Popmatters: "Drag the Dream Into Existence: Reassessing Rush’s Masterpiece"

Check out "Drag the Dream Into Existence: Reassessing Rush’s Masterpiece" written by Sean Murphy for PopMatters.com:

"Every band, if they are lucky, is able to create a definitive work—a document that embodies their unique qualities. Most great bands, at some point in their career, successfully produce an enduring statement. Some artists, like The Beatles or Pink Floyd, are able to capture—or create—the Zeitgeist on more than one occasion On the other hand; there are plenty of worthwhile and beloved bands who have never quite been capable of distilling the necessary ingredients of a classic recording. Finally, there are those almost unfathomable works that only a handful of bands can claim credit for. These exceptional albums are wholly original yet fully accessible and remain influential and imitated long after their release."  Click here for more.

Rush Content on "That Metal Show" (October 8th episode)

On last Saturday's "That Metal Show" (October 8th), Eddie Trunk wore a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shirt which read "Hall of Shame & Disgrace", and on the back listed bands which have been ignored by the hall including Rush.  Next, the category for the weekly Top 5 was "Hard Rock Drummers", and Neil ended up as #3 behind John Bonham (2) and...Mike Portnoy (#1).  This was done tongue in cheek, as Mike was apparently intentionally left off the board completely, and he stepped out of the wings at the last moment and put himself as #1.  Mike was asked again about why he left Dream Theater, and he explained it really came down to he wanted the band to take a one year break after recording/touring for 25 years straight, but the rest of the band disagreed with him.  Guitarist John Sykes also appeared on the show, and announced that Portnoy and Sykes are currently recording a new album as a trio with a surprise bass player to be announced, and that they plan on touring.  Lastly, for "The Throwdown", everyone voted on their favorite album between Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, with Permanent Waves winning 3-2.

You can watch the full program here.

Freddie Gruber Dies

UPDATE: Neil Peart has written an obituary for Freddie Gruber which appeared today on the Hudson Music website.- Oct. 13th

"Famed jazz drummer Freddie Gruber - who taught and influenced a generation of rock drummers - died Oct. 11 in Los Angeles after a lengthy illness. He was 84. According to DrummerWorld, Gruber got his start in New York during the be-bop era, performing with the late Charlie Parker and became a roommate and longtime friend of drumming legend Buddy Rich. Gruber was also responsible for helping Rush drummer Neil Peart 'reinvent' his style in the 1990s. 'He was easy you know because he wasn't nuts,' Gruber said of meeting Peart in a clip from the band's 2010 documentary 'Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.' 'It was fun. We didn't have to go to some strange land.' The musician also taught and influenced the likes of Frank Zappa drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, Journey's Steve Smith and Chick Corea drummer Dave Weckl along with acclaimed session drummers such as Jim Keltner, Kenny Aronoff and Anton Fig. 'Dispensing the Zen-like wisdom of Yoda with the caustic delivery of Don Rickles, Freddie has enlightened and altered the playing habits of countless students...' JazzTimes said of Gruber in a 2004 interview. In 2010 [sic - correction in 2011], cymbal manufacturers Zildjian presented Gruber with a lifetime achievement award. Although Peart has made no statement yet regarding Gruber's passing, other drummers and even Pearl Drum Corporation took to Twitter to express their condolences. 'We lost the great master drum teacher,' Mark Schulman (Pink, Cher, Billy Idol) tweeted. 'He taught me twice in my life and has been a mentor and inspiration...RIP." - Spinner.com, October 12, 2011

Neil Peart Makes a Guest Appearance at the KoSA Workshop

UPDATE: Back in July, we announced that Neil Peart had made a seemingly surprise guest appearance at the KoSA Summer Camp and Workshop at Castleton College in Vermont that month.  We have now learned that Neil also received KoSA's Lifetime Achievement that week, about which Neil has written the following:

