Rush News from Power Windows

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee guest stars in Future User "Voodoo Juju" video

Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee guest star in Future User's new "Voodoo Juju" video. Frontman/bassist Tim Commerford explains:

"I got the idea for the video after I ruptured a disc in my back and needed emergency surgery. As someone who often goes under the knife, I've always been a bit overwhelmed by the process, paperwork, approvals and costs. Luckily, I have insurance, but it got me thinking about all the people in this country who can't afford medical treatment. I read an article recently that said there are over 40 million uninsured people living in the States, which is insane. I talked my doctor into letting me shoot the surgery, then explained the concept to Tom (Morello), who was totally into the idea. And of course, you can't talk about universal health care without bringing Canada into the conversation, so I called Geddy (Lee) and Alex (Lifeson) and asked if they'd be part of it and was blown away when they said yes. And all that footage of my back being opened up is real, no joke."

Check out the video below. For more visit blabbermouth.net.

Win a Trip to See Rush R40 Tour In Vegas from Live Nation

"RUSH is getting ready to kick off the #R40LIVE 40th Anniversary Tour and you could be there!"

"Submit your favorite #R40Memories PLUS ENTER for a chance to win a flyaway to see RUSH LIVE in Las Vegas PLUS a Meet & Greet, merch pack, and cash card for your trip!"

For more info visit https://livenation.votigo.com/fbsweeps/sweeps/RUSH-R40LIVE-Kickoff-Sweepstakes

Novel “Ellison and Amos” inspired by Neil Peart

Author of the novel Ellison and Amos, Charlie Gibbons joined KTVA's Daybreak Thursday to talk about what went into writing his newest book:

It’s a book about a rock-and-roll legend who loses everything of meaning and embarks on a journey on the back of a motorcycle only to face his greatest fear: The fan. The drummer from Rush, Neil Peart, inspires the story.

"He’s a big mentor, inspiration for me and my writing over the years,” Gibbons said. “When the opportunity came to come to Alaska and experience Alaska and all of its wonder, everything just kind of sprouted from there.”

Gibbons came up with the idea for the book after going through a personal turmoil similar to Peart. Published in March 2013, the book is available here. For more info visit ktva.com

Guitar Center Video for the Alex Lifeson R40 Les Paul Axcess

"In celebration of Rush's 40th Anniversary, Gibson Custom presents the Limited Edition Alex Lifeson R40 Les Paul Axcess offered in a run of 200 guitars with 5A quilt maple tops in a lush Ruby Red R40 finish. It also features a Limited Edition "Starman" R40 die-caste medallion covering the rhythm/treble switch access cavity. For more info visit: http://bit.ly/1Hn6L1g & http://www.rush.com/"

"The Art of Rush" - Now Available

The Art of Rush, a 272 page coffee table book that delves into the 40 year relationship with Rush and their longtime artist and illustrator Hugh Syme, was officially released on May 22. The stunning book begins with a foreword penned by Neil Peart, and contains original illustrations, paintings, photography, and the incredible stories behind each album that he has designed with the band since 1975.

The book’s narration was written by music journalist Stephen Humphries and includes in-depth interviews with each Rush band member, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and artist Hugh Syme. The Art of Rush also contains entertaining anecdotes and commentary from a wide array of notable musicians, actors, athletes, writers, radio personalities and Rush insiders about their favourite Rush album covers, which clearly reveals how vital and impactful the visual representation of their music has been through the years.

The book was originally avaiable for preorder in one of three editions:

SOLD OUT: Roadcase Deluxe Limited Edition 1/100, numbered and signed by all 3 members of Rush & Hugh Syme. The book will come in a hand-crafted road case designed by Anvil approx. 15" x 15" x 3" in size and will be enclosed in a custom slipcase, and more, for $995
SOLD OUT: Limited Special Edition 1/250, numbered and signed by all 3 members of the band and artist Hugh Syme, enclosed in a custom slipcase for $495
Classic Edition, the 272 page hardcover book for $99

The $995 Art of Rush - Deluxe Roadcase Edition and $495 Deluxe Slipcase Editions BOTH sold out in just over two hours after going on sale, and immediately started appearing on eBay for double the original sale price. If you were putting off buying the $99 standard edition, you might want to put your order in now...

For more information visit rush.com/the-art-of-rush/.

R40 Tour Book Wallpaper Images

I've added 31 new wallpaper images from the R40 Tour Book to my "Rush Art Gallery of Desktop Wallpaper" Tour Books page. Included are the usual beautiful production photos, mixed with live photos from the last tour, recent rehearsal photos, and a few from the archives. In addition, in case you missed my previous post, the complete tour book transcript is available here. Enjoy!

