Rush Feature in New Prog Issue #61 Coming November 18th - Interview Now Online

There is an interview with Alex Lifeson in the next issue of Prog coming on Wednesday November 18th.  Today, PROG posted the interview online, and you can read it here.  

In terms of the future of Rush, Alex says "I think we need to have a little space, a little time off to regroup and think about what we want to do in the future. If and when we want to record another record and if there's a possibility of us doing something in the future, I don't know. The ball is in Neil's court, clearly."  He goes on to say "I write stuff all the time. I have a whole library of bits and pieces and complete songs that I've written at home and in the studio. I think if it looks unlikely that we're going to do much in the near future then I will definitely get into something like that next spring. What sort of project it turns out to be I'm not quite sure, but it will be a musical project. I can't sit around and I just love doing it so much."

Rush on the cover of the Nov/Dec issue of Canadian Musician "Travelling Back In Time With Rush"

Rush is featured on the cover of the November/December issue of Canadian Musician magazine. The cover feature "Travelling Back In Time With Rush" (click for transcript). Primarily a look back on the R40 Tour, Geddy and Alex talk about the setlist and stage show. Regarding bringing back "Jacob's Ladder", Geddy says "That's always the number one song people ask us to play on fan petition sites leading up to a tour, and it went from being a song I found a bit cringe-worthy in rehearsal to one I loved playing every night." While they state that this is not the end of Rush, it does close with the comment from Alex "I'm slowly getting used to the idea that we may not be touring anymore." - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Ole Acquires Anthem Entertainment Group, Home of Rush

Today Billboard.com has reported that Canadian music publisher ole has taken a big step in the record label business with the acquisition of the Anthem Entertainment Group, the Canadian record label started by Ray Danniels in the mid 1970's that has issued albums by Rush, Big Wreck, the Tea Party, Ian Thornley, Bob & Doug McKenzie (Strange Brew), Ian Thomas, Coney Hatch, Moe Koffman and Steven Page among others. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"ole is very excited about entering the label services business and building on the foundation of Ray Danniel's storied company, ole chairman and CEO Robert Ott said in a statement. "ole is proud to continue to be the home of Rush and the other great artists with Anthem. We look forward to working closely with Anthem's artists and business partners to further success."

As part of the deal, Anthem's long-time A&R director Andy Curran joined ole as GM of labels services/A&R; bringing along Tyler Tasson as manager of label services, while Anthem vp Pegi Cecconi will work as an ole consultant.

"I am pleased that Anthem and its ongoing legacy have found a new home with ole," said Danniels, who will continue as president of SRO Management, which represents Rush and other artists. Daniels said that the deal with ole and Ott gives Anthem Entertainment and Anthem Records a vision for the future while "protecting its past."

Earlier in 2014, ole acquired the Rush publishing catalog, known as Core Music Publishing, and earlier in 2015, the Mark-Cain publishing catalog from Anthem Entertainment. That deal included 40 albums from such Canadian artists as Max Webster, Ian Thomas, Lawrence Gowan, The Reason, Coney Hatch, Boys Brigade, Rikers, Spoons, and Aerial.

The latest deals give ole another 2,100 master recordings and 1,200 audio/visual masters.

In the U.S., Anthem acts are distributed by the Warner Music Group and Concord. Rush, the label's best-selling act, has scanned more than 15 million album units since the advent of Nielsen SoundScan, now known as Nielsen Music, in 1991.

Alex Lifeson, guitarist and co-founder of Rush, said, "I'm pleased to see that Anthem Records has landed with ole, the home of our music publishing catalog. I wish them great success with their new label business. Congratulations to our longtime manager Ray Danniels and CEO of ole, Robert Ott on completing their deal!"

- Thanks to Ed @ RushIsABand for the headsup!

Neil Peart Cover Story Interview with Modern Drummer

Yesterday Modern Drummer magazine posted a new feature interview with Neil Peart, which is their "(record) ninth MD cover-story interview". 

Modern Drummer meets Peart backstage in his dressing room at the New Jersey stop of the R40 tour. The drummer greets us and apologizes for being sock-less. He lies on the couch and points to his feet, which look like Father Time–affected, wear-and-tear evidence of half a century of bringing the power night after night.

The full interview is now available here.

Permanent Waves' Paula Turnbull makes VH1's "True Stories Of Iconic Women From Classic Rock Album Covers"

Yesterday VH1.com posted the second in a series of "Iconic Women From Classic Rock Album Covers." Coming in at #2 in a list of 10 classic album covers featuring female models is:

Paula Turnbull – Permanent Waves by Rush (1980)

Shot by photographer Fin Costello and graphically rendered by designer Hugh Syme, the cover of Rush’s Permanent Waves LP makes an unmistakably powerful statement. Its visual centerpiece (albeit off to the right side) is fashion model Paula Turnbull, who poses as a sexy, clueless, panty-flashing 1950s glamour queen on a suburban street where, behind her, Armageddon rages unacknowledged.

Before a single needle hit Permanent Waves’ first groove, Paula’s expertly evocative still photo performance announced that, on the album within, humanity’s premiere prog-metal power trio would be exploring new sounds and different aesthetics—specifically, those of the then hyper-happening new wave movement.

Paula worked steadily as a model before and after Permanent Waves, but her best-known other work occurred two years later, when she reprised her role as the same intriguingly oblivious sexbomb on the cover of Rush’s tremendous live album, Exit… Stage Left.