SO MANY SMILES AT KOSA by Neil Peart

Almost 20 years ago, I met Aldo Mazza backstage at a Rush concert in Montreal. We kept in touch, and in the early '90s, Aldo invited me to a Toronto performance by his masterly percussion quartet, Répercussion. I was amazed and delighted by their virtuosity, and Aldo and I discussed working together sometime on a percussion project. We never managed to make that happen, but Aldo also extended an open invitation to attend the percussion camp he organized every summer in Vermont. Finally, in July 2011, the stars aligned, and I was able to accept that invitation. And I’m glad I did—my experience at KoSA 16 in Castleton, Vermont, left me with the overall glow, “What a happy place!”

Everyone I met backstage seemed friendly and enthusiastic, happy to be there, and when Aldo and I spoke in front of about 100 attendees, the mood was positive, bright, and infectious. I noticed a lot of smiling faces in the crowd. Of course, it was because we all shared the same passion—the brotherhood of the drum—and we were all equally inspired and elevated by that relationship. Over our headset microphones, Aldo and I discussed a few topics from our own experience, and took some good questions from the audience. Then I nudged Aldo and said, “Can we play the drums now?” He laughed and said, “Yes—but first there’s something we must do.” He called out his wife, Jolan, and together they presented me with a Lifetime Achievement plaque, engraved with words that touched me deeply—kind of choked me up, really.

Then I stepped back to a little drumset, and joined a “faculty drum ensemble,” with Aldo playing djembe (he is annoyingly expert on all percussion instruments), Memo Acevedo playing bell, Marcus Santos on Dun Dun and bell, and Michael Wimberly on djembe. After an enjoyable interchange, I moved out front to join in on djembe—at which I am inexpert, but enthusiastic. (At the earlier soundcheck, Aldo had warned me not to hit so hard—I would hurt my hands. That’s never stopped me before, on hand drums or with sticks and pedals—when I’m whacking the snare and bass drum as hard as I can.)

At the end of that spirited convocation on our various instruments, Aldo played the agreed-upon figure for the conclusion, and we all came down together on the final flam. At that, we all burst out laughing—with the pure pleasure of sharing that conversation together, and ending so tightly. My smile lasted all the way home, and warms me yet.

Thank you, Aldo, Jolan, and everybody at KoSA 16! - kosamusic, Thanks to Mark Rosenthal and RushFanForever for the headsup!

Neil Peart's "Far And Away" Calendar

Neil Peart's Far And Away: A Prize Every Time, hit stores last April, and now, a new 2012 calendar is available for preorder at Neil's store, bubbawares.com:

"Bubba and his sidekick Brutus have put together some of their favorite images and excerpts from the book FAR AND AWAY: A Prize Every Time, by their friend and best customer, Neil Peart. (Among regulars, that book is affectionately known as “F ’n’ A.”)  From Yellowstone National Park to the winter woods of Quebec to the highways of North America, South America, and Europe, each month offers a scenic escape and some words to ponder.  Order now, in time for the Pagan Midwinter Festival!" bubbawares.com

Neil Peart's first book in over four years, is now shipping.  Although it was originally slated for a May 1st release, it appears that April 1st was more appropriate.  The 260 page book is a polished compilation of Neil's "News, Weather & Sports" blog entries from the last four years.

"Following in the tradition of Ghost Rider and Traveling Music, Rush drummer Neil Peart relates nearly four years of band tours, road trips, and personal discoveries in this introspective travelogue. From the ups and downs of a professional artist to the birth of a child, this revealing narrative recounts 22 adventures from rock's foremost drummer, biker enthusiast, husband and father. Both playful and insightful, Peart's love of drumming and the open road weaves throughout the stories as Neil explores horizons that are both physical and spiritual, sharing his observations about nature, society, and the self. Full-color photos round-out this tour of the open road that will resonate with Rush fans and motorcycle enthusiasts alike." - ECW Press

Rush EuCon 2011 Coming To Glasgow October 1st

UPDATE: Rush EuCon 2011 was a massive success and managed to raise an amazing £873.60 for the MS Society!  Please check out all the photos of the event at www.rusheucon.co.uk and also www.facebook.com/rusheucon. - Thanks to William Winsborough for the headsup!

