NSTS Episode 290 - Rik Emmett AND Ian Thomas, Part Two
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
Release Date: 12/10/2025
NSTS Episode 293 - Famous Lost Words Co-host Tom Jokic
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
After listening to last month's NSTS episode featuring the guitarists who auditioned to replace Ace Frehley in KISS, friend of the show and co-host of the Famous Lost Words podcast Tom Jokic dropped by the NSTS studios with a list of other interesting musical substitutions, featuring artists like Dave Grohl, Stevie Nicks, Lenny Kravitz, and The Doors. According to Tom, Eddie Van Halen asked a well-known female singer to join the band before they asked Sammy Hagar, who was asked by The Grateful Dead to replace Jerry Garcia(!). Lots of interesting discussion in this episode.
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NSTS Episode 292 - What If Richie Sambora Replaced Ace Frehley in KISS?
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
When Ace Frehley left KISS in 1982, a lot of guitar players lined up to take his place. Many of them, upon not getting the gig, went on to do great things. Two of those guitarists were Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora and Slash from Guns N' Roses. And, Eddie Van Halen was also rumoured to be in the mix. This week on the show I consider the ramifications of all of this - rock history as we know it would be significantly different. Sambora joining KISS would have prevented Bon Jovi from becoming Bon Jovi, and "Sweet Child o' Mine" could have been a KISS song. All of the bizarre possibilities involving...
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NSTS Episode 291 - 54-40 Guitarist Dave Genn
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
West coast band 54-40 is a group we all know and love up here in Canada. Last week 54-40 guitarist Dave Genn called in to the show to talk about their new record Porto, which drops this Friday, January 23rd. I’ve heard it, and so should you – quite honestly, it’s really good. Dave shared some great stories during our chat. Among them: his night out with Ronnie Wood and witnessing a funny Stones soundcheck moment; his piano teacher’s icy response to Dave’s fondness for Shaun Cassidy; and the very unorthodox way by which he found out that The Cure’s “Just Like...
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NSTS Episode 290 - Rik Emmett AND Ian Thomas, Part Two
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
Here's the second half of my chat with Rik and Ian live from Rik's place. We couldn't talk about the upcoming Triumph tour as it hadn't been formally announced yet, and I was sworn to secrecy. But, there was so much more to cover - the retirement of Ian's longtime band Lunch at Allen's, how Ian used to get accosted by women at his shows and the hilarious commentary that ensues, the lyrics Rik and Ian chose to be engraved in their CSHOF awards, Rik's inspiration behind the lyrics of "Fight The Good Fight", and to add a Christmas flavour to this year-end episode, we wrap up with Rik and Ian...
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NSTS Episode 289 - Rik Emmett AND Ian Thomas, Part One
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
I joined Rik Emmett and Ian Thomas at Rik's home recently to talk to them about being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame together. This episode is the first of two parts. The conversation was fantastic, complete with a look back on the ceremony, plenty of fascinating details about their songwriting tendencies, how Rik and Ian's mothers taught them how to sing harmonies, the fact that they both had a hit called "Hold On" (and whose charted higher), and how when they wrote their music, they both hoped it would be of some use to future generations. Was it ever.
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NSTS Episode 288 - Pianist and Author Catherine Fearns
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
And now for something completely different! Catherine Fearns is a fascinating human being. Hailing from Liverpool and joining me from Geneva, Switzerland, she's a pianist, a composer, a guitarist, an author of six books, and an absolutely wonderful person to talk music with. I contacted her because of a stunning video I saw on YouTube of her playing an Iron Maiden song on the piano, masterfully so. One of the most compelling guests I've had on the show in some time.
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NSTS Episode 287 - Remembering Ace Frehley
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
Terrible news recently that one of rock's most authentic guitar players, Ace Frehley, passed away unexpectedly. I was obsessed with Ace and KISS as a kid, and they provided me with a lot of great memories from back then. CHUM-FM producer and Famous Lost Words co-host Tom Jokic joins me in person to dig through those memories, he being a massive Ace fan as a child himself. Together, we go through our top Frehley songs and ruminate over The Spaceman's unusual life spectrum.
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NSTS Episode 286 - Country Singer Bree Taylor
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
The country music genre has undergone some pretty significant changes, with some particularly radical shifts coming within the last few years. Bree Taylor is an artist that embraces those shifts. She's been described as a cross between Carrie Underwood and Joan Jett, infusing her brand of country with a rock and roll grit that's getting a lot of attention lately. Bree joins me on NSTS this week to bring me up to speed on where she's at - songwriting in Nashville, when her new record drops, her recent and upcoming shows, and what her special "Daddy-Daughter" song is (it's not country, and...
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NSTS Episode 285 - Rock Author Tim Durling
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
It's that time, folks. Time to set everything else aside and really think about why Night Ranger never quite reached the same heights of fame as their rock brethren. Was it the clothes? The saccharine? The genre confusion? Tim Durling, author of Sing Me Away: The Night Ranger Album Review, is here to help us make sense of the mystery that is Night Ranger - why didn't the band who wrote "Sister Christian" and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" take over the world? Join us and find out.
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NSTS Episode 284 - Multi-Platinum Producer Rob Wells
No Sleep 'til Sudbury with Brent Jensen
Heavy episode. Songwriter and producer Rob Wells has worked with some of the industry's biggest stars - Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Adam Lambert, and loads of others. He feels music. In this episode Rob drops by my studio and there are laughs, misty eyes, and some really meaningful musical insights. Rob talks about how he almost killed Dave Grohl at The Grammys, the day he met his producer idols in LA, and how his very special perceptions of the first Superman movie as a 7-year-old boy in Peterborough prepared him for a career as an award-winning songwriter and producer. Rob Wells is a...
info_outlineHere's the second half of my chat with Rik and Ian live from Rik's place. We couldn't talk about the upcoming Triumph tour as it hadn't been formally announced yet, and I was sworn to secrecy.
But, there was so much more to cover - the retirement of Ian's longtime band Lunch at Allen's, how Ian used to get accosted by women at his shows and the hilarious commentary that ensues, the lyrics Rik and Ian chose to be engraved in their CSHOF awards, Rik's inspiration behind the lyrics of "Fight The Good Fight", and to add a Christmas flavour to this year-end episode, we wrap up with Rik and Ian sharing some Christmas party stories from years past.
Merry Christmas to NSTS listeners everywhere - I sincerely hope you have a wonderful holiday, however you celebrate. Thank you for listening.