Neil Peart on Rick Mercer Report

On Tuesday's Rick Mercer report, Rick "takes drumming lessons from Rush's Neil Peart" and they also discuss Neil's motorcycling. The episode aired Tuesday Nov. 7th, at 8:00pm and will repeat Friday the 10th at 8:30pm on Canada's CBC. Click here to view the video segment. Geddy Lee previously appeared on the Rick Mercer report in January 2004, in a report titled "Celebrity Winter Advice With Geddy Lee".

R30 Commemorative Drum Kit

DW Drums has produced thirty limited edition replicas of the drumkit Neil Peart used during the R30 tour. A new article sheds more light on the subject:

"Following last year's nationwide tour of Neil Peart's actual drum kit, accompanied by long-time drum technician Lorne Wheaton, musical instrument retailer Guitar Center has teamed up with Drum Workshop (DW) and SABIAN cymbals to recreate the legendary drummer's "R30" drum kit in honor of 30 years of the enduring legacy of RUSH. The DW Neil Peart Commemorative R30 Drum Kit delivers unmatched sound and is replicated right down to the minutest detail. Each drum is made from hand-selected maple wood with an inner ply of curly maple, while the finish is an extreme custom lacquer process that involves hologram appliques of icons (inspired by Keith Moon's "Pictures of Lily" kit) representing many of RUSH's most famous recordings and tours. Each Black Mirra Flake panel is lined with red pin striping and the entire kit including hardware and pedals are custom plated in rich 24-carat gold. The R30 kit also includes a full complement of Neil's SABIAN Paragon cymbals, which he worked closely with SABIAN to develop. The kit comes complete with 30 pairs of Pro-Mark Neil Peart Commemorative Drum Sticks, an exclusive DVD titled The Making of the R30 Drumkit, as well as a Certificate of Authenticity personally signed by Neil Peart. Guitar Center is making this once-in-a-lifetime, limited production (only 30 are being produced) DW Neil Peart Commemorative R30 Drum Kit available on October 30th at $30,000.00. For more information, visit their web site at GuitarCenter.com ." - Guitar Center Teams Up With DW, Sabian, And Pro-Mark For The DW Neil Peart Commemorative R30 Drum Kit, Harmony Central, Oct. 19, 2006

Primus "Best Of" and Mockumentary

The group Primus are well known fans of Rush, having included the YYZ intro in two of their tracks, "John The Fisherman" and "To Defy The Laws Of Tradition"; released on separate albums in 1990, they are both included on their new best of collection, They Can't All Be Zingers, released yesterday, Oct. 17.

Also released yesterday is a their third DVD, Blame It On The Fish. The DVD includes a 30 minute mockumentary of the band set in 2065, where a 102 year-old Les Claypool reminisces about the band, and mentions Rush and/or Geddy Lee on three separate occasions. For more on Primus and Rush, click here.

Alex Lifeson in "Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty"

"Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty" premiered in Canada on Friday, October 6th, and includes a cameo by Alex Lifeson in the role of a policeman. Rush references abound in the film, as the basic plot premise is the scheme to rob a change machine named the "Quiznoid 2112", from inside the local theater whose marquee reportedly lists the films now showing as "Bastille Day", "The Temples of Syrinx", "Red Barchetta", "La Villa Strangiato", "The Trees" and "Cygnus X-1".

The Trailer Park Boys: The Big Dirty film soundtrack includes "The Spirit of Radio", as well as Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson with others covering "I Fought The Law" as 'The Big Dirty Band', and Lifeson on "Liqour & Whores" along with 'Bubbles and the Shit Rockers'. Both songs as well as the video for "I Fought The Law" directed by long time Rush photographer Andrew MacNaughton, along with the film's trailers featuring Rush's "The Spirit of Radio", are available online at myspace.com/bigdirtyband. For more information regarding the soundtrack and The Big Dirty Band, click here.