Eucon 2011, the annual European Rush Convention, is coming to Glasgow October 1st.  Featuring the Rush tribute band "Counterparts" as well as the classic rock covers band "Joe's Band", festivities will include rare Rush videos and music, a Rush themed charity auction and quiz, plus other Rush-themed surprises.  Food and drink will be available all day while you meet other Rush fans.

Eucon is officially supported by Rush's management (SRO/Anthem), and all proceeds will be donated to the MS Society.  For tickets and additional information visit facebook.com/rusheucon, t-n-m-s.com, or rusheucon.co.uk. - Thanks to William Winsborough for the headsup!

VH1 Classic's "Rush Hashanah" Starts Tonight: the World Premiere of "Time Machine Live In Cleveland"

VH1 Classic's annual "Rush Hashanah" celebration kicks off tonight, September 28th, with "Rush Classic Albums" at 7PM and will be followed by the world premiere of Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland from 8-10PM.  Additional Rush airings will include Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, R30 and Rush in Rio. 

Professional Lighting & Production Summer 2011 Issue

Check out the online edition of the Summer 2011 issue of Professional Lighting and Production for the cover feature "A Rush Of Light, Four Decades In The Making", an interview with lighting designer Howard Ungerleider. - Thanks RushFanForever for the headsup!

Machine Head Covers "Witch Hunt", gives props to Rush

San Francisco metal band Machine Head's Unto The Locust, was released September 27th; the special edition includes a cover of Rush's "Witch Hunt".  

In April of this year, the band had posted "The Making Of The New Album" to Youtube showing their "Jam Room" containing 2112 among a collection of posters of "all of our favorite bands, the bands that meant something, and helped create what we became" (the video also shows drummer Dave McClain wearing a Permanent Waves t-shirt).

"Machine Head drummer Dave McClain says their much anticipated new album has come together with a little bit of help from veterans Rush...'Three records ago I bought Robb the whole Rush catalogue and that's when our songs started extending with lots of parts. Kinda more challenging ourselves. Rush are responsible for a lot of things, even mentally in this band.  There was an interview with Geddy Lee (Rush singer) a long time ago where he said "If we get played on the radio it’s going to be by accident." Because they wouldn't write for radio and that struck a chord with all of us especially in the "Through The Ashes" where it was a crossroads in our career where we said if we were going to be ousted out of the music business we wanted to go out fighting and be a pure 100 per cent metal band and not worried about what anybody said.'" - RockAAA.com, August 2, 2011

"Interview with Andy Curran – A&R at SRO/Anthem"

One Louder Magazine has published a new interview with Andy Curran, A&R at SRO/Anthem.  Andy discusses his career in music, including his current job at SRO, his day to day jobs, the Time Machine Tour, and more. Click here for the article. - Thanks to Skip Daly for the headsup!

Time Machine Tour - In pictures: Alex Lifeson's live rig

Total Guitar has posted another feature featuring Alex's Lifeson's live rig on the Time Machine Tour.  Check it out here. - September 23, 2011

The 2010 leg of the Time Machine Tour kicked off June 29th in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and concluded October 17th in Santiago, Chile. The 2010 tour ranked #29 on Pollstar's Top 50 North American Tours, grossing $26.4 million with 372,407 tickets sold over 36 shows.

The 2011 leg of the Time Machine Tour kicked off March 30th in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, saw the first ever filming of a US Rush Concert in Cleveland on April 15th, their first visit to Ireland, as well as stops in Canada, Scandinavia, Britain, Holland and Germany before coming to a close on July 2nd at The Gorge near Seattle, Washington.

