HomeAlex Lifeson of Rush stopped by Q107 this morning to chat with Derringer about all things rock n’ roll, including the upcoming R40 LIVE tour kicking off this May.
Q107,Toronto’s Rock presents RUSH - Wednesday June 17th & Friday June 19th at the Air Canada Centre. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 6th. Buy your tickets online at Ticketmaster.ca !
If you missed the interview live on air, not to worry, listen to Alex and Derringer chat below:
Alex Lifeson Stops By Q107 To Talk About The New R40 Tour
Alex Lifeson was on Toronto's Q107 this morning:
Neil Peart R40 Collector's Series Snare Drum
In celebration of Rush's 40th Anniversary Tour, Drum Workshop, Inc. (DW Drums) is releasing the Neil Peart R40 snare drum. Just like Neil's R40 touring kit, this DW Icon series snare features exotic inlay artwork from previous Rush albums and gold plated hardware. Each snare includes DW's Mag Throw-Off with 3 position butt plate and a DW Deluxe Snare Drum Bag.- Thanks to Andrew Olson for the headsup!
Kiss Roadies’ Memories of the Band’s Early Shows With Rush included in new book "Out On The Streets"
Like a lot of young groups in the ’70s, Kiss occasionally found themselves lumped in with some less-than-obvious acts on multi-band bills, and in the ‘Out on the Streets’ chapter ‘Remembering a Few of the Bands That We Worked With,’ the Krew recount their experiences supporting their bosses while they shared the stage with some of the bigger names in ’70s rock, as well as a couple of future legends.
They have especially fond memories of working with Rush, partly because the band went out of its way to thank the Krew in the liner notes of the 1975 album ‘Caress of Steel.’ “That was just pure respect for us,” noted Campise. “For who and what we were.”
It also happened because, as Munroe pointed out, “we helped them whenever we could” — up to and including indulging Alex Lifeson‘s routine as “The Bag.” Recalled Campise, “He’d take one of those huge paper bags that hotels provided for dirty laundry, draw some ridiculous face on it and wear it over his head and upper body. He looked kinda like SpongeBob SquarePants, now that I think of it.”
The foursome recall that Rush were eventually “thrown off our tours” because Paul Stanley felt threatened by Lifeson’s stage antics (“he would go from the corner of the stage and run to the microphone”)...
- Thanks to UltimateClassicRock for the headsup!
Fender Unveils New Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
Fender has unveiled an new version of their Geddy Lee Jazz Bass that combines the specs
and features of Lee’s three favorite basses—two Fender Custom Shop
versions of his signature model and the original sleek black ’72 Jazz
Bass that Rush’s revered bassist/vocalist has riffed away on in front
of millions of devoted fans worldwide and on many a mega-selling album.
The neck has a thicker custom profile, topped by a maple fingerboard
with elegant white binding and white pearloid block inlays. For enormous
tone that crackles with life and bristles with the energy, its two
vintage-style single-coil Jazz Bass pickups are specially wound and
voiced to sound like those on Lee’s prized 1972 original, and a Geddy
Lee signature High-Mass bridge provides rock-solid intonation. The new bass has an MSRP of $899 and will be available
March 12, 2015. For more info click here.
RushPetition - What do you want to hear live on the R40 tour?
Rush To Be Honored with the 2015 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award
The Allan Waters Humanitarian Award recognizes outstanding Canadian artists whose contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada. Named after CHUM Ltd. founder Allan Waters, the award is made possible by funding from BCE-Bell Media Benefits. It will be presented to Rush at the 2015 JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards on March 14, 2015 in Hamilton, Ontario.
“We are sincerely grateful to be recognized as this year’s recipients of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award. We are proud, honoured and humbled to be in the company of all Canadians who find it within their hearts to help those in need.” – Rush
“We are proud to be recognizing Rush’s noble legacy with this award,” said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. “The group’s dedication to countless charities and organizations over the course of their career is truly remarkable. Their tenacity and spirit serves as an inspiration to all of us, and we salute them for all of their exceptional work.”
”Bell Media congratulates Rush on being honoured with this year’s Allan Waters Humanitarian Award,” said Phil King, President, CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming. “As true rock icons, Rush embodies Canada’s innate spirit of compassion. Their generous support of and commitment to numerous worthy causes over their prolific career make them truly worthy of this prestigious award.”
