"My mom got me into Rush. It's one of those relationships with a band that [I've] been listening to since I was a kid. I respect their longevity. But I also kind of relate to [drummer] Neil Peart, the way he had these literary aspirations with their music. I relate to that in a big way." - Conrad Keely, Trail Of Dead, Baltimore Sun, May 5, 2011
"The Who were always a major influence on everything that Rush ever did, from the very start. While I'd never question the Beatles' right to be regarded as the greatest songwriters in history, nonetheless what Townshend did with the Who made more of a mark on us. What he's generated is an amazing body of work, with songs so diverse yet also connected by the fact that we're dealing with a man who wasn't ever afraid to give us a glimpse into his world, his thought process, (and) the way he dealt with his problems...(He) made me aware that it was OK to for a great musician to prove he wasn't infallible. That's great quality we've never forgotten in Rush...It's so hard to choose just one song to represent what he's all about. The choice would come down to 'Pictures Of Lily,' 'I Can't Explain,' or 'Run, Run, Run.' They're all so different, yet also have that unmistakable strand of Townshend running through them." - Alex Lifeson, Classic Rock, May 2011 - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
"The Woodshed Orchestra is an ecstatic soul-filled communal multi-headed celebration emancipation experience. The Woodshed will take you higher and make you feel the love you need to succeed. Yes it will. The Woodshed will light up your tree, push all the right buttons, stroke your ego till you come to your senses and start to sing and dance with visions of sugar plum love making times dancing in your mind that seem so real to the taste, touch and feel that you'll shout in happiness and cry tears of joy for being alive." - The Woodshed Orchestra
Rush And Philosophy, by long time Rush and philosophy author Durrell Bowman and co-editor Jim Berti is now shipping. The 288 page paperback book is an anthology of articles and synopses on the topic of Rush and Philosophy. The book's introduction, "Listen to My Music, and Hear What It Can Do" by Jim Berti and Durrell Bowman, as well as a complete listing of the book's contents is now available on Bowman's website. - Thanks to Mark Stench, RushIsABand and John at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!"Rush and Philosophy is a fascinating look at the music and lyrics of the band, setting out to address thought-provoking questions. For example, elements of philosophical thinking from the likes of Jean Paul-Sartre, Ayn Rand, and Plato can be found in Peart’s lyrics; does this make Peart a disciple of philosophy? In what ways has technology influenced the band through the decades? Can there be too much technology for a power-trio? Can listening to Rush’s music and lyrics lead listeners to think more clearly, responsibly, and happily? Is the band’s music a 'pleasant distraction' from the singing of Geddy Lee? In what ways is Rush Canadian? How can a band that has been referred to as 'right-wing' also criticize big government, religion, and imperialism?Bowman and Berti first announced they were putting together an anthology of articles and synopses on the topic of Rush And Philosophy back in June 2009.
"Rush and Philosophy is written by an assortment of philosophers and scholars with eclectic and diverse backgrounds who love Rush’s music and who 'get' the meaning and importance of it. They discuss Rush with the enthusiasm of fans and the seriousness of college professors. The book will be a must-read for the many fans who have long known that Rush deserves as much respect as the ideas, concepts, and puzzles about human existence they write and compose music about."
"My April travels with Michael on this sequel to last year's Time Machine tour carried us from Florida up to Quebec—thirteen shows and 3,800 miles of motorcycling between them. The weather varied from warm and blossoming across Tennessee to a polar wasteland in Ontario." - Neil Peart
"You Will Not Believe This! It is true, in the next few weeks we will tell you how to purchase the original master recordings of RUSH-2112 and how you can listen to Neil’s drum track only, the band with Neil or the band only, and record yourself on drums with Geddy and Alex. You have to be a Newsletter subscriber to get access, so tell your friends to join the DC Newsletter. More about this coming soon!" - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!