Visit the Time Machine Tour News Archive for complete tour details including news and reviews, setlist, band comments, concert photos, videos, and essential links.

Rush Producer Nick Raskulinecz: "We will start recording again in mid October."

In a new interview, Rush Producer Nick Raskulinecz discusses the current status of Clockwork Angels.

"We have recorded two songs already and we released them last year and then the band went on tour. But we are currently in preproduction right now so that we can finish the rest of the record which we will start recording again in mid October."

Read the full interview, "Nick Raskulinecz: 'The Music Industry Is A Sinking Ship'", at UltimateGuitar.com - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

3 Inches Of Blood Covers "Anthem"

In February 3 Inches Of Blood, a Canadian heavy metal group from Vancouver, announced that they had recorded a cover of Rush's "Anthem".  The song will appear in the new film "Lloyd The Conqueror", which stars Mike Smith (Trailer Park Boys), which will  premiere September 24th as part of the Calgary International Film Festival.  In addition, directly following the premiere, 3 Inches of Blood will be performing at the official after party beginning at 9:00 PM at Dickens Pub; tickets can be purchased here: www.primeboxoffice.com. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

"...Shane [Clark] reveals, they have recorded two new Clark-penned originals and a cover of Rush's 'Anthem'. 'For the last five years, I've had this compulsive Rush disorder,' he laughs, explaining that his Rush obsession began when he saw their documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage. 'When that documentary came out, it just kicked that into high gear. It's just such a great movie. You get to know the whole band a little bit better. Alex Lifeson is one of my favourite guitar players. The way he plays, no one else sounds like him. That's very influential for me.'" - RockStarWeekly.com, February 27, 2010

Geddy Lee Interviewed For The Chop Shop's 9/11 Tribute

"Envision Radio Networks' The Chop Shop Guitar Show's 9/11 Tribute is now available for streaming here.  The show, which will also run on the show’s affiliate stations, features personal remembrances from a number of classic rock artists who found their lives forever altered by the events.

Host Steve Black is joined by Geddy Lee of Rush, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, guitarist Steve Vai, members of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and several others who share their stories, surrounded by the music that helped to bring everyone together as our country worked to move forward.

Geddy Lee recalls the moment when he learned about the attacks: "I was in Toronto and somebody found me and told me to turn on the television and of course I sat there for the next two hours just completely stunned and appalled by what I was watching."  He went on to say, "My reaction was much the same as any normal human being, I was sickened by it and it had a profound effect on the entire world I think and life has really not been the same since that day." - UltimateClassicRock.com, September 10, 2011

Tom Cochrane Releasing New EP featuring Alex Lifeson

Today Canada's RockstarWeekly.com announced that Tom Cochrane will be releasing a four song EP featuring Alex Lifeson later this year:

"Tom Cochrane will return with his first new release since 2006. The ‘Life is a Highway’ singer is planning a limited edition four song EP, originally scheduled for a September 2011 release. The EP, will contain three new un-released tracks and a new single and title track ‘Voices At 4 AM’, featuring Andrew Cole, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Lyle Molzen (Jann Arden, Michael Buble), Kenny Greer (Red Rider), Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Elton) and Carl Jennings.

Rush Featured in "Mobile Production Monthly"

Rush is on the cover of the latest issue of Mobile Production Monthly.  The issue is available online; click here to download.  Included are multiple feature stories from the Time Machine tour, with road crew interviews, multiple photos and more. - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

Alex Lifeson music for "The Double" - sample now online

We learned last spring that Alex Lifeson has contributed to the musical score including the "outro/credit" music for the upcoming film The Double staring Topher Grace, Martin Sheen and Richard Gere, set for release September 23rd.  The plotline is "a retired CIA operative is paired with a young FBI agent to unravel the mystery of a senator's murder, with all signs pointing to a Soviet assassin", and features a musical score by John Debney.