Alex Lifeson on Edwin's "Better Days" and Jakalope's "Born 4"

Alex Lifeson makes guest appearances on two albums released today (three counting the Trailer Park Boys soundtrack); he lends his guitar on the track "Star 24 (No Apologies) on Canadian band Jakalope's second album Born 4, as is found on "several" tracks on Edwin's third solo album Better Days. Visit Edwin's homepage to hear "Never Over" with Lifeson on guitar. - October 3rd, 2006

"Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is on several tracks, including "Never Over" which should be a single...Edwin and Lifeson go back 10 years. The Rush guitarist invited Edwin to sing on his 1996 solo project, Victor, and that same year played on "Like A Girl" from I Mother Earth's second album, Scenery And Fish. 'He's only done me favors. I don't think I've done him any,' Edwin laughs. 'He was kind enough to let us work at his studio for a week and let us use everything we wanted - his guitars, his amps, whatever we wanted. He was great about it and he also did us the favor of coming in and doing some cameo guitar playing on a few songs. We ran the songs and he played what he felt, so we used his guitar stylings throughout the record.'" - Jam! Showbiz, May 10, 2006

"With Dave Rave Ogilvie (Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, David Bowie) once again at the helm of the project, Jakalope returned to the scene of the crime, recording Born4 at Vancouvers famed Warehouse Studio. NIN god Trent Reznor signed on as co-producer without question. Ogilvie and Phil Caivano (Blitzspeer, Monster Magnet) locked themselves away to create the music, coming together with Katie B for the lyrics and melodies...'Star 24 (No Apologies)' features Alex Lifeson of Rush." - Jakalope, June 2006

Rush's "The Tree's" covered on Richard Cheese's "Silent Nightclub"

Richard Cheese's "Silent Nightclub", the latest album by "America's loudest lounge singer", is now available.  Included is a cover of Rush's "The Trees".

"America's loudest lounge singer Richard Cheese performs swingin' Vegas versions of rock songs. Imagine Frank Sinatra crooning a Rush tune, and you've got Dick." - iloverichardcheese.com

Peart Thanks Fans

The October issue of Modern Drummer includes a letter of thanks by Neil Peart:

"When I first heard that the Modern Drummer Readers Poll had awarded me with triple honors for rock drummer, recorded performance, and educational DVD, I felt a heady mix of emotions. Pleasure, foremost, and certainly surprise, mixed with a little unworthiness. In time, that combination of reactions added up to a pure sense of gratitude at having my work be so appreciated by people, especially other drummers. 'The praise of the praiseworthy,' I call it. If anyone thinks a person ever gets 'used to' being honored, or winning awards, and doesn't really care too much, I'm here to tell you that it's not so. There are few feelings in life that equal being appreciated, and you can never get enough of it. Plus, genuine appreciation has the quality to endure, and I still feel a warm glow when I think about those three honors. To all those who voted for me, thank you most sincerely." - Neil Peart" - Modern Drummer, Oct. 2006 Issue

Roadshow: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour By Motorcycle

Roadshow: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour By Motorcycle, Neil Peart's new book written about the R30 Tour, is now available. Click here for additional information and related news.

"In 2004, the veteran rock band Rush launched their Thirtieth-Anniversary Tour, performing fifty-seven shows in nine countries, in front of 544,525 people. Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart launched his own parallel tour, riding between those fifty-seven shows on his BMW motorcycle. From Los Angeles to Nashville, Salt Lake City to Key West, Prague to Berlin, Peart covered 21,000 miles, through nineteen countries. Along the way he kept a journal of his impressions, writing about those countries, and those fifty-seven shows, with the aim of documenting the tour as 'the biggest journey of all in my restless existence: the life of a touring musician.'"

Cygnus And The Sea Monsters - One Night In Chicago

Cygnus And The Sea Monsters - One Night In Chicago, featuring Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy, Mr. Big's Paul Gilbert, Sean Malone and Jason McMaster, is now available on CD and DVD. Featuring performances of "2112", "Cygnus X-1", "Hemispheres" and "YYZ" (with Drum Solo), the show was recorded Sept. 18th, 2005, at the Vic Theater in Chicago, where Portnoy used his near-replica of Peart's classic candy apple red kit. Recreated by the TAMA drum company using their top of the line Starclassic drums, the bass drum featured Portnoy's logo, merged with Rush's starman logo.

"Rush To Judgement"

The Orlando Weekly Newspaper has printed a parody in the wake of the of the recently denied civil action by Peart & Lee against the Ritz-Carlton Naples. In the parody, a Rush fan sues the band for damages caused by his being a Rush fanatic. - OrlandoWeekly.com, Aug. 18, 2006

"Dead Rising" Game Includes "A Passage To Bangkok"

Although just released August 8th, Rush fans have already discovered that the main guitar riff from "A Passage To Bangkok" can be heard in the Xbox 360 video game Dead Rising. While fighting with prisoners on the jeep in the leisure park, the song "Gone Guru" by the rap band Lifeseeker plays. From their self titled debut album, the song includes a sample of the main guitar riff from "A Passage to Bangkok".

