Grapes For Humanity Charity - Update

UPDATE: Over the weekend of the Charity Auction, Grapes For Humanity also put on "Alex and Geddy's Excellent County Adventure" on Saturday September 17th to Huff Estate Winery in Bloomfield, Prince Edward County. Check it out here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

The Grapes For Humanity Auction has come to a close.  Check out this message from Geddy! 

I would like to take a moment to thank all those fans and friends who participated in the GRAPES UNDER PRESSURE eBay auction to benefit GRAPES FOR HUMANITY CANADA. With your help we managed to raise over $50,000 dollars! When combined with monies raised in our other G.U.P. events we will be able to significantly improve the lives of disadvantaged and injured people around the globe and more immediately will aid THE HALO TRUST in establishing a pilot project in Savannakhet Province, Laos, to address the urgent problem of casualties caused by cluster bombs.

Alex, Neil, myself and the entire G.U.P. Team,  thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
~Geddy

Alex Lifeson to perform at 7th Annual Andy Kim Christmas Concert

Alex Lifeson will be one of the featured musicians at the 7th annual Andy Kim Christmas Show in Toronto next month.  The event happens Wednesday, December 14 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre.  Lifeson joins the list of first performers confirmed for the benefit, including Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene, members of Finger Eleven and Ron Sexsmith.  Montreal-born Kim has sold more than 33 million albums and is the man behind such massive hits as “Sugar Sugar” (The Archies) and “Rock Me Gently.”  To date, the annual event has raised more than $60,000 for select charities. - Andy Kim Music, November 8, 2011 - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Guitar Aficionado Winter 2011

In Guitar Aficionado’s Winter 2011 issue, Rush’s esteemed guitar and bass duo, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee, discuss their decades-long love affair with the world’s finest wines.  Click here for more info. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Win A Sectors Press Sheet from Consequence of Sound

To commemorate the release of Rush's Sectors boxed sets, Consequence of Sound is giving away a limited edition print featuring the album covers of Caress of Steel, Exit…Stage Left, and A Show of Hands straight from the printer.  For a chance to win, visit ConsequenceOfSound.net.

Alex Lifeson on Humble And Fred Radio Podcast

Alex Lifeson was a guest of Toronto's Humble and Fred morning show this morning, and the show is now available for listening at HumbleAndFredRadio.com, or for download here.  Alex first appears around the 35 minutes into the show. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Win An Autographed "Moving Pictures" Lithograph

Timed to coincide with the release of Rush's "Sectors" boxed sets, UltimateClassicRock.com is giving away a 'Moving Pictures' lithograph signed by all three band members.  Click here to enter.

Roadrunner Records' Mastadon and Machine Head discuss Rush Influence

With the release of Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland just around the corner, Roadrunner Records recently caught up with Mastadon's Troy and Brann and Machine Head's Robb Flynn to discuss how Rush influenced them as individuals and the impact they have had on their careers.  Click here for more. - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!

"Rush Over Brooklyn" Samples "Tom Sawyer"

Rapper MC El-P has remixed his "Drones Over BKLYN" as "Rush Over Brooklyn" using a sample of "Tom Sawyer." The remix is being sold to benefit a fund for Mr. Dibbs, a veteran turntablist battling liver disease. Click here to stream the track and and to buy it. - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

A Brush Of Hope 2011 - Lifeson's Painting Sells for $7,000

Alex Lifeson donated another painting to "A Brush Of Hope", benefiting Canada's Kidney Foundation.  Alex's painting sold for $7,000.  The massive online auction kicked off October 20th and ran through October 30th at www.ebay.ca.  The proceeds of the auction benefit those suffering with kidney disease.  Click here for more information; visit their Facebook page.

"Neil Peart talks about Taking Center Stage"

Hudson Music has posted a new video "Neil Peart talks about 'Taking Center Stage'"; check it out here.

MusicRadar.com has posted "Neil Peart talks the inspiration behind Taking Center Stage" - October 26, 2011

In addition, Rhythm Magazine is giving away a 14" Remo Time Machine drum head and three copies of Neil Peart's new DVD Taking Center Stage, all signed by Neil Peart himself.  For a chance to win visit MusicRadar.com.

Neil Peart's third instructional video, Taking Center Stage: A Lifetime of Live Performance, was released October 14th and is available here.