- Thanks to John Patuto at Cygnus-X1.net for sharing his raw scans!

Rush Featured on the cover of Classic Rock July 2015 - UPDATED WITH MORE

Rush is featured on the cover of the July 2015 issue of the UK's Classic Rock magazine, with the taglines "The Last Tour?", "The Last Interview?", "The Last Word." You can order a copy here.
Classic Rock has also published online an interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson titled "We're coming towards the end". Alex looks back on their career, what sacrifices they made over the last 40 years, including his memories dating back to their break-out gig with the New York Dolls in 1974, or being told by Heart's Roger Fisher that Heart would "blow them off the stage". He also discusses how he has been suffering from arthritis for 10 years, and discusses Neil's with tendonitis. Of note is the fact that Geddy Lee is hoping to extend the R40 Tour into Europe in the spring of 2016, provided his bandmates are up to it.

Alex on how Neil took to the R40 Tour: "[Neil] was resistant to it until he started prepping [for the tour] and realised: hey, I can still play my drums pretty good! And then getting into rehearsals with us, there’s that whole camaraderie that he really adores. So when he’s back into the stream, he loves the swim."

Geddy on what could bring on the end of touring: "if anything is going to mean that we can’t tour any more like we used to, it’s more than likely going to be the arthritis. Because that’s something that will directly affect his ability to play. And if I was going out on stage and I could not play the way I want to play, or the way I have played in the past, there is no way I would want to do it; I would not want to go out there and be a shadow of my former self. "

Will there be another Rush album?: Alex: "...I’d love to make another record. It’s such a fun experience to make a record.I’m sure if we start coming up with some stuff, Neil would be right in there. He’d love that." Geddy: "Do I feel like we have the mojo to do more records? Absolutely. But I can’t tell you that the other guys agree. I’m not a hundred per cent sure that Neil agrees, I’m pretty sure Alex agrees."

In addition, Classic Rock has posted an "EXCLUSIVE: RusH Q&A - The Bonus bits", 'The bits of our interview with the Canadian prog legends that didn't make it into the magazine'. You can read it here (watch out, there are some R40 setlist spoilers). Included are comments about many of the band's releases over the years, songs that did or didn't work, thoughts on playing old "pretentious" proggy songs on tour, their plans for when the music is finally over, and more info regarding the chances of the R40 tour coming to Europe:

Geddy: There’s nothing on the cards right now. I would say that there are those of us that would prefer to do some dates in the UK and even some European dates, and there’s an opportunity, once we get rolling, to see what we might want to add. But let’s just say that at this point that Neil’s made it clear that he’s good with this US tour being the last group of dates.

Alex: You never know. These past couple of months have been pivotal. It’s shown us, after a year and a half off, how much we really love doing what we’re doing. I think that’s really important in Neil’s case. But when you’ve only got so much time to play with it’s tough....But I’ll say one thing: Geddy feels it’s important that we go back at this time to the UK, to acknowledge the support you’ve given us for all these years. And I agree with him.

- Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Hemispheres Vinyl Reissue - Now Available

As announced last fall, Rush is reissuing the complete Mercury era albums on 200-gram heavyweight vinyl in chronological order throughout 2015. The next release to hit store shelves is Hemispheres hitting store shelves today, May 19th.

Eventually the vinyl reissues will include all studio and live albums through A Show of Hands. Previous vinyl reissues include Rush reDISCovered, Fly By Night (vinyl and blu-ray pure audio in 5.1 surround sound), Caress of Steel, the 2112 hologram edition. and A Farewell To Kings (vinyl and blu-ray pure audio in 5.1 surround sound). These vinyl reissues also include a 320kbps MP4 vinyl ripped Digital Audio album download, and can also be purchased separately as high resolution Digital Audio.

RUSH R40 Opening Night Contest from Power Windows

AND THE WINNER IS: Congratulations to Andy Hays, the ONLY person who correctly guessed the opening song. However, Andy has graciously offered to pass it on to the runner up: the winner is Jeff Travis of Modesto who guessed both the second and third songs. Jeff, check your mail later this week for your Chronicles DVD.

The time is now again! The R40 Tour starts one week from today in Tulsa, and to celebrate, I'm having a contest for Power Windows readers where I am giving away a Rush DVD. Correctly guess the first TWO songs of the opening night of the R40 Tour, in the order they are played, and you will be in the running to win Rush's Chronicles DVD Collection. To enter, simply email your answers (song 1, song 2), along with your name and mailing address, to rushr40songs@yahoo.com.

