Speakeasy: An intimate conversation with Geddy Lee of Rush

UPDATE: The taped show will air next April 2015.  Yesterday the day after the taping, Rush.com shared "75 minutes flew by talking to one of my favourite writers and a truly awesome person" - Geddy Lee (with Michael Chabon taping PBS Speakeasy airing in huge new year)"

Front & Center Presents
Speakeasy: An intimate conversation with Geddy Lee of Rush
Location: New York, NY | McKittrick Hotel (542 W 27th St, New York, NY 10001)
Event time: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

There will be 50 tickets available for this event for fans to be in the studio audience that will go on-sale on Tuesday, Nov 4 at 10am ET.

https://www.citiprivatepass.com/landing/speak_easy_geddy_lee.html
Rush.com will also be giving away a few pairs so stay tuned for your chance to win!

Neil Peart Appears in Cow Form in Chick-Fil-A's 2015 Calendar

Neil Peart appears in cow form in the 2015 edition of Chick-Fil-A's "Cow Calendar". The photo for May is "Veal Girth", a drumming cow wearing a Kofia hat surrounded by an extensive drumset made up of milk cans, wash tubs, trash can lids and, of course, cow bells. You can check out the full calendar at chick-fil-a.com. - Thanks to Kevin Cooney for the headsup!

Premiere of Rush with John Rutsey performing "The Loser"

Rush's R40 40th Anniversary Collectors Box Set is going to be released next Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray, and today Radio.com has posted another premiere of one of the rarities from the R40 "Bonus Disc", titled "The Loser".  This is Rush with John Rutsey at their finest!   Also included is a new interview with Geddy wherer he discusses the song, which you can read after the Youtube link below.

What went through your mind when you watched the footage of you guys performing in 1974? 
Well, watching that is like an out-of-body experience for me. Because I remember it, and at the same time, it was so long ago, it’s hard to know if it’s a real memory, or a dream state memory. It’s hard to feel like that same guy who was screeching on the stage back then in unusual clothing.
Alex Lifeson told us that the thing that stuck out in his mind is that the audience were seated the entire time, no one got up! 
That was a very Canadian response back then. Canadians, especially back then, were an almost self-conscious audience. Even if they were loving it, most of the crowd was quite quiet. That’s changed, of course, over the years. Back then, you would play a small town in Canada or across the country, and you wouldn’t be sure that they were loving it. When they actually were loving it, but they weren’t very demonstrative about it. So, we’d come back from the U.S. and American crowds were famously exuberant, and then you’d cross the border and do some small town in Saskatchewan or something, the crowd would be not so exuberant. You’d feel like you were bombing, but afterwards people would come up and say, “Man, I loved your show!”
Was it bittersweet, watching the footage with John Rutsey?
Yeah, it is sad in one sense, but it’s also quite a nice thing that this footage is available, so people can see what we were like with him, and what he was like. I think in a way, it helps keep his memory alive. He’s part of our history.
Back then, John was the guy in the band who talked to the audience from the stage. Did you prefer that you didn’t have to take on that role? 
I was always the reluctant… everything. I was originally a guitarist, and the bass player in my old garage band quit, and they voted and I became the bass player. I was the only one that could sing, so I became the singer. I didn’t really want to write lyrics, so in the early days of Rush, John wrote the lyrics. I was a very shy kid, I didn’t really feel comfortable talking to the audience, so John did that. So I really kind of backed into my entire career.
It seems to have worked out.
It’s worked out really well! I’m still playing it by ear.
How long did it take for you to get comfortable with being the guy who had to do the onstage banter?
It took quite a long time, really. I didn’t really have a persona. All the singers from rock bands in those days were taking on a persona of a very loud, sort of gregarious guy who would rile up the crowd. That’s not me, I’m not that guy. I’m not that guy socially, I’m not that guy period. For me to suddenly have to talk to the audience… I was rather soft-spoken, so it was always work for me to psych for myself up to try to do that. In the early years, the lack of persona seemed to be a problem. As we hung around, I think my lack of onstage persona has actually become my onstage persona. So you kind of grow into who you actually are. It’s kind of worked out for me. The ideal person to be our MC would be Alex, he’s naturally hilarious, he’s such a goof and such a funny, warm guy. But he’s, at times, even more shy than me. He didn’t want to do it either!
What do you remember about the song “The Loser?” 
I honestly don’t remember that song, and I didn’t remember it until I actually saw the footage of us playing it. And I didn’t remember it was called ‘The Loser.” So much for my memory! We wrote so many songs in the early days, and half of them fell by the wayside. A while back, Alex uncovered a demo tape that he and I had done for copyright purposes. Since we couldn’t write music, the only way you could submit a song for copyright in those days was, you’d record it. Alex would play guitar and I would sing onto a tape. We found one of these very basic tapes. I just could not remember half of the songs that were there. It was just teenage ramblings.
Any chance you’d consider putting out a compilation of previously unreleased pre-1974 Rush recordings? 
They’re not very musical! Maybe after we’re dead and gone, if somebody uncovers those tapes. While we’re still alive, I don’t think we would want anybody to hear that stuff.

