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Showing posts from March, 2012

Rush's Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland DVD Loses Out at the Juno Awards

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Update (04/01/2012): According to some reports, Juno host William Shatner apparently sang "Tom Sawyer" in a spoken-word beatnik/poet style! Hopefully a video of Shat's performance will appear online. If and when it does, we'll post about it here. Thanks to Barb Trainor for the news. Though the Juno Awards Ceremony officially takes place tomorrow night when it will be televised, most of the actual awards - including Music DVD of the Year - were given out tonight at a gala dinner. Unfortunately for Rush and their Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland DVD, they lost out to Feist . Rush has won in this same category last year for their documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage as well as back in 2004 for Rush in Rio . I guess you can't win them all -- but it was nice to see the band - and the concert film - get nominated nonetheless. Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for passing along the news.

Clockwork Angels Update - First New Song Title Revealed - Headlong Flight

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Update (03/30/2012): Additional radio stations have been treated to the Headlong Flight single. Grover Collins, the Program Director at WUBE/WYGY in Cincinnati, OH tweeted the following yesterday: Just heard new RUSH single from upcoming CD "Clockwork Angels" called "Headlong Flight"...Old school RUSH fans rejoice! It ROCKS 74-77 era! While Mike Hsu who works at WAAF in Boston had this to say: Just listened to the new Rush song "Headlong Flight". My pants are tight!..and moist from losing control of my bladder during the massive Alex Lifeson solo. @rushtheband Update (03/28/2012): The first (okay, third) single Headlong Flight will hit the airwaves on April 19th however it will be edited down to about 5 1/2 minutes. It appears that a special Clockwork Angels listening party for journalists and industry executives was hosted by Rush's record label, Roadrunner Records. According to several people on-hand, the first new Rush song off of their u

Neil Peart Guest Appearance on Upcoming Vertical Horizon Album - Video Update

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Back in 2009 , Neil Peart made a guest appearance on Vertical Horizon's Burning The Days CD, playing on three of the album's twelve tracks. At last month's NAMM show, Drum Workshop's John Good revealed that DW had prepared a new custom drum kit for Neil which was made for his use on the upcoming studio sessions for the new Vertical Horizon album. At that time, Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell posted this update : "Okay this BIG news has come out online, and it's not definite yet ... but we're working to make it happen. I won't comment publicly online about it yet, but since it's out there I wanted you to see this. Neil and I are working on the scheduling, and DW has kindly made him a new kit to try and facilitate. Thanks for your support. Matt" Then, earlier last week, Sabian Cymbals posted photos to their Facebook Page of Neil recording some tracks alongside Matt Scannell. And now there's some video footage of the studio se

Neil Peart Discusses His Love of Vintage Cars and Car Models

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A new article from Hagerty ; the Classic Car and Collectors magazine, features Neil Peart discussing his life-long love with cars and car models. From the article: Neil describes himself as “a car lover since infancy.” Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, he had many Dinky Toys and Corgi Toys. His father attended a car show in Buffalo, New York, each winter, and upon his return would bring Neil a 1/25-scale promotional model of the latest Pontiac or Oldsmobile. “I thought those were really special,” Neil says. “I was fascinated by shiny, monstrous, noisy, grown-up cars, and had toys to play with until I could have the real thing. Neil built plenty of his own models as well.“In adolescence I built many model kits in 1/25 and 1/24 scale, from Revell, Monogram, and AMT, with spray cans and tentative ‘upgrades’ like adding thread for spark plug wires. In the ‘3-in-1’ kits, I always favored the ‘custom’ variant, and asked my dad why we didn’t have fender skirts, a Continental kit, and tw