And here's some fine print:

Only one entry per email address (if you change your mind, the last entry received from a given address will be your final answer), and entries received after showtime will be ignored, so please don't bother.
Winner will be randomly drawn from correct entries, but if there are no correct entries/no one correctly guesses the first two songs, winner will be based on the opening song.
If the band opens with a medley or throws us a curve ball, then yours truly will take that into account in considering the final winner.

Good luck!

Rush 'R40 Live: 40th Anniversary' Tour Book Transcript

"As the three of us discussed the songs we would play, it was all about how we and the fans might be able to live it all again - just this once. Because it was quite a ride, wasn't it?" - Neil Peart, "Live It All Again"

Neil Peart has written another outstanding essay which is included in the R40 tour book. In addition, Alex Lifeson tells us some stories from the earlier days, such as renting a car and returning it with 11,000 miles on it, and Geddy talks about his latest obsession, collecting basses.

You can check it out here: Rush 'R40 Live: 40th Anniversary' Tour Book.

- Thanks to John Patuto for sharing the transcript!

Les Claypool: 10 bassists that blew my mind

Yesterday MusicRadar posted an interview with Primus' Les Claypool where he talks about his 10 favorite bassists. Coming in at #1 is Geddy Lee:

“He was the one that when I was a fourteen-year-old fellow I thought, ‘Boy, I’d sure like to make those sounds.’ I’m still trying to do that.

"When I was a kid I didn’t have a lot of money so I joined one of those RCA Record Clubs where you got ten records for a penny and then you spend the next three years trying to pay back the albums that they send you after you don’t get back to them in time.

"One of those albums I got was All The World’s A Stage which was Rush’s first live record. I pretty much wore that thing out. Geddy was the one, he was my first big hero. The way he phrases his runs when he’s improvising, I’ll hit a run every now and then and go, yep, that’s Geddy.

"There’s one song we have in particular called Moron TV that was off the last record where the middle section is very much Rush and it’s an homage to those guys. I helped induct them into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame. I brought my Fungi band which was cello, marimba, drums and bass, and we played Spirit Of Radio.”

DW Drums' "Not Tom Sawyer Contest"

DW Drums has launched a new contest in honor of Rush's 40th Anniversary Tour. You are invited to film yourself doing your very best tribute to legendary Rush drummer, Neil Peart. Just make a video of yourself playing along to your favorite Rush song for a chance to win a Performance Series Time Machine Snare! Visit DW Drums for details. - Thanks to Rosmakloma for the headsup!

Opening Night in Tulsa Setlist

Beginning with the Hartford show of the Vapor Trails Tour in 2002, we have been your source for the opening night setlist, as the show takes place. That was the case tonight as well, as we posted the opening night setlist from Tulsa live. A HUGE thanks to Ryan Wasell for providing pictures and setlist updates!

Click here for the R40 Opening Night in Tulsa Setlist

Google Map Route of the R40 Tour

"Keep on riding North and West...then circle South and East..."

In case you need help planning your roadtrips this summer:

CMRRA Congratulates Board Member Pegi Cecconi for MMF Award

SRO/Anthem's Pegi Cecconi was presented with the Brian Chater Pioneer Award on Tuesday (May 5) by the Music Manager Forum (MMF) and will be honoured with the inaugural Brian Chater Leadership Award by the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) at their Gala in Toronto on June 15.

Ms. Cecconi’s career began while she was still in high school, where she worked as a social convener booking bands through Ray Danniels’ agency. Danniels would go on to found SRO Management, and after Pegi graduated she became SRO’s first employee. Of course, SRO has been managing Rush since the very beginning. For more, visit CMRRA.ca.

Steve Shutt: "Me and Geddy Lee" - The Slapshot Diaries

Retired Montreal Canadiens Steve Shutt recently shared a story of attending a concert with Geddy Lee as part of the The Slapshot Diaries, a new website project from filmmaker Mike Downie and musician/author Dave Bidini in partnership with Toronto-based FUSE Marketing.

Shutt, who attended Fisherville Junior High in Willowdale with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, shared his story of seeing The Mandala concert at the North York Centennial Area with Geddy Lee in 1967. The concert made a huge impact on them. Apparently Alex Lifeson was not present with Geddy, although he was also at this concert and was similarly impacted, as told at the bottom of this post.

"We were both 14 years old going to Fisherville Junior High in Willowdale in 1966, right at the start of the psychedelic era. We were good friends and, like everyone, we bought all the newest albums, tried to look like hippies, and even took the bus and subway down to Yorkville to see what we had to look like to be cool.