Geddy Lee Supports Canadian Football? - Bang Cartoon

In an online cartoon which makes light of one time NFL great Ricky Williams' signing with the Toronto Argonauts (where Marijuana is legal), a caricature of Geddy Lee makes a plea for more US football talent. - BangCartoon, June 19, 2006

Replay X 3 Boxed Set

Replay X 3, a four-disc box set containing DVD reissues of Exit…Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure Tour and A Show Of Hands along with first time in print CD soundtrack version of the Grace Under Pressure Tour, is now available (June 13th in the US/July 24th in the UK). Each DVD features new 5.1 surround sound and stereo mixes created by Alex Lifeson and Mike Fraser from the original concert multi-tracks as well as digitally transferred and remastered visuals. The package also includes mini reprints of the original tour booklets for the three concerts. For more information and related news, click here.

Geddy Lee In Video For Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie supergroup from Toronto. Geddy Lee makes a humorous appearance spoofing an American Idol judge in the video for "Fire Eye'd Boy", from their Juno Award winning self titled third album released on Oct. 4, 2005. To view the video, click here.

Blue-Jays' Catcher is a Rush Fan

"Jays catcher Gregg Zaun makes no secret of his music interests or the fact that he is a huge fan of the band Rush. So at a recent Toronto game against the Oakland Athletics at the Rogers Centre, Zaun was sufficiently psyched when he learned that Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee was in attendance. Zaun, whose first plate appearance each home game is accompanied by the Rush tune Limelight, asked the stadium audio crew to play Limelight for all of his plate appearances that night as a tribute to Lee. 'I was watching him as I walked to the plate to see if he noticed but he was talking to someone the first time up,' Zaun said. 'The second time, though, he stood up and applauded. That was so cool.' It got even cooler when Zaun took Athletics pitcher Kirk Saarloos deep for a home run and pointed directly at Lee as he crossed the plate. Lee pointed right back, which made Zaun's day. - Toronto Sun. - May 22, 2006

Alex Lifeson on Kastner's "Have You Seen Lucky"

Alex Lifeson appears on John Kastner's Have You Seen Lucky, released May 11th. In 2003, Lifeson remixed the "Facination Unknown" single for John Kastner's current band, All Systems Go!, and later performed live with Kastner and Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy at the White Ribbon benefit concert in June 2005.

"A cross between everything I've done over the past 20 years. Alex from Rush plays guitar on it and Lee Ving from Fear sings on it – so it’s really all over the place. That’s my crazy 70's upbringing in a nutshell". - John Kastner, Skiddle.com, May 18, 2006

Rush "Gold" Now Available

Rush "Gold", the latest compilation by Mercury Records, was released April 25th, 2006.  This two cd set North American release is merely a repackaging of the 1997 compilations, Retrospectives 1 and 2, with a new cover reworked from the Retrospectives covers by artist Hugh Syme.  The track listing is identical to the combined Retrospectives disks with the exception of "Something for Nothing" being deleted and "Working Man" being added.

Neil Peart's "Riding The Golden Lion"

As many die-hard Rush fans know, Neil Peart wrote five books which he distributed privately before publishing his first mass produced book, The Masked Rider. So far, only the cover of one of these private editions, The African Drum, has been widely seen, and only the titles of the other books have been known. I received an email from a fellow fan who has all of Neil Peart's privately published books. These are obviously extremely rare, and he was kind enough to scan the cover and transcribe the first seven pages of Riding the Golden Lion. Enjoy!

"Rush Beat On Different Strings" - Frets Magazine

"Rush Beat On Different Strings", a new interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, is included in the spring issue of Frets Magazine. In the interview, they discuss their acoustic guitars and songwriting, including the interesting tidbit that it was Lee who wrote the guitar introduction to "Closer to the Heart". The complete article is online at FretsMag.com.

Neil Peart, "My Laurentian Soulscape"

The January/February 2006 issue of Canadian Geographic Magazine includes a one page article by Neil Peart titled "My Laurentian Soulscape" where he writes about the songs inspired by and recorded in the Laurentiens at Le Studio. - Feb. 22, 2006