queen - Somebody To Love Travis Barker - Let's Go Alicia Keys - If I Ain't Got You Pentatonix - Natural Disaster Justin Timberlake - Drink You Away Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind Christina Aguilera - Lady Marmalade     

Juno-nominated jazz songstress Barbra Lica joins me in the NSTS studios this week for show number 101. CBC Radio 2 recently called Barbra one of Canada's top female jazz singers, and you'll see why after listening to her perform at the end of this episode. Barbra brings with her a fine assortment of tasteful songs, some of which I've added to my own personal playlist. I've also been playing her single "You're Fine" lately, which comes highly recommended. Enjoy!    Lica's playlist: Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On Dala - Horses Melody Gardot - If The Stars Were Mine Rachael Yamagata - I'll Find A Way Gillian Welch - Barroom Girls Ella Fitzgerald - They Can't Take That Away From Me   Norah Jones - Carnival Town    

I thought it would be prescient to celebrate the one hundred episode milestone with a look back at some of the great moments that took place on the way to getting here. Of those there were many, and while I regret not being able to include them all, I did gather a good number of them for this special retrospective. There are laughs, tears, insights, insults, interesting facts, and some incredible conversation compliments of the wide array of guests I've been lucky enough to have - Stephen Stanley, Kelsi Mayne, Ron Tite, Tara Slone, Christopher Long, Rachel Sumner, Rik Emmett, Ron MacLean, Suzi Kory, Terry Moshenberg, Andrea Ramolo, Jay Jay French, Brad Jemmett, Kevin Comeau, Bob Mayo, Sean Beaudoin, Rob Preuss, Amy Sweezey, Phil Collen, Greg Fraser, Audra Santa, Jeffrey Lee Campbell, Alan Cross, and so many others.  THANK YOU for listening. I honestly could not have done it without you. Here's the next hundred, true believers.         

NSTS episode 99 features Ashley Jane and Timor Wientzek of folk pop duo In The City. It's always a treat to have organic musicians on the show, and these two did not disappoint. They were good enough to perform their current single "Best Time", a moving song about loss.     During their visit, we chatted about Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift, Jon Bon Jovi's mp3 dilemma, Tragically Hip lyrics, Timor's emotional reaction to Joni Mitchell, the pros and cons of streaming, and why Ashley called me 'every musician's dream'. Awww!   In The City's playlist: Phoebe Bridges - Emotional Motion Sickness Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now The O'Pears - Find the Sun Haerts - Your Love Big Thief - Shark Smile Big Red Machine - I Won't Run From It Barr Brothers - Defibrillation

The happiest person on planet Earth, singer Suzi Kory, returns to the NSTS studios this week to chat about all sorts of fun things.  It's always a pleasure to host Suzi, and during this episode she catches us up on everything she's currently doing - her foray into country music, the video shoot for her latest single Pretty Little Things, learning to play guitar, and who her girl crush is. Bonus: I tell Suzi a deep dark secret about Dolly Parton from my childhood.      Kory's playlist: The Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Play Nice Miranda Lambert - Tin Man Elie King - Ex's and Oh's Little Big Town - Girl Crush Dolly Parton - Jolene      

This episode is definitely for the low-fi indie rock crowd. I travelled to Seattle late last year and chatted with co-founder of premier indie label Barsuk Records Barry Gordon at the Starbucks Center. My good pal Kevin 'Wyatt' Reid also drops in for a few laughs. Barry's music IQ is deep and sophisticated, and we talk about his role in discovering Death Cab for Cutie, watching Arcade Fire ascend to fame, loving The Smiths and Rush simultaneously, how to play 'guess-the Pitchfork-score', The Strokes as an opening act, and Bowie's unmistakeable influence on indie rock. It's fascinating to listen to Barry's musical acumen, coulda talked with him all day. Enjoy!    Gordon's playlist: Throwing Muses - Two Step Ramona Falls - Clover Sugar - Explode and Make Up Death Cab For Cutie - Company Calls Epilogue Maria Taylor - Xanax Morrissey - Southpaw David Bowie - Lazarus       