Rush Heard On The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon Oct 29th

During his Tonight Show monologue on Tuesday, October 29th, Jimmy Fallon said that CNN is going to use colored LED's to project the results of the midterm elections on The Empire State Building.  He then showed photographs of the top of the building with colored lights as he explained if the Republican's win the senate, it will turn blue, if the Democrats win it will turn red, and then he concluded "and if it gets hacked, it will look like this" and showed a video of alternating red and blue and white lights as "Tom Sawyer" is played. You can watch it here, beginning at the 3:30 mark. - Thanks to Greg Nosek for the headsup!

First Look at Rush Performing ‘I’ve Been Runnin” And New Alex Interview - Radio.com

Rush's R40 40th Anniversary Collectors Box Set is going to be released on November 11th on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Today Radio.com posted the first look at Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey performing "I've Been Runnin'" from the R40 Bonus Disk, live at the Laura Secord Secondary School in early 1974.  In addition, they have posted a new interview with Alex Lifeson where he gives his recollections on the performance.

"Oh my god, that was such a long time ago. I can vaguely remember it, I remember being on the stage in that auditorium in that school, and how all of the kids were sitting in their seats — no one was standing! —  and it was a little uncomfortable. But it’s a good example of the band we were at that time playing bars and high schools...[John Rutsey] had a very witty sense of humor, and he had such balls. He would talk to the audience and say stuff; sometimes, I thought he’d get us killed. He was comfortable talking to people, and being that guy, whereas Geddy really wasn’t, and I’m not even sure he is that comfortable with it today. But John, he would tell stories, and tell jokes, he would pick someone from the audience and do running jokes with that person all night. He was really great at that. It was fun: those days were really fun with him. We were with him for six years. You know, John sang one or two songs… I think. He really didn’t have a singing voice, it was like a Bob Dylan-ish monotone. But there were a couple of songs that he sang, and he and I also did some backing vocals. His on-stage mic wasn’t just reserved for talking." - Alex Lifeson, Radio.com, October 30, 2014

Geddy & Alex's GRAPES UNDER PRESSURE 3 Charity eBay Auction

Geddy Lee have posted the following thank you regarding the Grapes Under Pressue 3 auction which took place the weekend of October 11th:

On behalf of Alex, myself and the entire GUP team I'd like to say a huge ginormous THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to all of our fans, friends, and followers who took the time and spent their hard earned money to support this Grapes Under Pressure 3 Ebay auction in support of Grapes for Humanity Canada. Your money will go a super long way to help rebuild health care facilities in the Philippines that were damaged or destroyed in the Haiyan Typhoon. You have helped a lot of people!

Thank you all for caring!

my best to you,
Geddy Lee

On October 8th, Rush.com posted:

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have launched the most Rush memorabilia on their eBay auction as part of their Grapes Under Pressure 3 initiative in support of Grapes for Humanity, an organization that helps to raise funds to benefit humanitarian causes around the world with the assistance of the international wine community.

The Grapes Under Pressure eBay auction has been fast and furious since went live on Friday!

Some of the standouts include 53 bids for a signed Different Stages promo photo, 27 bids for a signed Moving Pictures Live test pressing, and 15 bids for Geddy’s home studio used Ovation acoustic guitar.

Things will really start to heat up as we move towards auction closing times on Monday evening, Oct. 13th.