"We went to our first really big show at North York Centennial Arena featuring the two hottest bands in Toronto: The Mandala and The Paupers. The Mandala started the show with their great Blue-Eyed Soul Review. They were dressed in trademark cherry-striped suits. Joey Cherowski was on organ, Whitey Glann on drums, Dominic Trianio on guitar and Don Elliot was on bass. George Oliver sang and danced and jumped around on stage in a frenzy, which earned him his trade mark as the hardest working singer in soul music. The only time he slowed down was when he did the splits and ripped the ass out of his pants, which he changed while the band played an instrumental, the song 'Toronto ’67'. Both me and Ged couldn’t believe what we were seeing. This was great, this was unbelievable. We watched in awe as they finished their set.

"The next band were The Paupers. They started their set with their new hit song Magic People. There was a sound: the fuzz bass played by Denny Gerrard. Me and Geddy looked at each other and decided right then that we were going to play bass, too. Denny stood in his sluggo cap and pounded out an amazing riff that nobody had ever heard before. Little did we know that, during the show, the group, led by Skip Prokop and Adam Mitchell, would let Denny loose to do a 10 min bass solo. When he finished, completely exhausted, he left everyone in the audience stunned by what they’d just heard.

"That week, we begged, borrowed and maybe stole money to buy our own bass guitars and two small amps. I took my bass home and started practicing. I read my 'Introduction to Bass Playing' book. I did scales and learned how to tune the bass. After a couple of weeks, I thought I was getting the hang of playing and sounding pretty good, so I went over to Geddy’s house to show him. When I got there, he had his bass out and one of those old portable record players where, when you opened it up, the speaker would be in the lid. I got out my bass out and said “'kay, let’s do some scales.' Geddy looked at me and said, 'Um, I can’t do scales.' My confidence started to rise. 'I’ll show you,' I told him. 'Just follow me.' Maybe I did have some talent.

"Geddy said, 'Wait, before we do that, let’s listen to this record.' I told him that would be fine. The record started on the cheap portable player and he said, 'Listen, can you hear the bass?' Then he said, 'Look at this,' and started playing. His bass came alive. It pounded the speakers of the 12″ amp and sounded great. I didn’t know if he was copying the record or not because I couldn’t even hear the bass on the record. He did the same thing on the next song and the next one after that. I went home and put my bass away and I don’t think that I ever picked it up again. I guess, looking back, it would have been tough for anyone to compare with the best bass guitar player in the world. I think that both of us made the right decision."

Alex Lifeson was also present at this concert, and met Mandala's guitarist, Domenic Troiano, after the show. Back in 2013, in a press release announcing the annual Domenic Troiano Guitar Awards, Alex was quoted as saying:

"On June 30, 1967, I saw the Mandala at the North York Centennial Arena. At the side of the stage Donny gave me his autograph and his Mandala button. He told me how important it was to keep practicing and if I worked hard, I might get the chance to stand on stage and play for people some day. I was beaming. He was my first real inspiration and to this day I have a deep love and admiration for a man who truly knew the meaning of soul. I am proud to be a humble part of his enduring influence".

- Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

Geddy Lee appears on latest Eddie Trunk podcast

The latest Eddie Trunk podcast includes a short interview with Geddy Lee beginning at the 38 minute mark which was recorded before his appearance on the season premiere of That Metal Show back in February. You can listen to it here. - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

Rush Reference on "The Goldbergs"

Last night on the ABC sitcom "The Goldbergs" (season 2, episode 23, "Bill/Murray", full episode online here), Erica Goldberg goes to see her high school guidance counselor (played by SNL alum Tim Meadows), who has various motivational posters on his wall, including a Rush poster, and says "It's like my posters say: 'reach for the stars,' 'hang in there,' and that's the band Rush, because I'm the cool guidance counselor who shows up at the high school basketball games in a casual polo."

You can watch the full episode here on ABC.go.com, and you can see the Rush related scene below. - Thanks to Mark Daniels, Donald Schwabbauer and John Patuto for the headsup!

Cover Rush to win $5,000, 2 Tickets and Meet & Greet with Rush at R40 Live in Los Angeles, CA and more!

After 40 years together, 20 gold and platinum studio albums, Rush is giving their fans a chance to cover 10 songs from their iconic catalog. Their publishing company ole is looking for creative, contemporary covers. Both covers with vocals and instrumentals will be accepted.