With more than 40 million records sold worldwide and countless sold-out tours, Rush is not only one of the most inventive and compelling groups in rock history, but remains one of the most popular. According to the RIAA® Rush’s sales statistics place them third for the most consecutive gold/platinum studio albums by a rock band, topped only by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In addition to their commercial success, Rush has also been recognized with nine JUNO Awards and seven Grammy nominations, including one for the acclaimed documentary “Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage.” The group has remained unwaveringly committed and daring throughout their musical journey, and the same characteristics can be used to describe their charitable dedication.
Over the course of their four-decade-long career, the members of Rush have thrown their support behind a wide variety of worthy causes often privately and sometimes publicly. From their earliest shows at Toronto’s historic Maple Leaf Gardens, the band started working with the Toronto Food Bank to encourage fans to bring food for those in need. Eventually deciding to do their first charity concert at Maple Leaf Gardens to benefit the United Way in the early ‘80s, and an amFAR show to benefit Aids Research in the early ‘90s, engaging themselves and their fans in positive pursuits naturally became part of the Rush ethos.
As dedicated advocates of human rights, in 2008 Rush donated $100,000 from a Winnipeg concert’s gate to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. In the same year, on their Snakes & Arrows Tour, the band donated $100,000 from their show in New Orleans to Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation to assist in the revitalization of the city post Hurricane Katrina, and sponsor the construction of a house in The Lower Ninth Ward dubbed “The House that Rush Built.”
From their 2010 Time Machine Tour onwards, Rush has donated $1 from every concert ticket sold to various charities including Doctors Without Borders, a total which will soon surpass $2 million over these last five years. In 2013, the band performed an incredibly successful benefit concert at Red Deer’s Enmax Centrium with all proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross to help victims of the flooding that devastated many regions of southern Alberta. The event raised over $575,000 and was one of the largest donations made to the Alberta Flood Relief.
Rush has also been a passionate supporter of Little Kids Rock, a national non-profit organization that works to restore and revitalize music education programs in disadvantaged U.S. public schools. In efforts to provide percussion instruments to schools, the group created a premium Neil Peart Paragon Cymbal Pack, each of which came with a free splash cymbal personalized, autographed and dated by the Rush drummer himself. This cause-based marketing initiative went on to raise over $50,000 for Little Kids Rock. Working with their endorsement companies, they have set up partnerships for their signature items which have seen many positive charitable efforts such as Neil Peart with DW, Sabian and ProMark, where one campaign raised over $60,000 for Child Advocates. Alex Lifeson has donated royalties from his signature Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess guitar to the Dominic Triano Foundation for guitar music scholarships.
The band members have also donated their time, funds and awareness through their personal interests and events. An avid baseball fan, Geddy Lee donated close to 400 signed baseballs by former Negro League baseball players from his personal collection to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City in 2008. Alex Lifeson is a supporter of Casey House, as well as The Kidney Foundation to which he donates his paintings to assist in their fundraising. During the band’s South American tour in 2010, Neil Peart was moved by the rescue of the trapped miners in Chile. When he wrote a story about his experiences touring in South America, he rallied Rush fans and his readers to make a $1 donation for his story. Neil matched their donations, and together they raised $10,000 for the Chilean Red Cross.
For over 10 years, Geddy Lee has been an active board member for the Grapes for Humanity Canada charity, an organization that raises funds to benefit humanitarian causes around the world with the assistance of the international wine community. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson co-host their bi-annual “Grapes Under Pressure” wine event supporting the local wine growing regions of Ontario. All three members of the band support this cause through their Grapes Under Pressure eBay auction of Rush memorabilia. These combined events have raised over $500,000 to date.