You can watch the action here.  Or even better, join in the fun and make a bid! It’s all for a good cause.

Included in the auction are:

•     An autographed Geddy Lee Custom Shop Relic Fender Jazz Bass (limited edition, only 50 of these basses have been built as an exact replica of Geddy’s stage bass).
•     An autographed Alex Lifeson Signature Gibson Axcess Les Paul Guitar signed by Alex, Geddy and Neil.
•     A Rush autographed DW Snare Drum with NHL Logos Limited Edition, one of only 6 built.

ALL proceeds will be directed to Grapes for Humanity, Canada www.grapesforhumanity.com

Grapes for Humanity Canada is proud to partner with Magna Children at Risk, and proceeds for this exclusive event will go directly to rebuild health care facilities in the Philippines which were damaged by the Haiyan Typhoon.

Thanks for your support!

Geddy & Alex
#GUP3auction

Alex Lifeson Talks About The '70s In New Video Interview

Alex Lifeson was recently interviewed by Indie Power. During the brief chat he was asked what it was about the '70s that is still so powerful today over all the decades.

"I guess it was an era in music," replied the iconic Canadian musician. "And there's staying power in a lot of that music. Things were so different then. Communication is so instant now and everybody's got thousands of songs on their iPhone. It's a whole different thing. Certainly the music of that era, for the most part, is quite enduring."

- Thanks to Bravewords for the headsup!

Danforth & Pape's "Union Of Maples" T-Shirt Now Available

Danforth & Pape Outfitters, the Rush-fan t-shirt makers based in the UK, have announced their latest release, the "Grand Union Of Maples" t-shirt available in black and of course, forest green!  From their Facebook page:

Want equal rights for Maples? Then Brothers and Sisters, the Grand Union of Maples needs you!...You know the manifesto. You know our demands. Now here’s the T-shirt.

The Grand Union of Maples shirts are £17.00.  Postage and Packing is £3.00 for UK and £5.00 for the rest of the world per item.

The closing date for pre-orders is Halloween when we’ll all be topping up the sugar levels on a Witch Hunt!  Shipping will commence in Mid-November.

For additional information including sizing and ordering, visit their Facebook page.  Also look for their previous releases including tshirts for Le Studio, Blah Blah Blah, Barchetta Racing Club, and the Cygnus-X1 Rocinante crew shirt.

The Ents cover "Fly By Night" on their "Traveling Lights" EP

Progressive rock band The Ents released their EP Traveling Lights on bandcamp.com this past September 6th, and included is their cover of Rush's "Fly By Night". Check it out here. - Thanks to Ton Jansens for the headsup!

Bill Hader is a Rush fan

Rush fans are everywhere.  In the first three minutes of this interview on Speakeasy with Paul F. Tompkins originially published in August, 2013, Hader tells how when growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, being a fan of the comedy talents of Monty Python was a quick way of meeting fans who shared similar tastes, and goes on to say "It was the same thing as if you saw someone who was wearing a Rush tshirt..." - Thanks to Bryan Benner for the headsup!

Geddy Lee - The Mind Of The Baseball Collector

Tonight, Geddy Lee will be featured in a Sportsnet documentary regarding baseball collectors.

"The Mind of the Baseball Collector looks at the addictive world of sports memorabilia collecting. The past comes to life through the collections and stories of: rock legend Geddy Lee, eclectic collector and lawyer Allan Stitt and the Guinness Book of World Records holder of the most autographed baseballs, Dennis Schrader."

The documentary airs tonight (Monday), October 13th at 7PM on Sportsnet in Canada.  - Thanks to Ed @ RushIsABand for the headsup!

"Far and Near: An Interview with Neil Peart" - Huffington Post

Buy Now

Huffington Post has just posted "Far and Near: An Interview with Neil Peart". Promoting his recently released book (buy now), Neil talks about his history of writing, the research he invests in a topic, and states in regards to his readers,

 "I think in music you're always hoping that you'll have a like-minded audience and that the music you like making will appeal to them too. That's the same way that I approach the stories. Just as we play our music for an ideal listener as it were, I have an ideal reader in mind who's interested in nature like I am, interested in physical activity like I am, and human history."