• Over 6 hours of footage
• Neil’s personal drum rehearsals
• Set-up and soundcheck footage
• Backstage interview as Neil warms up for a Rush concert
• Detailed discussion of classic Rush drum parts, with slow-motion, drums-only demonstrations and e-Book with transcriptions
• Live, drum-camera performances of every song on the Time Machine tour
• One-hour interview, explanation, and demonstration of new Rush song, “Caravan”

Guitar Center has announced "The Ultimate Neil Peart Prize Package Sweepstakes" for US residents.  Click here for details.  In addition, during the month of October, Sabian is holding a special promotion where if you buy a Paragon cymbal you will receive a copy of the video free!

Neil Peart first announced the video in the February edition of "News Weather and Sports".  Click here for the official press release from Hudson Music.

Check out takingcenterstage.net, for the preview trailer, the videos "Choosing The Setlist" and "Time Stand Still", as well as "The Making of Taking Center Stage" written by Hudson Music's lead editor and co-producer of Taking Center Stage, Joe Bergamini.

Filmed in various locations over the course of a year, Neil Peart takes you on a behind-the-scenes look at Rush's 2010-11 Time Machine tour. This includes rare and exclusive footage of Neil's personal pre-tour rehearsals and backstage events at a Rush concert (including a visit to the soundcheck, and an unprecedented backstage interview as Neil warms up for the show). Neil also presents a detailed look at every single song in the tour's set list. Each song features analysis and demonstrations by Neil, which are coupled with a detailed PDF eBook containing transcription of his parts. At the end of each song discussion, the viewer is transported onstage to a Rush concert to see the actual live performance of the song from the perspective of the drum cameras only. 6 hours, 40 minutes."

"The theme for our next collaboration seemed obvious: live performance, preparing for it and surviving it. In early 2010 we began collecting material...In April, 2010, the Hudson Music crew joined me at Drum Channel in Oxnard, California, and filmed several days of my rehearsals for the Time Machine tour. In July they filmed an entire Rush show, in Saratoga Springs, New York, with supplementary 'drum-cams' on me. They also captured the soundcheck and pre-show warmup, when I did a bit of talking to the camera, as I had during the Drum Channel filming in April. However, we would need to shoot some more 'talkie bits' to go before each of the songs from the live show, explaining about special problems or challenges in a particular song, and technical highlights. So, I thought, why not go somewhere really nice to shoot those?...I suggested Death Valley. Being the driest place in North America, averaging less than two inches of rain a year-and sometimes none-the chances of clear weather were good." - Neil Peart, NeilPeart.net, February 4, 2011

Rolling Stone: "Geddy Lee Says New Album Will Be Ready By Early 2012"

RollingStone.com has posted a new interview, "Rush's Geddy Lee Says New Album Will Be Ready By Early 2012".  Geddy talks about the Time Machine tour, choosing a setlist to satisfy 'mainstream fans' versus 'core fans', the possibility of performing another album all the way through on tour, mainstream awareness and more.  He also answers one question many fans have asked, regarding changing the setlist from night to night:

"...it's a three-hour show, and it's really hard to remember as it is. There were a couple of tours where we did multiple days and we would switch off. I think we had three or four songs we were switching from night to night. And it kind of wreaks havoc from show to show, because so much of the lighting rig and choreography and films and everything are computer programmed. It definitely keeps everyone on their toes to switch up from night to night. For us, the amount of work that goes into one of our shows is kind of challenging enough without making it even harder on us."

Regarding the status of Clockwork Angels, he said:

"We're almost finished writing. We wound the machine back up about three weeks ago. After a sluggish start, we've had a very fruitful couple of weeks in terms of writing. I'm very pleased with the direction that the material has taken. And I think we have one or two more songs that we'd like to write, and then we'll start recording in earnest. Hopefully we'll have all of the recording done before Christmas. Then we'll mix it some time in the next year, and then get it out...I hope it'll be out by the spring anyway."

Lullaby Versions Of Rush

There are a few recording artists currently producing lullaby versions of popular music.  Earlier this year, one of these artists, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star", released an album of Rush covers.

Lullaby Versions of Rush holds 11 tracks of blissfully sleepy renditions of Rush.  What's that you say?  "The Spirit of Radio fills me with adrenaline, how can it put me to sleep?"  Trust me, these tracks are dripping with snooze. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Tracklist: The Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer, Closer To The Heart, Freewill, Limelight, Working Man, Fly By Night, The Trees, Red Barchetta, Subdivisions, YYZ

For other Rush cover albums, check here.