Choose from these songs:

Working Man, Fly By Night, Closer to the Heart, The Spirit of Radio, Freewill, Limelight, Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, New World Man, Time Stand Still

Grand Prize Winner will receive: $5,000, 2 tickets to the R40 Live 40th Anniversary Tour show in Los Angeles, CA on August 1st, 2015, 2 Meet & Greet passes to the R40 Live 40th Anniversary Tour show in Los Angeles, CA on August 1st, 2015, A meeting with OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT Creative Rep, A Limited edition Rush Fender Squier Bass, A lyric video of the Winner’s Cover on ole’s YouTube channel

2nd Place Winner will win: $3,000 plus a Rush Swag Prize Pack

3rd Place Winner will win: $1,000 plus a Rush Swag Prize Pack

3 Popular Vote Winners will win Pro status on Indaba Music

For more info and to enter click here.

What Makes Rush So Unique? - Fender.com

Fender.com has posted a new interview with Geddy Lee titled "What Makes Rush So Unique?" Geddy looks back on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the band's work ethic, his influences and his growing bass collection. Of the R40 tour, he says:

“I owe our fans so much as they have helped float us support us for over 40 years now. They’re growing devotion to us is not something that I take lightly. I really do appreciate it, and you know, you can never make them all happy— it’s not possible, but we try. I think that the best way for us to try is just to be ourselves. I think our real fans understand that if we disappear for a couple years, it’s because we really need to. If we do things a particular way or if we don’t play that album on a particular tour, that’s just not where we are at the moment and that also comes as part of being a Rush fan.”

Geddy Lee talks about Fender's new Geddy Lee Jazz Bass

Geddy Lee talks about Fender's new U.S.A. Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, combining the specs and features of his three favorite Fender basses.

The Geddy Lee Jazz Bass has been a staple in the Fender line since 1998, but earlier this year, Fender announced the addition of the U.S.A. version.

The new U.S.A. Geddy Lee Jazz Bass is a unique version 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 he discovered at a pawn shop in Kalamazoo, Mich.

More product details here: http://bit.ly/GeddyLee-JazzBass-YT2

Alex Lifeson Shares the Story Behind "Closer to the Heart"

Today GuitarWorld.com posted a short interview with Alex Lifeson where he discusses the process of writing "Closer To The Heart" off of 1977's A Farewell To Kings.

“All of our early albums were written on acoustic guitar. When Geddy [Lee, bass and vocals] and I would write the music, we’d sit down with a cassette recorder and two acoustic guitars, in spite of the fact that we were a hard rock band.

"‘Closer to the Heart’ is a sweet, ballady type of song, but we mix it up. It takes an interesting course as the arrangement builds. Once we got the basic arrangement down, we knew that the intro would be acoustic, and then we took it up a notch dynamically and brought the whole band in.

"The 12-string intro gives it the illusion of being an acoustic piece, and then the rhythm section comes in and the song changes into a kickin’ rock tune.”

- Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

"The Bookseller's Tale" from Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart's "Clockwork Lives" now available

Click for ebook

UPDATE 4/29 - Yesterday Kevin J. Anderson announced: "First release from CLOCKWORK LIVES: The Bookseller's Tale is now available in all eBook formats. Cool multiverse tale of Mrs. Courier! Also includes an afterword on the writing of the project with Neil Peart...and a cameo from Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell."

You can purchase the ebook of The Bookseller's Tale now at Smashwords.com.

Click To Order

Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart's eagerly awaited followup to the Clockwork Angels novelization, titled Clockwork Lives, is now available for preorder in hardback and is scheduled for release on September 15th:

"In Clockwork Angels, #1 bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and legendary Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart created a fabulous, adventurous steampunk world in a novel to accompany the smash Rush concept album of the same name. It was a world of airships and alchemy, clockwork carnivals, pirates, lost cities, a rigid Watchmaker who controlled every aspect of life, and his nemesis, the ruthless and violent Anarchist who wanted to destroy it all.

"Anderson and Peart have returned to their colorful creation to explore the places and the characters that still have a hold on their imagination. Marinda Peake is a woman with a quiet, perfect life in a small village; she long ago gave up on her dreams and ambitions to take care of her ailing father, an alchemist and an inventor. When he dies, he gives Marinda a mysterious inheritance: a blank book that she must fill with other people’s stories — and ultimately her own. Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more, as Marinda strives to change her life from a mere 'sentence or two' to a true epic."

For more info, check out Kevin J Anderson's 35 minute Rushcast podcast interview given on March 1st where he speaks at length about the the new novel.

