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Alex Lifeson on 40 Years of '2112': 'It Was Our Protest Album'
Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - March 2016
Rush Sponsor 2016 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award/Geddy Lee on the importance of music education
Canada’s music education charity MusiCounts is thrilled to announce Don Bossé of Fredericton High School (FHS) in Fredericton, NB as the recipient of the 2016 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award. Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees and multiple GRAMMY®-nominated band Rush have joined forces with MusiCounts as the sole sponsor of this year’s award, which recognizes teachers with outstanding dedication to inspiring and nurturing the musical growth of Canadian youth. Rush members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson surprised Bossé, who is a fan of the band, while he was in Toronto last week for a private shopping experience at Holt Renfrew Men for his JUNO red carpet-ready suit.In addition, in a new interview with Toronto's 680news.com, Geddy Lee discusses the importance of music education:
At the surprise presentation to Bossé, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson spoke about the reasons they chose to support this award. “When everything you have in life has come from the fountain of music, you want to spread that around and you want to encourage others,” said Lee. “Music is a fantastic way to enrich your life and to express yourself, so to encourage teachers to help young people find that in themselves is a very noble cause.” “It’s also way more fun than math,” added Lifeson.
Bossé received $10,000 plus a $10,000 contribution to his school’s music program. In addition, he will experience VIP treatment throughout JUNO Week, attending the Chairman’s Reception and the JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards, and will walk the red carpet at The JUNO Awards Broadcast on April 3rd in Calgary. For the full story click here.
TORONTO – Rush frontman Geddy Lee says music saved him in many respects as a youngster dealing with teenage angst and the death of his father.
“It was one of the first things I found that I was really good at doing,” recalls the vocalist, bassist and keyboardist. “I was kind of a medium kid in every other aspect.
“I was kind of medium at school, nothing grabbed me in terms of education besides maybe English and history … and I liked the graphic arts and things like that.
“But music was the first thing I found that I was good at picking up and expressing myself with.”
Alex Lifeson participates in the 2016 Warburton St. Jude's Children's Hospital fund raiser
The event brought in more than 75 stars, songwriters and rock legends for a weekend of golf and one-of-a-kind music events. All events that were part of the tournament sold out for the first time in the tournament's 6-year history. The tournament and its events were held at JW Marriott Desert Springs and Classic Club in Palm Desert.
Check out these extensive photo galleries of the celebrity jam posted here and here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
Alex Lifeson Appearance at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival - Video Available
UPDATE: Monday night Alex Lifeson appeared at the “Hello! Thunder Bay!” comedy show in Toronto. He also did a Q&A with Dave Bidini that is NOT to be missed. Alex talks about some early Rush concerts and is his usual hilarious self. He also tells what REALLY happened when The Runaways opened for Rush...! Check it out here:What does the funniest guy in rock do when not on tour? Take up stand-up comedy of course! The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival has announced that Alex will appear at “Hello! Thunder Bay!” on March 7th, where “some of Canada’s top musical comedians will join a stellar lineup of Canadian musicians sharing their weirdest, wackiest and most hilarious stories from the road.”
The festival’s Facebook page adds further detail, calling the evening “A one-night-only event exploring the funny in rock ‘n’ roll” and noting that “Musicians Dave Bidini, Alex Lifeson, Terra Lightfoot, Grand Analog (and more) share rock ‘n’ roll road stories with comedians Jessica Holmes, Gavin Crawford and Sean Cullen adding musical comedy and rock parody.”
Alex Lifeson Talks Rush's Uncertain Future - Rolling Stone
Today RollingStone.com posted a new interview with Alex Lifeson which you can check out here. All the news stories surrounding Rush these days basically say the same thing, which is basically summed up by the following:
In addition to wanting to stay home with his family more, Peart struggled with the physicality of touring on R40. "His shoulders were hurting, his arms were hurting, his elbows, his feet, everything," Lifeson says. "He didn't want to play anything less than 100 percent. He was finding it increasingly difficult to hit that mark on this last tour. So, all those things combined, I get it. I'm disappointed and I think Geddy [Lee] is very disappointed and we'd love to continue this tour a little bit longer, but we're off now."...The guitarist has also been speaking with Peart occasionally since the final tour date, and he reports that the drummer is "having a wonderful time" and "very happy."Looking forward to the future, Alex adds:
"Maybe next fall or something like that, we'll plan something. We took a year off before the last tour and we didn't discuss anything about the band or work, and everybody had a great time, and we came back from that." He laughs. "We're getting older and it's getting tougher, but I don't know. We'll see."
Rush featured on Ninja Sex Party's 'Under The Covers' released March 4
This past Friday March 4th the comedy band Ninja Sex Party released their Under The Covers album featuring their favorite songs from the 70s and 80s. Included on the 12 track album are "Subdivisions" and "Madrigal". You can purchase the album here, and preview Subdivisions here and Madrigal here.
This is not the first time this band has referenced Rush. They have snuck "2112" into their music videos numerous times, and on their previous album, Attitude City, is the semi-parody of "2112" called "6969". It tells the story of the band heading to the titular year only to find sex has been outlawed. They directly use the line "I know it's most unusual to come before you so...", and one of song's subsections is titled "To Sleep, Perchance to Cream". In addition, the inner artwork features a parody of Rush's starman where the star is replaced with a red Star of David (relating to the lead singer's Jewish background, which is often played for humor in their music).
- Thanks to Andrew Weiss for the headsup!
This is not the first time this band has referenced Rush. They have snuck "2112" into their music videos numerous times, and on their previous album, Attitude City, is the semi-parody of "2112" called "6969". It tells the story of the band heading to the titular year only to find sex has been outlawed. They directly use the line "I know it's most unusual to come before you so...", and one of song's subsections is titled "To Sleep, Perchance to Cream". In addition, the inner artwork features a parody of Rush's starman where the star is replaced with a red Star of David (relating to the lead singer's Jewish background, which is often played for humor in their music).
- Thanks to Andrew Weiss for the headsup!
"The Girl Who Listened To Rush" by Nerf Herder on 'Rockingham' coming March 11
This is not the first time they've name dropped the band in one of their songs; also check out their songs "Golfshirt" and "High School." - Thanks to John Patuto at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!
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