New GarageBand Lessons Include Rush

"Today’s Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, and the space he invades is your personal computer. Well, if you’re using GarageBand ’09, anyway. The GarageBand Lesson Store has added three new lessons to its arsenal, including the classic tune by the Canadian progressive rock band. Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson contributes two lessons to the new assortment, 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Limelight'...Each lesson costs $5 and consists of a video of the artist walking you through the piece, in some cases with both simplified and more complicated versions of the song." - MacWorld.com, September 22, 2009 - Thanks to Devon Cox for the headsup!

Neil Peart on Vertical Horizon's "Burning The Days"

Burning The Days, the long awaited album by Vertical Horizon, is finally available. Neil plays drums on three tracks, "Welcome To The Bottom", "Save Me From Myself", and "Even Now" (in fact, these tracks were recorded before Rush recorded Snakes & Arrows). In addition, Neil contributed lyrics to "Even Now", which you can view here.

Even now after all these years
I think about you with both joy and pain
Even now I remember when you left
I walked all night thru the rain
Broken and lost
Swearing I'd never love that way again

Even then you were aiming much higher
Somewhere higher than you thought I could fly
Even then you were looking for rainbows
Something more than the cloudless blue sky

And now you tell me you were wrong
You never should have let me follow an empty dream
Now you spill out your regrets
Am I a river to a bitter stream

Lying awake thinking about all that might have been
I guess we're even now
I guess we're even now

Even now we're often alike
I think of you and the place we used to share
Even now I remember all the songs and the perfume in your hair
I was carried away until you cut me down in mid air
Even then there was something inside you
Something bright that was burning so cold
Even then there was something about you
Something dark that I couldn't hold

And now you tell me that your life has never been the free flight you thought it would be
And you know it's way too late all we've got is history
We know that when I lost you, you lost me
I guess we're even now
I guess we're even now
I think we're even now

Even then you were looking for rainbows
Even then in a perfect blue sky

I guess we're even now
I guess we're even now
I think we're even now
Could be we're even now
I think we're even now
I think we're even now
I think we're even now

All that summer
In the moonlight
You were dreaming
I was believing
All that summer
In the moonlight
You were dreaming
I was believing
All that summer

The April 2007 issue of Drumhead Magazine included an interview with Vertical Horizon frontman, Matt Scannell, where he discussed his friendship and collaboration with Neil, and also discussed how Vertical Horizon was influenced by Rush. Neil first wrote about this collaboration over three years ago in his "News Weather & Sports" report:

"Late in 2005, Matt and I started working on a song together, with lyrics I wrote especially for Matt’s voice — literal and metaphorical. Matt suggested I might like to play drums on that song, and when I agreed to that, he started sending me demos of other songs he thought I might like to play on. (Trickster!). So while I was in Toronto working on Rush songs, I was also 'moonlighting' on three of Matt’s songs, playing to his demos and working out drum parts for them...Through the miracle of modern technology, I was able to e-mail those recorded sketches to Matt, and collect his comments as I went along. Thus it came to pass...on June 14, 2006, at Capitol Records Studio B in Hollywood (Hollywood and Vine, in fact), I recorded three songs for Matt’s upcoming Vertical Horizon album...The following day I told Matt that session had been one of the greatest challenges, experiences, and — now — rewards of my life. That’s the way I have always felt about making Rush albums, and I have every faith the same will be true when Alex, Geddy, and I reconvene in September." - Neil Peart, NeilPeart.net, June 17, 2006

A Talk with Ian Grandy – Rush’s First Roadie

GuitarInternational.com has posted an interview between long time Rush fan Skip Daly and RUSH's original roadie, Ian Grady. Ian has stories of the very beginnings of Rush, told for the first time. - Thanks to Skip Daly for the headsup!

City Sonic Project - Geddy Lee At Massey Hall

The City Sonic Project pairs Canadian music artists with award-winning Canadian filmmakers to create short documentary films about the artists' connection to places where their musical lives were transformed. One of the 13 short films pairs Geddy Lee with director Bruce McDonald. Geddy takes viewers on a tour inside the legendary Massey Hall, culminating in his memories of the making of All The World's A Stage. The film premiered today at the Toronto International Film Festival, and can also be seen online here. In addition, you can also check out the Geddy Lee Massey Hall Flickr photo stream. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

Rush In "Guitar Hero 5" - Details Of Live Recording Confirmed

Guitar Hero 5 was released September 1st, with 85 songs by 83 artists, including a previously unreleased live version of "The Spirit Of Radio" (click here to view).

We have confirmed with SRO/Anthem that this recording was taken from an unreleased live performance in Manchester on June 17, 1980 on the Permanent Waves Tour (Producer Terry Brown, Engineer Andy Rose, mobile truck recorder- Mobile studio LONDON). Unfortunately, there are no plans at this time for a live album release of the complete Manchester show, but anything can happen...