- Thanks to Skip Daly for the headsup!

Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - October 2014

Neil Peart has updated his website with the latest edition of News, Weather & Sports titled "Science Island".   Neil tells of spending two weeks at his home in Quebec with five year old daughter Olivia, and also shares the news of a new Banger Films documentary about Geddy which included a visit to Le Studio! 

Alex Lifeson Participates in Scott Medlock-Robby Krieger Invitational Golf Tournament and All-Star Concert

UPDATE: Rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon interviewed Alex on video to discuss the band's activity, performing in Argentina with the flu, and more.


UPDATE: The tournament took place yesterday, and today KISS tweeted the photo to the right, with the caption: "Now here's a team! Patrick Warburton, Dan Dutton, Alex Lifeson, Paula Trickey, #KISS' Tommy Thayer and Alice Cooper".

Videos from last night's All-Star Concert are available here, including  "Working Man" and "The Spirit of Radio", as well as other classic songs from The Doors.

The seventh annual Scott Medlock-Robby Krieger Invitational Golf Tournament and All-Star Concert will return to Moorpark Country Club on Mon., Sept. 22 for the benefit of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  The event will be hosted by artist Scott Medlock, renowned for his paintings in the world of sports, and Robby Krieger, the legendary Doors lead guitarist.

The event has raised nearly $1 million for St. Jude, and the fundraising goal this year is $300,000.  Microsemi Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach, Waste Management and Monster Energy are sponsors of the day-long event, which will kick off with a golf tournament at 10:30 a.m., followed by a 19thhole reception presented by A La Maison, Mastro's Steakhouse and Ketel One Vodka.

At 8 p.m., the rockers will take the stage for an all-star concert that will feature Krieger, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Tommy Thayer (KISS), Danny Seraphine (Chicago), David Sikes (Boston), Lita Ford and Cherie Currie (The Runaways), plus Jonny Lang, Ray Goren and comedians Gary Mule Deer, Mark Eddie, Scott Henry and Michael Wilson.

Concert tickets are $50 for general admission, and $100 for VIP access and the 19th hole reception. Golf entries are $5,000 per Foursome Sponsor.  For details to purchase tickets visit www.medlockkriegerinvitational.com. - The Acorn.com, September 11, 2014 - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Neil Peart's "Far And Near ... On Days Like These" Now Shipping

As previously announced, Neil Peart's next book, "Far And Near; On Days Like These, his second collection of blog posts originally posted to his website, is set for release from ECW Press on October 14th, 2014. However, there are reports that the book is already shipping.

Don't delay, the book can be ordered in hardback and ebook options.

Whether navigating the backroads of Louisiana or Thuringia, exploring the snowy Quebec woods, or performing onstage at Rush concerts, Neil Peart has stories to tell. His first volume in this series, Far and Away, combined words and images to form an intimate, insightful narrative that won many readers.

Now Far and Near brings together reflections from another three years of an artist’s life as he celebrates seasons, landscapes, and characters, travels roads and trails, receives honors, climbs mountains, composes and performs music. With passionate insight, wry humor, and an adventurous spirit, once again Peart offers a collection of open letters that take readers on the road, behind the scenes, and into the inner workings of an ever-inquisitive mind.

These popular stories, originally posted on Peart’s website, are now collected and contextualized with a new introduction and conclusion in this beautifully designed collector’s volume.

- Thanks to Vagner Cruz for the headsup!

“Clockwork Angels” Comic Book #5 of 6 now available

The fifth of the six part Clockwork Angels comic book series is released today, September 17th.  The standard comic store cover series can be ordered directly from Boom! Studios at this link, and the limited edition cover featuring key lyrics from Rush songs that are tied to the comic is also available via BOOM! Studios as well as the Rush Backstage Club.

Alex Lifeson guest appearance on Wilderness of Manitoba's album "Between Colours" coming September 16

Toronto atmospheric folkies the Wilderness of Manitoba latest album, Between Colours, was released September 16 on Pheromone Recordings.  Guests include Alex Lifeson who plays a guitar solo on the track "Shift" which you can preview below, as well as Rheostatics member Michael Phillip Wojewoda on theremin.  For more info visit exclaim.ca.

