Lay It on the Line: A Backstage Pass to Rock Star Adventure, Conflict and Triumph

From Triumph superstar Rik Emmett comes the thrilling, inspiring story of a life of rock and roll

While describing the impulse driving his life and work, Rik Emmett explains, "I was never in it for the sex and drugs -- ah, but the rock and roll. Creativity was, and still is, my it -- the truth I bet my life on. It was also, always, about play. The play's the thing ..."

Merging memoir, anecdotes, and masterclasses on guitar, songwriting, and the artist's mindset, Lay It On The Line offers insight and perspective into the many roles Rik Emmett took on. "It" was always a parboiling, psychological gumbo: and this book attempts to finally share the recipe.

It also includes photos from Emmett's own archives, plus the definitive, detailed reasons behind why he walked from Triumph -- and came back two decades later.

Rock star, it seems, was a character for Rik Emmett to inhabit ... a great gig, a catalytic door-opener ... it was a role that led to other adventures -- and these are the stories he's chosen to tell.


About the Author

Rik Emmett currently resides in Burlington, ON. The 32 albums of his recording career range from rock and blues to jazz, folk, and classical and got him into a few Canadian Halls and Walks of Fame. He was a guitar magazine columnist for over a dozen years, as well as a college music educator for a few decades. An avowed family man, he's been married for 46 years. This memoir follows his 2021 book of poetry, Reinvention. Retired from touring, he keeps busy in his studio, writing, recording, and blogging regularly.