Five Albums That Changed My Life: Matthew Rudzinski of Killwhitneydead

Matthew Rudzinski of metalcore band Killwhitneydead shared his 'Five Albums That Changed My Life' with AOL's Noisecreep.com. Included is Moving Pictures:

"Think back to 1981 when MTV was in its infantile stages and seemed to be starved for content to broadcast. I may be wrong but I am pretty sure almost every song from Rush's 'Exit Stage Left' concert video were extracted and a different song was played every hour. Being 9-years-old at the time and seeing three guys play the likes of 'Red Barchetta (one of my favorite songs of all time), 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Limelight' on my television hourly instantly catapulted them to the status of "Godlike" in my eyes. This is possibly the most perfect album in my collection. Sonically, lyrically and thematically 'Moving Pictures' had it all for a 9 year old kid seeking guidance in the world and now at age 39 it remains, in my opinion, one of the best albums ever released." - Matthew Rudzinski, Noiscreep.com, October 28, 2011 Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Geddy Lee Options Dave Bidini's Baseballissimo

"Geddy Lee, lead singer of Rush, has optioned the film and TV rights to Dave Bidini's Baseballissimo. Published in 2005 by McClelland & Stewart, Baseballissimo is the writer's story of his travels to the small town of Nettuno, the baseball capital of Italy since 1944." - Quill & Quire, June 24, 2010 - Thanks to John at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!

Update #1: "'Goon' co-writer and star Jay Baruchel is warming up to co-script sports comedy 'Baseballissimo' with writing partner Jesse Chabot." - Variety.com, September 11, 2011

 Update #2: "Jay Baruchel and his writing partner Jesse are working the script now. They’ll have the script delivered to us by Christmas. It’s great. We’ve had tons of interest in terms of getting the film made without actually having a working script. So it looks really positive. Those guys did a 10 page treatment of the film and I feel like they really get it. And Geddy [Lee, as in, of Rush, who is connected to the film] has run a band for 25 years, so he’s a natural producer. He’s a great communicator, and he’s great at gathering people together. We’re hoping for TIFF in 2013, which probably means shooting around the end of next fall. When Baseballissimo came out, it wasn’t that well promoted, but the people who liked the book really liked the book. It’s so neat that it’s had this second life 12 years after it came out. It just goes to show that if you have a good story and you believe in a good story, you never know where it’s going to lead." - Dave Bidini, Aux.tv, October 27, 2011

Macrographs - Fine Art Digital Paintings Inspired by Rush

Macrographs, fine art digital paintings inspired by the works of Rush, is helmed by UK digital artist Graham Whieldon.  Previous offerings from Marcographs include the digital rendering of "The Fountain of Lamneth".

Graham has recently completed his latest masterpiece based on Rush's "Red Barchetta", featuring the Ferrari 166MM Barchetta in its final resting place, available in a limited edition of 200 prints.  For more information, visit Macrographs.com.

"I wanted to paint the car not during the chase but after, in it's quiet, rural setting. This painting is about the heady smell of old oil and dust and leather and the memory of the chase in the droning lazy scent of a late country afternoon, a brief snapshot of a calm place between the lyrics. I can hear muted water running in the kitchen somewhere off to the left and the comforting chime of unintelligible words as somebody washes up for dinner, full of excitement and spent adrenaline and tales to be told." - Graham Whieldon, Macrographs

Thanks to John at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!

Alex Lifeson talks about Rush's first single

Today MusicRadar.com posted a brief interview where Alex Lifeson discussed Rush's first single:

On 8 November, Rush will release Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland, a 2-CD set with an accompanying video on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as Moving Pictures: Live 2011, on vinyl and digital formats. We've seen and heard them all, and can tell you they're amazing in every possible way.  With such kick-ass holiday packages looming, we decided it was the perfect time to speak with guitarist Alex Lifeson about Rush's first recorded work...some 38 years ago.  Back in 1973, way before they were full-time, totally awesome stadium and arena-fillers, Rush, then comprised of Lifeson, Geddy Lee and the band's original drummer, John Rutsey (Neil Peart joined in 1974), issued a single on their own Moon Records label. The A side was a cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away and the B side was a Lee/Rutsey original called You Can't Fight It.  As you might expect, the 45 was raw, loose, rocking and bursting with youthful charm. Alex Lifeson picks up the story...

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!