"Lifeson on Rush's last big tour: Never wants to be 'old and barely able to move'" - Canadian Press

Today the Canadian Press published a new interview with Alex Lifeson where he discusses the R40 tour, and in addition, had this to say about what their plans are for AFTER the tour:

Well, we're not finished as a band. We still talk about recording.

Who knows, there may be an opportunity in the future to do not a big tour, but a series of concerts ... like a week in Massey Hall or Radio City Music Hall.

Ged and I are just itching to get back into writing. He just revamped his studio, and he's not a tech kind of studio guy. He doesn't know how probably even one per cent of that stuff works. But he's had this renaissance of being a musician and wanting to play and study more — it's really inspiring to see. When things slow down we'll start to do some writing, for whatever purpose. We've always talked about doing some soundtrack work.

Check out the full interview here.

Well, we're not finished as a band. We still talk about recording.
Who knows, there may be an opportunity in the future to do not a big tour, but a series of concerts ... like a week in Massey Hall or Radio City Music Hall.
Ged and I are just itching to get back into writing. He just revamped his studio, and he's not a tech kind of studio guy. He doesn't know how probably even one per cent of that stuff works.
But he's had this renaissance of being a musician and wanting to play and study more — it's really inspiring to see. When things slow down we'll start to do some writing, for whatever purpose. We've always talked about doing some soundtrack work.
With Neil, he really wants to take some time off and spend more time with his daughter. His daughter's very young. After what he's been through, he'd like to be more connected to his home life.
- See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/lifeson-on-rush-s-last-big-tour-never-wants-to-be-old-and-barely-able-to-move-1.1866788#sthash.B51KCLpX.dpuf

Alex Lifeson on Renman Live April 22nd

Alex Lifeson appeared on Renman Live! on Wednesday April 22nd at 5pm PST to talk about his career and Rush's upcoming 40th anniversary tour. The complete video is available here.

A Farewell To Kings Vinyl Reissue Now Available

As announced last fall, Rush is reissuing the complete Mercury era albums on 200-gram heavyweight vinyl in chronological order throughout 2015. This will include all studio and live albums through A Show of Hands. Previous vinyl reissues include Rush reDISCovered, Fly By Night (vinyl and blu-ray audio in 5.1 surround sound), Caress of Steel, and the 2112 hologram edition. These vinyl reissues also include a 320kbps MP4 vinyl ripped Digital Audio album download, and can also be purchased separately as high resolution Digital Audio.

The next release to hit store shelves is A Farewell To Kings hitting store shelves today, April 21st. In addition, the A Farewell To Kings 5.1 surround sound "blu-ray-audio remaster" is also now available; this was previously only available in the Sectors 2 boxed set.

"Jaco: A Documentary Film", including interview with Geddy Lee, wins APMFF Foundation Award

Back in January we shared that Geddy Lee is one of the many musicians interviewed for the documentary film "Jaco: A Documentary Film", about legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius. A short snippet of Geddy discussing fusion music from the documentary can be seen below.

The first annual Asbury Park Music in Film Festival took place over the weekend, and "Jaco" won the Foundation Award (Presented to the Asbury Park Music Foundation's selection for the APMFF premier film). For more info, click here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Drumstrong.org auction of 14" drumhead featuring 19 celebrity drummer signatures including Neil Peart

Drumstrong.org is auctioning off a 14" drum head signed by 19 celebrity drummers that was mounted on Neil Peart’s first drum kit with Rush (1974 chrome Slingerland). The auction ends the evening of Sunday, April 19th.

The head features the signatures of 19 celebrities who played on this drum head at PASIC 2009. The head was later signed by Neil Peart himself on 9/26/2010. Please note that this head is not original to the kit, it was placed on the kit during the Pasic International Drum Show in Indianapolis where it was played and signed. Click here for additional auction details and to bid on the item.

All proceeds from this auction are to benefit DrumsForCures, a non-profit charity organization that produces DRUMSTRONG events to raise awareness and funds for cancer survivorship, education and research globally that support people with cancer and those who love them. For more info visit www.drumstrong.org.

Michael Angelo Batio's "Shred Force 1" Now Available, includes cover of "What You're Doing"

Click to Order

Michael Angelo Batio, considered to be a pioneer of the shred guitar genre, has released his first-ever career retrospective, Shred Force 1: The Essential Michael Angelo Batio. Highlighting his best work to date, it also brings together many nationally renowned musicians from the hard rock and heavy metal genres. The album features some of Michael’s most memorable performances including a dynamic version of Rush’s “What You’re Doing,” which features Queensrÿche vocalist Todd LaTorre, Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, Alice Cooper bassist Chuck Garric, Metal Church/TSO drummer Jeff Plate and guitarist Craig Blackwell. An official audio stream of “What You’re Doing” can be found below... You can order the album here. - Thanks to the B-man for the headsup!