Rush’s vast catalogue includes such classics as 1974’s self-titled debut, 1976’s 2112, 1981’s Moving Pictures, 1996’s Test For Echo, and 2002’s Vapor Trails. Rush released their 20th studio album, Clockwork Angels in 2012 via Anthem/Roadrunner Records. The critically acclaimed collection marks their first studio recording since 2007’s Snakes & Arrows, and debuted at #1 in Canada and #2 on the Billboard 200 matching the highest chart debut of the band’s career. Rush was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994, made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996 and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. They have received a star on both Canada’s Walk of Fame (1999) and Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010). Rush received the highest artistic honour in Canada by winning the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2012 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
- See more at: http://junoawards.ca/2015-allan-waters-humanitarian-award-recipient/#sthash.pjjPPNnz.dpuf
Mystic Rhythms: Rush's Neil Peart On The First Rock Drummer - NPR
"He was the first rock drummer, in very many ways," Peart says. "Without Gene Krupa, there wouldn't have been a Keith Moon. He was the first drummer to command the spotlight and the first drummer to be celebrated for his solos, because they were very flamboyant. He did fundamentally easy things, but always made them look spectacular." For the full feature click here.- Thanks to Rosmakloma for the headsup!
Geddy Lee Interview from the film "Jaco"
Geddy Lee is one of the many musicians interviewed for the documentary film "Jaco", about legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. A short snippet of Geddy discussing fusion music from the documentary was posted to the film's YouTube channel yesterday and can be seen below. Produced by Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and directed by Paul Marchand and Stephan Kijak, the film debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 6th and at the Grammy Museum on December 8th, and should be available for purchase on Record Story Day this coming April. For more info visit Facebook.com/JacoDocumentary. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!
Prog #52 Cover Feature on Rush
The UK's Prog magazine issue #52 will hit newsstands on January 5th, and features Rush on the cover as well as various feature stories. You can check out a teaser here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
Kevin J. Anderson's "Clockwork Angels: The Comic Scripts" Now Available
Pop Culture References Update - December 2014
Time for the latest Rush References in Pop Culture update. There haven't been too many since my last update, but there have been a few:
- Starting with today, December 12th, the Scary Gary comic strip by Mark Buford includes two Rush references: when Scary Gary goes down to his "man cave", the clock reads approximately 9:12 (21:12 in military time) and a Rush bumper sticker is seen on his refrigerator.
- During the November 23rd episode of CSI: Las Vegas, two CSI techs discuss an impression of a championship football ring left in wax at a crime scene, for a game whose final score was 21-12.
- Not sure if this qualifies as pop-culture, but Rush fans are everywhere as demonstrated by this YouTube product review for a carpentry vise by "Half-Inch Shy", where he is wearing a t-shirt which reads "Keep Calm and Listen to YYZ".
- As previously posted, the book Finding Jesus by Winston Rowantree was published on October 28. Essentially a book of "Where's Waldo"-esqe illustrations but with amusing cultural references, one of the illustrations is "A Woman at a Prog Rock Show" which features a Rush show, complete with dozens of Rush references
- And finally, during the Seinfeld episode "The Old Man" which aired February 18, 1993, while leaving the Taxi cab with Kramer, Newman is holding a stack of albums which includes All The World's A Stage.
Rock Cellar Magazine December 2014 Cover Feature - Neil Peart: The World’s Audience
Rush to reissue all 14 Mercury Albums On Vinyl, plus 3 5.1 Blu-Ray Editions, in 2015
In addition, three of those albums, Fly By Night, A Farewell to Kings, and Signals, will also be released as a standalone Blu-Ray Pure Audio version with 96kHz / 24-bit 5.1 surround sound and stereo. Previously, these three albums were only available with their 5.1 surround sound mix as part of the Sectors boxed sets released in late 2011.
Fly By Night Coming to Blu-ray-Audio
This will be the second such high resolution release of Fly By Night in just over three years; it was released as a 5.1 surround sound DVD as part of the Sectors 1 boxed set in late 2011.
- Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!
Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - December (July) 2014
Neil Peart has just updated his website with the latest issue of "News Weather & Sports." From July but apparently not published until now, this issue is titled "Bamm Bamm and the Lemon Slug". Neil tells of his competing in the "24 Hours of LeMons", an endurance racing series for low-budget enthusiasts such as Neil. You can check it out here.
Rush R40 Collectors Box Opens at #2 on Billboard's Music Videos Chart
Click here for the linernotes, including a new essay written for this collection by music journalist Martin Popoff.
R40 contains Rush's five most recent live videos (Rush in Rio, R30, Snakes & Arrows Live, Time Machine, Clockwork Angels Tour), as well as an R40 bonus disc containing oft-requested items from the vault as well as a 56 page hardback book.
The gem of this collection is the bonus disc, containing the complete Laura Secord Secondary School 1974 footage of which only three tracks have been previously available. Other rarities include Lock And Key 88 (an 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 (a portion of 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. For additional details view the official press release.