This week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury we welcome Canadian Folk Music nominee and super cool lady Andrea Ramolo. She's currently touring her newest record Homage, a collection of Leonard Cohen songs, and she was good enough to take a few minutes to chat with me about the songs that make her skin vibrate. Andrea is a self-proclaimed 'lover of the darkness' in music, and her playlist reflects it. We have an extended chat about Fleetwood Mac's drug of choice, the story behind her very personal album Nuda, the song she made a point of listening to every morning, whether music matters as much anymore, 'getting clear', and the brilliance of Ryan Adams. When she comes back, we're doing an all-Adams playlist. For real.                Ramolo's playlist: Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues Jonathan Byrd - The Law and the Lonesome Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way     I Will Give You Everything - The Skydiggers Sam Cooke - Bring It On Home To Me    Glory Box – Portishead     Oh My Sweet Carolina - Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris     Be

Friend of the show and Brighton Rock guitar slinger Greg Fraser returns to NSTS this week, with quite a different batch of songs - this time around, it's all rock.  It's always fun chatting with Fraze, he's a great guy and he and I love a lot of the same music. We cover off the important stuff - his favourite KISS song, watching Poison's bass player get punched in the face, Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein approach to building guitars, Buffalo's 97 Rock, how Brighton Rock's hits were written, Mick Ronson as a roommate, and how their record company always wanted Brighton Rock to be more like Honeymoon Suite. Fraze even finds a way to bend the show rules to slip an extra song into his list, that scammer. Very fun episode, check it out.    Fraze's playlist: Thin Lizzy – Warriors        Van Halen – Unchained Judas Priest – No Surrender      UFO – Only You Can Rock Me      Michael Schenker – Armed & Ready    KISS – Flaming Youth    Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains The Same (Special mention) AC/DC – Rock N Roll Da

Audra Santa caused something of a sensation on the internet recently. The video for her latest single "Afterglow" was censored by Facebook for 'failing to uphold advertising standards'. Of course, you can watch the video and decide for yourself.  Audra is a fantastic conversationalist with a strong female voice, and our chat continued long after the episode wrapped. What was captured on the actual show, you ask? The brilliance of Johnny Cash's "Hurt", sexual empowerment, Portishead's "Dummy", Thunder Bay, Audra's work in the Indigenous community, whether skipping the first two songs on Radiohead's "In Rainbows" is necessary, and the importance of reconciling spirituality and sexuality. And if that's not enough, the lady plays a song for you too. You're welcome.    Santa's playlist: David Bowie - Lazarus Johnny Cash - Hurt Madonna - Human Nature The Boudoir Project - Naked Portishead - Glory Box Foals - Late Night Daniel Johns - Preach Florence & The Machine - Big God Radiohead - Reckoner            

Here's something different for you this week. Something I've thought about doing for a while now. It's a privilege for me to have guests of No Sleep 'til Sudbury play their music on the show, and there have been some really special musical performances across the 90+ episodes we've done so far. So I figured, why not assemble a few of them and make a unique live music playlist of my own?  And so I have. Join me as I look back on some of my favourite NSTS performances, stripped-down versions of great songs from incredibly talented musicians, played with an intimacy and a purity that made my skin vibrate as they unfolded in front of me. Maybe yours did too.                     The NSTS live performance playlist: The Stephen Stanley Band - Melinda Kelsi Mayne - Woman Waiting Carl Dixon (with Ron MacLean) - Won't Back Down Rob Preuss - Romantic Traffic  Christina Martin - Impossible To Hold Barney Bentall - Something To Live For Rik Emmett - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas       

Barney Bentall is an incredible songwriter and a terrific man. It was a real pleasure hanging out with him, capped with an unplugged performance of a song of his I've loved since my teens, "Something To Live For". Talk about skin vibration.        Barney and I cover a lot of stuff - his four-night stand at Hugh's Room in Toronto as part of a Gordon Lightfoot tribute, the sabbatical he took from music to chase cows in minus 20 weather, Springsteen's Nebraska, the very first record he ever owned, Ron MacLean's Juno Cup mixtape, and the story behind his cover of the Hip's "Bobcaygeon" as a tribute to Gord. Don't miss this.        Bentall's playlist: Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue Gordon Lightfoot - Shadows Bruce Springsteen - The Rising Tom Petty – Free Falling The Band - King Harvest Has Surely Come KD Lang - Love Is Everything The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon

Happy New Year, NSTS is back!  We kick off the year by hosting former Sting guitarist Jeffrey Lee Campbell. Jeff toured the world with Sting in 1987 on his Nothing Like The Sun tour, and he details that whirlwind period of his life in his new book, Do Stand So Close: My Improbable Adventure as Sting's Guitarist.      Jeff obviously has some incredible stories, and he shares some of them on the show - headlining Madison Square Garden with Sting, his years with the Broadway smash Mamma Mia!, and what it was like to give Jon Bon Jovi guitar lessons. Jeff imparts all kinds of musical wisdom during our conversation, and if you're a music fan in any capacity you're gonna love this chat.               Campbell's playlist: Prince – Do It All Night Dyke & The Blazers – Let A Woman Be A Woman (And A Man Be A Man)      Jimi Hendrix – Wait Until Tomorrow     Humble Pie – Hot N’ Nasty     Sly & The Family Stone – Family Affair    Gregory Porter – Take Me To The Alley   Frank Sinatra – Silent Night

Here's the second and final portion of my time spent with the great Rik Emmett, going over the Christmas songs most special to him. Our first episode from last week was a massive success, earning the most downloads of any NSTS show in 2018. Hope you enjoy this one just as much.      This week Rik once again provides tremendous insight into the writing of some of our favourite holiday tunes, all while playing portions of them on guitar. He also shares some personal details about the playlists the Emmett family listen to during Christmas, and why. Rik graciously wraps up the show by playing one of my faves, a highlight I won't forget. Doing these shows with Rik was the perfect way to wrap what's been an absolutely incredible year. Thanks sincerely to each and every one of you, faithful listeners. My very best to you and your families over the holiday season. I'm outta here, programming resumes January 8, 2019 - Merry Christmas!     Emmett's playlist: Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around th

Time to get into the Christmas spirit, friends. And who better to help us do that than Triumph guitar wiz and Christmas music guru Rik Emmett?  Rik has once again graciously invited me into his home, this time to record two special NSTS episodes featuring his favourite Christmas songs (Rik insisted it be two episodes - there was simply too much ground to cover). In addition to sharing an immense amount of fascinating musical knowledge and enthusiasm, Rik also takes down one of his electric guitars from the wall to play some of the songs that make his skin vibrate. If you have ANY interest in music whatsoever, you cannot miss this. For me, it just doesn't get any better. What a way to close out a fantastic year, folks. Enjoy!        Emmett's playlist: Vince Gill - Winter Wonderland Bing Crosby - I'll Be Home For Christmas Judy Garland - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song Leroy Anderson - Sleigh Ride   

This week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury I'm joined by former Sportsnet sportscaster and current Outta The Park podcast host Barry Davis. Barry's a big music fan (and the frontman of a Tom Petty cover band!), and we had a really terrific chat.  Among the topics covered by Barry and I are obscure Beatles facts, the future of Van Halen, what Barry's calf tattoo says, Sam The Record Man, Bowie's diet of milk and red peppers, and how Don Felder blew it. Great discussion.        Davis' playlist: The Beatles – In My Life John Lennon – Beautiful Boy Tom Petty – You and I Will Meet Again Van Halen – Dreams Green Day – When September Ends David Bowie – Ashes To Ashes Eagles – Take It To The Limit

She's a meteorologist. She's an author. And she's a big music fan. This week it's my pleasure to welcome my pal Amy Sweezey to the show to talk about our mutual love for 80s hair bands!  Amy and I have a terrific chat about the power of nostalgia, the pressures associated with forecasting the weather, Ron MacLean, suicide, KISS dress ups, Hee Haw, the Vietnam War, music therapy, and how a Tom Cochrane song found its way onto her radar.       Sweezey's playlist:  Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made For Walkin' The Rolling Stones – Paint It Black Tom Cochrane – Life is a Highway  Patsy Cline – Crazy Ron Kenoly - Majesty

This week's NSTS guest needs no introduction. Canadian broadcaster Alan Cross returns to the show to talk tunes! As always, Alan and I have a great musical chat. 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".         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

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

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