Neil Peart talks Far and Near on CBC Radio's "The Next Chapter" with Shelagh Rogers

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Back on January fifth, Neil Peart appeared on CBC Radio One's The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers to discuss his latest book Far and Near: On Days Like These. The radio show is now available for streaming here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Geddy Lee Interviewed in Men's Fashion magazine Spring 2015

Geddy Lee is featured in a one page interview of the Spring issue of Men's Fashion magazine titled "Stopover: London". The tagline reads:

"A man of talent, curiosity and diverse enthusiasms that include baseball, birds and bottles of fine wine, Geddy Lee, of Rush, feels a particular attraction to London. The band, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a North American tour that kicks off in early May, has spent a lot of time recording and performing in Britain, and Lee is a regular visitor to a a city that he summarizes as 'his and enduring.'"

You can read the full interview on page 28 of the Spring issue here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Win a Meet & Greet with members of Rush!

The Rush Backstage Club has begun their first contest of the R40 Tour to Win a Meet and Greet with members of RUSH! They will draw one lucky winner for every city on the upcoming RUSH R40 Tour to win a pair of meet and greet passes to meet members of RUSH.

Only one entry PER PERSON PER CONCERT DATE is permitted. This contest closes on July 9^th, 2015. Draws will take place approximately 1-2 weeks prior to show date and winners will be notified by email.

Click here for complete details and to enter.

Peart/Anderson's "Drumbeats" included in Humble Bundle Spotlight

Humble Bundle is running a special bundle highlighting books by Kevin J. Anderson's own small publishing company, WordFire Press. It's an amazing deal of 16 books, where you pay what you want, and a portion of the proceeds goes to charity and the rest gets divvied up among the authors.

Included in the bundle is the story co-written by Anderson with Neil Peart, titled "Drumbeats", about a rock drummer bicycling through Africa between concert tours, and some weird stuff that happens to him...

This is a great chance for Rush fans to get a copy of the story along with a lot of other novels, and it's for a great cause. For complete details visit https://www.humblebundle.com/books.

And don't forget, you can can now preorder two upcoming titles also by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart:

Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel coming May 12th, containing all six comic book issues based on the original novel, Clockwork Angels: The Novel.
Clockwork Lives, coming September 15th, where we return to the world of The Watchmaker...

Rush Sighting on AMC's "Better Call Saul" - Again

From Monday's season finale of AMC's "Breaking Bad" spinoff, "Better Call Saul", Saul visits his old friend Marco, and in Marco's basement apartment there is a 2112 poster.

This is the second Rush poster featured on the show. Back in February, we reported how episode 4 included a scene where you could see a commemorative poster for Rush's Aug 14, 1974 Pittsburgh show (first show with Neil Peart) on the back wall.
- Thanks to RushIsABand for the screen capture.

Photographer Glen Wexler discusses Hold Your Fire Cover Photo Shoot and More

Last year photographer Glen Wexler sat down with Travellersintime.com to discuss his career in shooting album covers. Glen talks at length about many covers, including the work he did for Rush's Hold Your Fire album cover and linernotes art. Glen tells how the original actor chosen to play "the juggler" was Dennis Hopper, and that the set piece still exists in his garage:

Hold Your Fire was my only Rush cover. In the mid to late 80s Hugh Syme and I collaborated on several projects. Hugh worked with Rush as their art director from very early on. We were both art directing conceptual album covers, although I was creating the images with photography, and at the time, Hugh was primarily a painter. The collaboration was an interesting and productive mix.

I often worked with miniature sets, and suggested the approach for staging the fire juggler. Many of the miniature buildings were recycled from a Yamaha advertising campaign featuring Michael Jackson, which I had created a couple years prior. I brought in my set team, who built a very impressive set, but very small, only four feet across.

I cast the fire juggler, this great character actor, Stanley Brock, who's mostly known for his role in the film Tin Men. We originally had Dennis Hopper on board, but kept running into scheduling conflicts.

I shot the miniature street scene in my studio on 4x5 film. The other elements were shot medium format with a Hasselblad. The fireballs are a basketball that was coated with rubber cement and torched. The dog, full size fire hydrant, and actor were shot separately. I combine all the elements with multiple exposures on 8x10 film in my darkroom, which was the primary method I used to combine images pre-digitally. When everything was combined together on one piece of film, it was sent out for a dye transfer print and final retouching, which was the typical workflow back then.