"Collected here are some of the band members' thoughts on why their chemistry remains strong after 43 years." - Gibson.com, April 27, 2011
The National Post has added a new interview with Neil Peart regarding his new book, Far and Away: A Prize Every Time:It's a wet, white blizzard in downtown Toronto and the waterfront is as deserted as it's ever been. But just around the corner sits arguably the most skilled drummer in the history of rock (at one point, at least). Rush's Neil Peart sits casually in front of an elaborate copper-plated drum kit, respectfully examining each drum head. "Everything's been custom-made," he says, tracing his fingers over African drums, Indian drums, valves and electronic pads. "I was a part of the whole concept process. … I went over 200 different samples [before] choosing these ones for my solo."
Peart looks older than most Fly by Night fans would remember, but he's aged well, built as solid as his drums, with a baritone voice to match. As the prolific drummer of Rush, one of the most successful rock bands to come out of Canada, Peart could easily just coast on his musical legacy. But rock is only one of his passions. In May, after the release of Far and Away: A Prize Every Time, Peart will have authored five books.
"BU2B/Caravan will be released as a limited edition 7" vinyl for Record Store Day in the US & Canada. Limited to only 3,000 copies, the 7" will be on colour vinyl - with either red or white along with a lyric insert." - Rush.com , March 11, 2011
After Donna Halper gave 'Working Man' a spin on WMMS, Rush's career took off: "'As soon as I dropped the needle on 'Working Man,' I knew this was a perfect record for Cleveland,' she said. 'It was a working-class town...I remember a city where Republic Steel would literally light the sky on fire at night with pollution.' Phones at the radio station were lighting up, too, with requests for Rush. The buzz soon led to a record deal for the band, which singled out Halper for special thanks in the liner notes of its self-titled debut album...Halper, 64, left Cleveland in 1975 to become director of artists and repertoire at Mercury Records in New York City. She hasn't returned here since then - until now. With a special invitation from Rush, Halper is planning to catch tonight's show at The Q." - Cleveland.com, April 15, 2011
The Girl Who Loved Rush: Donna Halper: "On the occasion of the band's show at The Q—which will be filmed for later DVD release—The Cleveland Sound chatted with a longtime Rush confidante who has North Coast connections that go way back...'Moon Records, yes. Oh, God—the ugliest cover [laughs]. Oye, oye. It was red. I still have the thing—I never parted with it. People ask me all the time, 'Would you sell it?' I'm like, no! Absolutely not. If you look online there's a few pictures of me holding that cover. If you friend me on Facebook you can see it. You'll see me with a couple other fans, and I'm holding the original Rush cover. So yeah, it came in your basic plain brown envelope from a friend of mine—Bob Roper. The bottom line is, I was never expecting to receive it. I didn't know who the band was. And Roper—who I'm still in touch with now and then—was the record promoter of A&M in Canada. That's the label that was co-owned by Herb Alpert, who has had many hits for many years. And they passed on it. But Roper heard something and thought it was a good record, and I had a reputation for both playing new artists as music director, and also for playing Canadian artists. I'd played a number of Canadian artists over the years; I could give you names but I don't know if they'd mean anything to your audience. But he figured I'd be receptive to hearing another Canadian band. It wasn't just out of the blue he sent this record. He figured I would be a good person to send it to. Not like, wow, I'm so marvelous, but I'd already made a lot of friends with people in the Canadian music history. So I got it, and I listened, and I was like, 'My God—you're right!' And the rest, as they say, is history." - TheClevelandSound.com, April 6, 2011
The Rush Fan Film Project Interviews Donna Halper: "Late in 2010, Donna took some time from writing her most recent book on the history of Boston radio (which has since been released) as well as her dissertation and graciously invited us to her home outside of Boston to discuss that little Canadian band. She’s an amazing storyteller and I would highly recommend going to see her speak if she’s ever in your town. We trimmed our discussion down to under 20 minutes, though it easily could have been over an hour." - RushFanFilm.com, April 6, 2011
"We were there! It wasn't easy, but we made it! We had a long-standing invitation to the first launch, and always swore that we would be there no matter what. Little did we know!
"On April 9th we flew into Orlando on a day off, checked into a hotel, and slept until about four A.M., when we had to leave for our rendezvous at the Air Force Base near the Cape.
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