There is a special edition of R40 available at both RushBackstageClub.com and BestBuy.com, which includes an 'R40 Completest' DVD which contains additional content from the original R30 release, that is not included in the standard R40 release. The DVD edition 'R40 Completest' DVD contains: a) the eight songs not included on the original R30 DVD release; b) the Anthem "Church" video; and c) three songs from Molson Amphitheatre, June 30, 1996 which are in addition to those found on the standard R40 "Bonus Disc". The Blu-Ray edition 'R40 Completest' DVD also contains the Anthem "Church" video and the three added tracks from Molson '96, but instead of the eight R30 tracks (which are already on the R30 Blu-Ray), it contains the bonus features found on the original R30 "Deluxe Edition" DVD which, while they are already included in the DVD edition, were not included on the Blu-Ray release in 2009 (and hence are not included in standard R40 Blu-Ray edition either).
Rush Lighting Director Howard Ungerleider - 2014 Parnelli Vision Award Honoree
"While perhaps best known as the visual designer behind four decades of Rush concerts, he’s also worked with the likes of Blue Öyster Cult, Van Halen, Queensrÿche, Tesla, Rod Stewart, Supertramp, Def Leppard and Alicia Keys, among others. His work on the corporate side has been just as innovative, creating custom environments for companies ranging from General Motors and Mercedes-Benz to the Buffalo Sabres hockey team."PLSN has also shared a 14 minute video interview with Geddy and Alex regarding Howard's work which you can view here.
Stewart Copeland's Lost Jam with Lifeson and Peart
You might recall a couple of years ago when Neil Peart, Primus' Les Claypool, Tool's Danny Carey, and Stuart Copeland jammed at Copeland's house and recorded the track Count Drumula. A video of the session can be seen here.
In a new interview with Radio.com, Stewart Copeland discusses a similar epic jam session with not only Neil Peart but also Alex Lifeson, and what happened to the recordings of that night:
In a new interview with Radio.com, Stewart Copeland discusses a similar epic jam session with not only Neil Peart but also Alex Lifeson, and what happened to the recordings of that night:
"Well, I had one tragedy. I had the Rush guys, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson, over here, and we jammed through the night. We banged every drum, Neil and I had the drum battle from hell, Alex played every guitar, cello, horn, it was just music all night. And then I started cutting it and putting it together, and Les Claypool came over and he sang [Rush's 1975 epic] “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” or something like that over the sessions. And so I’m editing it together, and I pull out my fancy-schmancy film-scoring tools, my orchestral samples, and built this huge track. And then my hard drive crashed! And I sent it to two or three different “drive doctors,” who all charged a fortune, and none of them could rescue the disc. And I hadn’t even done a rough mix. I was a little crushed by all that. That kind of popped the balloon on the whole thing."- Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
Geddy Lee Reveals Plan to Fix Favorite Baseball Team - RollingStone.com
"From singing the praises of new Cubs manager Joe Maddon ("He's brilliant") to fending off fantasy baseball questions ("Too early. Way too early,") he gave us his quick takes on the Major League Baseball season that was, and, of course, what he expects from his beloved Toronto Blue Jays in 2015."Click here for more.
Alex Lifeson Limited Edition Signed Prints for the Kidney Foundation
Two of Alex Lifeson's paintings which were auctioned off for the Kidney Foundation of Canada are now available as a limited edition print individually numbered and signed by Alex. What a great Christmas gift for Rush fans which also will raise money for a great cause!"The Kidney Foundation of Canada - Atlantic Branch and Alex have teamed up to produce these two limited edition set of prints. Only 300 prints have been made of Self Portrait #1 and only 200 prints have been made of Greek Salad. Each print is numbered and Alex Lifeson has personally signed each individual print. That's right, each print has Alex Lifeson's ORIGINAL signature on it. The print is on high quality, heavy stock. In addition, each print comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the Executive Director of the Atlantic Canada Branch of The Kidney Foundation of Canada, confirming that the print that you have purchased is one of only 300. The certificate also shows the print number (eg. Print No. 33 Limited Edition of 300). The certificate is printed on linen paper, making it ideal for framing with the art print or for displaying on its own."Click here for more information and to purchase! - Thanks Trina for the headsup!
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