Howard Ungerleider discusses the R40 Live Tour in November issue of Total Production International

The November issue of TPI (Total Production International) magazine has a two page interview with Rush lighting designer Howard Ungerleider where he looks back on his history with Rush from back in 1974 through the R40 Live Tour.  He explains how the idea of "deconstructing the band over the course of the evening" came about, and how it was sent to fruition.  You can read the interview on pages 24-26 at issuu.com. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Counterparts and Test For Echo Vinyl Reissues Now Available

Rush is reissuing the complete Mercury and Atlantic era albums on 200-gram heavyweight vinyl in semi-chronological order throughout 2015 and early 2016. The next release to hit store shelves are Counterparts and Test for Echo, which hits store shelves today, November 6th.

The vinyl reissues will continue into next year with the final release being Snakes & Arrows.  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, A Farewell To Kings (vinyl and blu-ray pure audio in 5.1 surround sound), Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures (vinyl and vinyl/t-shirt bundle), Exit...Stage Left, Signals (vinyl and blu-ray pure audio in 5.1 surround sound), Presto and Roll The Bones.  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.  

Alex Lifeson's 2015 A Brush Of Hope Painting

Alex Lifeson's 2015 offering for A Brush of Hope, "Blind Date Picnic", donated to raise donations for The Kidney Foundation of Canada, is now available for bidding at ebay.ca, from now through November 6th.  Today Alex posted the following message at Rush.com:

Greetings, all!

I wanted to reach out to all of you to ask for your support of the Kidney Foundation’s Brush Of Hope auction to raise funds for kidney research.

I’ve supported this special programme for many years and my paintings have done well, thanks to the kind generosity of friends and good citizens so please consider helping out with this latest installment or a signed print.

This year’s new installment is titled, “Blind Date Picnic” and you can find it at the eBay link below.  It’s a rather strange painting that has been described in some early circles as: “weird, horrid, ugly, familiar, hilarious, terrifying and ridiculous”, all the same thoughts I had when I painted it.  When my wife saw it just as I completed it, her helpful comment was, “Oh my God!”…then she started crying.

Now, who can resist such an exciting conversation piece?  Imagine your friends dropping by to view your latest art acquisition and leaving immediately in tears and a queasy stomach.

If that one doesn’t spark emotion, you can also get signed prints of previous paintings “Self Portrait #1” and “Greek Salad”. Each print is numbered and signed personally by me.

Every penny counts and your support is truly appreciated.

Thank you!

Alex

New original: BLIND DATE
Signed Prints: SELF PORTRAIT #1 and GREEK SALAD

Alex has been A Brush of Hope's feature artist since 2006. His paintings and limited edition prints (available at http://www.kidney.ca/atlantic/alexlifeson) have brought in over $200 000.00.   Last year, Alex's painting "L'ami Getty a L'ami Louis" went for over $10 000.00.

Neil Peart's "Magnetic Memories: Four Decades In The Studio With Rush" - DRUM! Magazine, December 2015

The December issue of DRUM! magazine includes an extensive 7 page feature story written by Neil Peart titled "Magnetic Memories: Four Decades In The Studio With Rush".  It is a retrospective history of Neil's memories of being in the studio and Rush's recording history. You can check out the full story here, beginning on page 102. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Rush Referenced on ABC's Dr. Ken

During Friday night's episode of Dr. Ken (S1E05 "Halloween-Aversary"), after being dosed with a pain-killer lollipop, Pat (Dave Foley) is listening to headphones, and yells to people in the office  "Do you like RUSH?!  This drum solo is sic!"  You can view the episode here. - Thanks to Doug Kucinski for the headsup!

Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - October 2015

Neil Peart has updated his website with the October 2015 issue of "News, Weather and Sports." In BubbaGram™#2, Neil talks about the bittersweet thoughts he had on the R40 Tour that he was seeing some of the landscapes for the last time. You can check it out here.

Presto and Roll The Bones Vinyl Reissues Now Available

Rush is reissuing the complete Mercury and Atlantic era albums on 200-gram heavyweight vinyl in semi-chronological order throughout 2015 and early 2016. The next release to hit store shelves are Presto and Roll The Bones, which hits store shelves today, October 23rd.

The vinyl reissues will continue into next year with the final release being Snakes & Arrows.  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, A Farewell To Kings (vinyl and blu-ray pure audio in 5.1 surround sound), Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures (vinyl and vinyl/t-shirt bundle), Exit...Stage Left and Signals (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.  

Geddy Lee talks to the Dan Patrick Show

UPDATE 10/23: The current issue of Sports Illustrated includes a portion of Dan Patrick's interview with Geddy Lee in his "Just My Type" column. 


This morning Geddy Lee appeared on The Dan Patrick show.  Besides talking about the Toronto Blue Jays (especially last night's seventh inning) and their advancing to the ALCS for the first time since 1993, Dan asked Geddy about his baseball memorabilia, singing the Canadian National Anthem at the '93 All Star Game, etc.  When Dan asked what Rush's future plans are, and Geddy confirmed "It's going to be hard to get us back on the road at this point...There's no plans to tour." You can hear the complete interview below.

Rush lead singer Geddy Lee joined the show to talk about being in the stands last night for the Blue Jays’ dramatic win over the Rangers. Lee actually said things got scary for a little while in that crazy seventh inning. But he discussed his passion for the team and baseball.

Speaking of diehard fans, Paul Pabst jumped in with some hard-hitting questions … like “do you ever get tired of kicking ass?” - DanPatrick.com

"Limelight" featured in all new "Guitar Hero Live"

Guitar Hero Live was released on Tuesday, and includes "Limelight" as one of the songs available in the game's TV mode (the games online mode which plays music videos while you play the guitar controller). The game is available for all game platforms here. For more game details including videos click here. - Thanks to Andrew Weiss for the headsup!