"Sam took great pride in being the best friend of Canadian musicians. I remember the first time we were awarded a Canadian Gold Record; it was presented to us by Sam at a dinner arranged at Sam the Chinese Food Man restaurant. Sam truly helped change the way Canadians view homegrown talent." - Geddy Lee- Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
"Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of legendary Canadian rock band Rush talk about their latest studio album 'Clockwork Angels'...After nearly 38 years, twenty studio albums and thousands of live concerts together they talk intimately about how they stay fresh in the studio and when they know it will be over." - CBC.ca, June 12, 2012- Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
"We are especially appreciative for the presentation of this lifetime achievement award now - while we are still active (Too active, our families might say!)" said Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in an emailed statement..."Since our performance 'lifetimes' aren't quite over yet, this high honour is not just a reward; it is an inspiration. We will continue to try to earn it." - Neil Peart, WinnipegPress, March 6, 2012South Park co-creator Matt Stone took to the stage to recognize Rush members Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart:
“That was great, it was fun and it made me proud to live in a country that recognises the performing arts and celebrates excellence in various fields. A lot of the people were not mainstream artists but they’ve been working their whole lives perfecting their craft. In Canada we’re always fighting for support of the arts. In a lot of countries they subsidies a lot of industries but when it comes to the arts they view it as a gift. Yet the arts can be a very profitable thing to invest in. It’s as valid as investing in the car industry or whatever. So when you see an event like that which celebrates excellence in the performing arts, it sends a very positive message to the artist and the country and it informs young people that the arts matters and don’t be discouraged and follow your passion. Which is what we did.” - Geddy Lee, TapeToTape, May 15, 2012
"I remember buying their cassettes, tearing home on my BMX, running inside and throwing them into my Walkman, and sitting down to my drum set and just destroying my mom’s afternoon. Rush was definitely the first band I ever loved." - Matt Stone, Ottawa Citizen, May 7, 2012The band Inner Volition, the garage band that appeared in the short film "Inner Rush" last month, thank Rush in a short story on Canada's National Arts Center website, May 15, 2012: A Heavy Metal Thank You
Prog magazine's first annual Progressive Music Awards were awarded September 5th, and Rush's Clockwork Angels won Album of the Year. Also nominated was the Sectors box set in the Grand Designs category, losing to the Pink Floyd Immersion reissues.Neil Peart...said that in the three and a half weeks of rehearsals...he dropped at least 10 pounds....This year’s pre-tour training regimen began in February. Three times a week, Mr. Peart would bike 20 minutes to his local Los Angeles Y.M.C.A., swap his helmet for a bandanna, and spend 30 minutes on the cross-trainer (keeping his heart rate near his recommended maximum), followed by calisthenics, yoga sun salutations (he held each pose for a count of 20 Mississippi) and the return bike ride home. (His favorite workout track? Silence. 'The only activity I combine with music is driving,' Mr. Peart said. 'For me, exercise is an act of will.'). Click here for the full story.- Thanks to AndyO for the headsup!
“I’m still kind of close to it, but I would definitely say it’s one of our better efforts,” Lifeson says. “It’s cohesive throughout. I always feel there are one or two weak moments on a record once I’ve had a chance to get away from it. So far, I don’t feel that with this record.”- Thanks to Kevin Kerwin for the headsup!
On tour, Rush is continuing to push forward and take its show to new places. For starters, Lifeson says, there’s a new light show and new video over a three-hour set that includes most of “Clockwork Angels” and a number of older songs that haven’t been played live in years.
Then, there’s something completely new to a Rush tour — a string section.
“ ‘Clockwork Angels’ has five or six songs with strings on them, and we thought that rather than triggering samples, why don’t we think about taking strings out for a change?” Lifeson says. “We can pull out some of the older material from the past that we did string arrangements for and include that. And, we sort of dove into it.
“It’s so nice to go out and do something that’s unusual and different and keeps you on your toes,” he said. “And, hopefully, you don’t wreck anything for them and they don’t wreck anything for you.”
"Rush frontman Geddy Lee discusses the band's upcoming tour, the challenges of picking a set list and the reason for their longevity" - Grammy.com, September 5, 2012
"The hunt is on, Clockwork Angels: The Novel fans! We've hidden ten Golden Tickets inside copies of Clockwork Angels: The Novel and distributed them around the world. Each lucky finder will be able to redeem their ticket for an 8-volume Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart library. Happy hunting!" - ECW Press.com, September 4, 2012
We were having lunch together in a café in Santa Monica, and he was telling my wife and I all these plans that he had and he mentioned the novel and my wife [author Rebecca Moesta] immediately said, “Well, who’s going to write the novel?” and Neil stopped and looked at us and said, “Well, Kevin, of course.” I was kind of hoping he would think of that as he was putting the story together, but he was just developing the framework of it. So from that point on, I was actively involved in working with him about how the pieces of the story would come together, that the character had to go through this and then the next thing and things had to get worse before they could get better and how the story would resolve. So we were plotting this from the very beginning.Kevin also talks a great deal about the ins and outs of the book, including the editing process:
...And then we edited it together when it was done, and he would say things like “I really feel we need to emphasize this part more,” or “We need to come up with something else.” For example, it was rather late in the game when Neil decided he wanted Owen to spend more time in Poseidon City, trying to survive in the streets. So he came up with the character of Guerrero, the Artful Dodger-type kid he falls in with, who’s stealing things…Click here for more.
"There’s no denying the electric bass has been critical in shaping the sound, style and rhythm of the heavy music genres. But when it comes to instrumentalists, it’s my humble opinion that bass players often get a touch less fanfare than their guitarist counterparts. (I play bass, so I’m allowed to make this claim!)...- Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!
"If the only thing Geddy Lee did in Rush was play the bass he’d be implausibly accomplished. But, he does it all while singing and playing the keyboards; a near-impossible feat. Not many frontmen have successfully juggled this triple task. Add to that the confidence that comes from playing for a long time, and Lee remains one of the genre’s biggest and best players. " - Gibson.com, September 3, 2012
"Featuring improvised drums, funky new Rush album “Clockwork Angels” is a revelation. Alex Lifeson shares the story of the album with Powerplay. We talk to rising Irish rockers Million Dollar Reload about their superb second album. And we chat to Luca Turilli about the first Rhapsody album since the band was split in two, plus we join Bullet In Germany and spend time with Katatonia in London. We also catch up with back-on-the scene hottie Lita Ford, Asia, Herman Frank, The Flower Kings, Fiona, and Soul Sacrifice, and we look at the new bad boys of rock and we have a Pro-File of Slipknot and Murderdolls man Joey Jordison."
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