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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 it's not a ballad).

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.

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 quality person. Listen to him validate the singular purpose of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, and see if it doesn't make you even just a bit emotional.

In a lot of ways, the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast was created for people like this week's guest, emerging singer songwriter Becky Prokova. The range of emotions she evokes with her song selection is deep, and the stories she shares to accompany them are equally compelling - how she moved to LA to become a star, breaking swim records with Switchfoot, crashing cars with Coldplay, and her granting of her grandfather's wish.

Becky and I also talk about her newest single "Long Ride", an incredible song in its own right. I highly recommend you give it a listen, along with this episode.