In the original version, we also flew in the boy who modeled for Hugh's painting for the Power Windows cover. He was seen looking out of the apartment window, but it was decided that he didn't really enhance the shot...there was so much going on. Earlier Rush covers are referenced in the image, and Power Windows was covered by the period TV sets in the room.

In hindsight, both Hugh and I regretted using that image in the inside of package. It was a little too "clever" using the three red balls for the cover, and leaving the more epic and memorable image for the inside of the packaging. While it might not look like it, the cover with the red balls is photography, as well. I had my set guys physically sculpt the RUSH text into a 4' x 8' surface that was then painted a high gloss red by an auto body shop. The printer combined the red billiard balls during the pre-press. I still have the set piece in my garage. I thought it would make a cool door.

You can read the full interview here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Clockwork Angels: The Animated Movie - April Fools'!

Over the last three years, in addition to Rush's excellent album Clockwork Angels, Rush fans have been treated to the expanded steampunk universe of The Anarchist and The Watchmaker in the Clockwork Angels novelization written by Kevin J Anderson and Neil Peart, and again with Clockwork Angels: The Graphic Novel illustrated by Nick Robles. This fall we will also be treated to the followup to the Clockwork Angels novelization, titled Clockwork Lives (now available for preorder in hardback and scheduled for release on September 15th).

We have now learned from a Rush fan at DreamWorks Animation SKG, who asked to remain anonymous, that the Clockwork Angels story is being brought to the big screen in Summer 2016. As detailed in the working movie poster provided here, the screenplay was co-written by Kevin J. Anderson and famed screenwriter John Logan, and the art direction is a steampunk inspired collaboration by Rush cover artist Hugh Syme and the graphic novel illustrator Nick Robles. Best of all, the film will feature the music of RUSH!

Stay tuned for more details as we learn them.

UPDATE: I hope you enjoyed our April Fools' joke. We again teamed up with John at Cygnus-X1.net and Ed at RushIsABand, and Kevin J. Anderson even joined in the fun. Big thanks to John for creating the poster, with suggestions bounced back and forth by Ed and I. Who knows, this idea might not be too far fetched, we will see what the future holds...

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Prog Rock Classics Now Available, featuring Red Barchetta

Buy Now

Today saw the release of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Prog Rock Classics, which appears to be be a compilation of previous recordings including "Red Barchetta" featuring Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden (from Royal Philharmonic Plays The Music Of Rush).

Label Cleopatra Records says: “A stellar group of musical virtuosos from the prog stratosphere join the orchestra, lending their talents to these intricately arranged masterworks in a collaborative match made in prog rock heaven.”

Tracklist:
ELP Suite: Tarkus/From The Beginning/Tarkus (Reprise)
Comfortably Numb – Ian Bairnson
Thick As A Brick – Richard Harvey
21st Century Schizoid Man – Gavin Harrison & Guthrie Govan
Focus II – Thijs Van Leer
Nights In White Satin – Mark Feltham
Think Of Me With Kindness – Patrick Moraz
Roundabout – Jimmy Greenspoon
Watcher Of The Skies
Red Barchetta – Adrian Smith

Legends of Classic Rock - Jeff Woods with Neil Peart - Now Available via FlinkTO

Back on November 6th, Neil Peart sat down for an hour with Jeff Woods on his Legends of Classic Rock syndicated radio show to discuss the new R40 video collection as well as his latest book Far and Near – On Days Like These.

Although it previously aired on select radio stations the weekend of November 14-15, the entire show can now be heard on the FlinkTO app via the Apple App Store here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

2112 Hologram Edition And All The World's A Stage Vinyl Reissues - Now Available

UPDATE March 30th: Sales of the 2112 Hologram Edition have brought it back into the Billboard Top 200, coming in at #149. - Thanks Wolffman for the headsup!

Today, March 17th, Rush has reissued a unique hologram edition vinyl of 2112 (click to buy). Also today, they have reissued All The World's A Stage on vinyl (click to buy). Both reissues come with a code for a 320kbps MP4 vinyl ripped Digital Audio album download. Take a look at the 2112 hologram edition vinyl courtesy of That Metal Show below.

As announced last fall, following last year's Rush reDISCovered release, Rush is reissuing the rest of Rush's remaining Mercury era albums (studio and live albums through A Show of Hands) in chronological order throughout the rest of 2015. Previous vinyl reissues include Rush reDISCovered, Fly By Night (also available on blu-ray audio in 5.1 surround sound), and Caress of Steel.

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