Triumph frontman, Rik Emmett,  will release his new memoir, Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph, on October 10 via ECW Press.

He recently sat down with Metal Mayhem ROC for a career-spanning interview that covered a variety of subjects:

- How the record label essentially splintered Triumph by bringing in outside writers and questionable marketing tactics.

- Rik' s take on Phil X briefly replacing him in Triumph.

- Going to see Deep Purple in like 1973 and being blown away on how Ritchie Blackmore kept smashing up guitars.

- Stories about playing the 1983 US Festival and being cautious about having a guitar solo when Eddie Van Halen was playing later that night. Also being  initially concerned about playing between Judas Priest and the Scorpions

- A story about playing the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island in 1985 the night after the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup. People partied all night at the venue, never went home, but then stayed for the concert.

- Details about the Triumph reunion and how his dying brother brokered the deal to get the band back together.

- Sweden and Rocklahoma reunion concerts in 2008. A great story about their limo driver getting arrested for not having licenses and the local cop giving the band grief.

Rik had a dozen platinum LPs from ‘75 to ’88 as the lead singer/songwriter/guitarist with Triumph. Twenty more non-platinum solo indie projects followed over the years, ranging across genres. Six decades in the biz landed him in five Halls and two Walks of Fame, with a few ‘Best Guitarist’ awards in various categories along the way.

A published poet, his ‘Reinvention’ collection came out on ECW Press in 2021, with his memoir (Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph) coming in fall 2023.

Retired from touring, Rik still writes & records downloads exclusively for rikemmett.com. His latest (The Bonfire Sessions – 2020) included 18 solo acoustic / vocal tracks and six jazz guitar instrumentals. Rik was a Guitar Player magazine columnist for over a dozen years, taught on the Humber College Music faculty for a few decades, and is the Artistic Director Emeritus of the Songstudio Songwriting Workshop.