Rush Reference on Third Season Finale of FX's Archer

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Another Rush reference appeared on FX's Archer during the show's third-season finale. The episode, which was titled "Space Race: Part 2" , featured Dr. Krieger's van was once again painted in a Rush motif. This time around, Rush's third album Caress of Steel was the subject matter as the van was dubbed "Caress of Krieger". Click HERE for a large version of the screen capture. This marks the fourth Rush reference to appear on the show, and the third Rush-inspired van. Previous van motifs included a Hemispheres theme as well as an Exit...Stage Left (dubbed Exit..Van Left). Earlier this month , another Rush reference appeared on the show when Dr. Kreiger was attempting to learn YYZ on his Neil Peart-inspired drumkit. Thanks to reader marc as well as Eric from Power Windows for the heads up. Related News Stories [ Another Rush Reference on FX's Archer - March 9th, 2012] [ Rush References on FX's Archer - Season 2 Finale -

Guns and Roses' Slash Comments on Rush and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

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Guitarist Slash confirmed that he will be in attendance next month when Guns N' Roses is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH – along with at least some of his former bandmates – but has mixed feelings about it. He feels honoured but also a bit turned off given that the hall has overlooked so many other great rock bands including, of course, Rush. From an article at the Globe and Mall : “It's sort of a bittersweet thing too because there's so many artists that aren't inducted, that came way before Guns did, that really actually almost deserve more to be in there and they're not in there, the guitarist said in an interview Wednesday, listing off Canadian band Rush , Deep Purple, Cheap Trick and Kiss as examples. “So it's really hard to sort of feel victorious ... that to me just doesn't seem right.” Almost , Slash? Right. Rush's exclusion from the RRHOF is nothing new to fans, but if you'd like to read a fantastic summ

Clockwork Angels Novel Now Available for Pre-Order

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It was back in February when we first reported that Science Fiction author Kevin J. Anderson would be penning the official novelization of Rush's upcoming album Clockwork Angels . The novel is now available for pre-order via Amazon.com. At this time, the price for the hard-cover edition of the novel is listed as $29.95, contains 264 pages and is scheduled to be released on September 1st, 2012. No additional information or artwork is currently available at Amazon. As we indicated during the original report , Anderson and Neil Peart have been friends for years now and have worked together in the past. In 1994, they collaborated on the 1994 short story Drumbeats . Neil also wrote the introduction to Anderson's 2006 short story compilation Landscapes . Click HERE to pre-order the Clockwork Angels novel. Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for passing along the pre-order news. Related News Stories [ Novelization of Rush's Clockwork Angels to be Penned by Kevin

First Single from Clockwork Angels Coming Friday, March 30th?

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With the anticipated (yet not confirmed) May 29th release of Clockwork Angels , word is now surfacing that the first (well, third) single from the album will make its debut on Friday, March 30th. Rumor has it that Roadrunner Records, Rush's record label, will be hosting a listening party for industry executives, promoters and journalists at the end of this month. This information comes from Ed at RushIsABand as well as user Sniglets from the Counterparts Message Forum : Roadrunner Records is inviting 120 industry executives and promoters on Tuesday March 27th at 11 AM for a "Lunch and Listen" to the new Rush record. I saw an invite to this through a good friend of mine who is attending it and works for the NY Post. He also told me a single is going to be coming that following Friday so that puts us at the 30th for a new song. If that is the case then in my opinion we should probably get a leak even sooner or a 90 second clip in the coming days as everything seems

Neil Peart Confirmed for LA Music Academy's Drummer Reality Camp

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Neil Peart will be one of the panelists for the LA Music Academy's 3rd Annual Drummer Reality Camp . Neil is scheduled to be part of a roundtable discussion taking place on Friday, June 29th along with Doane Perry and other special guests. From the Academy's website: Drummer's Reality Camp June 27th-30th, 2012 Brought to you by Drum Channel, Guitar Center, and LA Music Academy College of Music, the Drummer's Reality Camp gives you a chance to hang with and learn from the best drummers on the planet! We're thrilled to anounce our 2012 lineup: Neil Peart, Doane Perry, Gil Sharone, Zigaboo Modeliste, Marco Minneman, Ralph Humphrey, Joe Porcaro, Tony Inzalaco, Gary Ferguson, and Uli Frost! The camp will run from June 27th through the 30th and will cost $495 for the entire week. For more information, click HERE . To sign up, use this LINK . Thanks to Andy Olson for the news.