The film's co-writer Derek Haas has uploaded a two minute clip of the credit music, titled "Don't Look Back", and had this to say about working with Alex Lifeson:

"Alex Lifeson played guitar on the score throughout the movie (the great John Debney composed it). We asked Alex to write a song for the closing credits and he wrote/recorded "Don't Look Back," a brand-spanking new single. ... How this came about: Michael and I got to know Alex and Geddy when they were in LA finishing Snakes & Arrows. Alex is a movie-buff and literature-buff and he expressed interest in scoring films. (I hope you detect my admiration shining through... he's truly one of the greatest guys I've ever met. Geddy too, but that's a different story.) As we were putting THE DOUBLE together, Michael and I told Alex we'd love for him to be included any way he wanted. We did the movie for very little money so we weren't going to be able to afford him but we wanted to throw it out there. He was between the two tours so he asked us to send him the latest cut of the film and he started talking to the composer (Debney) via email and the phone. Then he just went to town... the guy is astonishing. And generous. The single is definitely not a RUSH song but you can sure here Alex's distinctive 'voice' all over it."- Derek Haas, The Rush Forum, August 15, 2011

Neil Peart, Rhythm Magazine's August Cover Story - Transcript Online

The August 2011 issue of U.K.'s Rhythm magazine includes an 11-page cover feature on Neil Peart.  The complete transcript of this article is now online at Cygnus-X1.net.

"Peart lets the reader in on why, after 45 years behind the kit, he's still working to make himself a better player. Neil talks about taking lessons, improvisation, finding the perfect sound and much more. The reader also gets a guided tour (see video below) of the "Time Machine" kit from Neil's drum tech Lorne Wheaton and winds the clock back to The Professor's first-ever Rhythm cover way back in 1987." - Blabbermouth.net, July 5, 2011

Alex Lifeson, One Of Guitar Player's 50 Rhythm Guitar Gods

The October issue of Guitar Player includes the cover story "50 Rhythm Guitar Gods" with the following from Alex Lifeson:

“I’ve tried to develop a style that combines broad arpeggios and suspended chords,” explained Lifeson. “They’ve been my two main target areas. Suspensions have been my trick for many years to make a trio sound big.” Not very often are you treated to a body of rhythm work like Lifeson’s, from classic riff rock (“Working Man”) through heavy prog (“Xanadu”) onto the textural ‘80s and ‘90s, deftly riding the heavier sonic zeitgeist all the way to 2011. Along the way, Lifeson has also incorporated more feels into his vernacular as well, including reggae (Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures) and funk (Roll the Bones). Lifeson has done it all, and never at the expense of his own personal voice." - Guitar Player, October 2011

Thanks to Frank Panacci for the headsup!

Rush Signs To Roadrunner Records!

Today Roadrunner Records issued a press release announcing that Rush has signed with the indie label.

"We have tremendous respect for Roadrunner Records, and what Cees Wessels and Jonas Nachsin have built on a worldwide level. After years of Roadrunner pursuing the band, Tom Lipsky presented a deal that worked and the timing was right. We wanted to be at a label focused on the rock genre – and that’s Roadrunner," said Ray Danniels, manager of Rush.

While the press release demonstrates excitement by both Roadrunner and Rush manager Ray Danniels, it is unclear how exactly this will affect Rush.  The fact is that Roadrunner is an independent label which is owned and distributed by WEA (i.e. Warner Elektra Atlantic), or in otherwords both are subsidiaries of one large umbrella.  This is apparently a lateral move from a major label to an independent label that is distributed by a major label.  This is supported by the fact that Rush owes/owed Atlantic one more studio album under their previous aggrement; apparently the previous aggreement is being fullfilled by the new arrangement with Roadrunner, although that is purely supposition at this time.  In addition, the time period of this record deal remains unspoken.  Read the complete press here.  For a video press release click here. - Thanks to Brad, John, Frank, Darren and everyone else who emailed for the headsup!