Durrell Bowman's "Experiencing Rush: A Listener's Companion" Coming In November

Author Durrell Bowman, who previously published Rush And Philosophy, has now written Experiencing Rush: A Listener's Companion.  Part of the "Experiencing, A Listener's Companion" series, the book is set for both hardcover and ebook release in November.  You can preorder your copy here.

"In Experiencing Rush: A Listener’s Companion, music scholar Durrell Bowman guides readers through Rush’s long career, explaining through the artful combination of biography, history, and musical exegesis how to listen to this unique act. From Rush’s emergence as an early blues-rock power trio of guitar, bass, and drums into the godfathers of progressive hard rock, Bowman marks the band’s first breakthrough with its landmark, sci-fi/individualist album 2112. From there, readers explore Rush’s movement from “prog rock” extended compositions into shorter, potential-radio-play “post-prog” songs, leading to Rush’s most successful album Moving Pictures in 1981. In its later career, Rush adventurously mixed progressive hard rock and music technology, generating a new power trio sound that featured further stylistic evolutions. As Bowman makes clear, it is the band’s stalwart path and many influences on fans, musicians, and others that resulted in Rush’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013."

- Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

R40 6-disc Blu-ray box set coming in November

The R40 boxed set, containing blu-ray or dvd editions of Rush's five most recent live videos (Rush in Rio, R30, Snakes & Arrows Live, Time Machine, Clockwork Angels Tour) plus an R40 bonus disc containing oft-requested items from the vault, is coming November 11.  The box will also include a 56 page hardback book.

It's worth mentioning that this will contain the first release of Rush in Rio on blu-ray, and in addition this edition of the R30 blu-ray does include the bonus features, which were left off the original R30 blu-ray edition.

The bonus disc is purported to include the complete Laura Secord Secondary School 1974 footage of which only three tracks have been previously available, Lock And Key 88 (outtake previously only available on select versions of the A Show of Hands laserdisk), the Passaic NJ Capitol Theatre show from 1976 (previously seen in Beyond The Lighted Stage), and Rush at the Molson Amphitheatre in 1997 (the previously shelved Different Stages video[?]), as well as the I Still Love You Man video from the Time Machine Tour and footage of the the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction in 2013.

From the product description:

2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Rush's eponymous debut album in 1974. This superb collector's box set brings together live performances by Rush from each decade of their career. It includes "Rush In Rio", "R30", "Snakes & Arrows Live", "Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland" and "Clockwork Angels Tour" plus a bonus disc of previously unseen live material stretching from 1974 to 2013. Rush are renowned for the energy and excitement of their live concerts and this set brings together some of their finest performances. The 6 Blu-ray discs are contained in a stunning 56 page hardback book measuring 305mm x 225mm with the 6 discs contained in 5 additional rigid insert pages. The 56 pages of the book are filled with memorabilia and photographs documenting 40 years of Rush live in concert. This is the ultimate collection of Rush live performances, beautifully presented.

And here are the bonus disc details:

Disc Six - R40 Bonus Disc
Laura Secord Secondary School 1974
1) Need Some Love 2) Before and After 3) Best I Can 4) I’ve Been Runnin’ 5) Bad Boy 6) The Loser 7) Working Man 8) In the Mood (partial)
Capitol Theatre 1976
1) Bastille Day 2) Anthem 3) Lakeside Park 4) 2112 5) Fly By Night/In The Mood
Lock and Key 1988
Molson Amphitheatre 1997
1) Limelight 2) Half the World 3) Limbo 4) Virtuality 5) Nobody's Hero 6) Test for Echo 7) Leave That Thing Alone/Drum Solo 8) 2112 (all seven parts)
I Still Love You Man 2011
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2013

The UK release date is given as Monday, November 17th so the North American release will likely by the following Tuesday, November 18th. Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the heads up.

"The Spirit of Radio" makes BBC's 'Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever'

On Thursday, BBC Radio 2 released their list of the top 20 'Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever'.  The songs were not ranked, but "The Spirit of Radio" did make the top 20. More importantly, the BBC posted a short audio clip of Geddy Lee where he thanks the fans for voting, and also gives a short description of how Alex created the songs' signature introductory riff. - Thanks to Martin Goodfellow for the headsup!