Alex Lifeson Limited Edition Signed Prints - Now Available

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Over the last several years, Alex Lifeson has donated some of his original artwork to the Kidney Foundation of Canada's A Brush of Hope charity project. Lifeson's paintings, along with others from some of Canada's celebrities, are then auctioned off for the cause. Last year, Alex's painting sold for $7,000 - and his previous paintings have done equally well. Now, Alex and the Kidney Foundation are making 250 limited-edition signed prints of one of Alex's paintings available to the public. From the foundation's website : Rush Guitarist, Alex Lifeson, is a music legend. He is also an incredible visual artist. This is a rare opportunity to own one of his paintings at a very reasonable cost. Alex's original paintings regularly sell for thousands of dollars. He has been a regular contributor of original art to The Kidney Foundation of Canada's, "A Brush of Hope" project, where he receives hundreds of bids on his work. Now, the Kidney Fou

Jammit Launches on the Mac Desktop with Rush's Tom Sawyer

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Yesterday, Rush announced via their Facebook Page that they have continued their partnership with Jammit with the release of their classic songs "2112", "Limelight", "YYZ" and "Tom Sawyer". The songs have been released on the MAC version of Jammit and is expected to arrive on the Windows platform "soon". Jammit provides access to the original Rush multi-track masters, with instrument-specific versions available for drums, bass, guitar and vocals; all with precise notation and tablature. From the posting: Rush continues its partnership with Jammit to bring you a whole new way to experience “2112”, “Limelight”, “YYZ” and “Tom Sawyer.”Jammit gives you access to the original Rush multi-track masters, with instrument-specific versions available for drums, bass, guitar and vocals, with the precise notation and tablature. In addition to being an exceptional learning tool, each Rush song can be analyzed by isolating the individual instrum

Alex Lifeson Makes Guest Appearance on Upcoming Jason Plumb And The Willing Album

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Back in September we learned that Alex Lifeson would be making a guest appearance on an upcoming Jason Plumb album. A video of Alex performing the guitar solo for the song Losin' was posted back then. "An inspired take by Alex Lifeson at Revolution Recordings. We just got the sounds up and this was his first pass. We did many more but this early one was filmed. A guest guitar solo for Jason Plumb’s upcoming album." - Michael Phillip Wojewoda, mpwmusic.com Now, "Jason Plumb and the Willing" have released a video of the completed song: The album is set to be released on March 27th and will include appearances by Alex Lifeson along with Ed Robertson, Chic Gamine, Serena Ryder, Steven Page, The Broken Heartstrings and more. Thanks to RushIsABand for the news.

Rush To Be Honored With The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award

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The fourth annual Revolver Golden Gods, an annual hard rock and heavy metal award show, is set to take place Wednesday, April 11th at Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. According to some details that were just announced, Rush is set to receive the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award . From the Revolver Magazine website: The Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Xbox LIVE, will go to prog-rock pioneers RUSH, who will release their highly anticipated 19th studio album, Clockwork Angels, this year on Roadrunner Records. (Previous honorees include hard-rock and metal legends MÖTLEY CRÃœE, Lemmy Kilmister of MOTÖRHEAD, and Ozzy Osbourne.) The award will be presented by Jack Black and Kyle Gass of TENACIOUS D, whose new record, Rize of the Fenix, hits stores on May 15. Rush’s Neil Peart commented, “We are honored and delighted to receive this honor—especially because it will be presented by Jack and Kyle. Our ‘lifetimes’ are not over yet, and we dearly hop

Sonic Elements' XYZ: A Tribute To Rush Coming in April

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Last November, we reported that Triumph's Rik Emmett performed a cover of Red Barchetta utilizing Sonic Reality's Neil Peart Drum Samples . This was the beginnings of a larger project which is now leading up to a 5-song Tribute EP by 'fantasy' group Sonic Elements . Sonic Elements features various musicians from around the world playing classic rock covers and originals using the library samples. XYZ: A Tribute to Rush features Neil Peart on Drums, Rik Emmett (Triumph) performing Red Barchetta, John Wesley (Porcupine Tree) performing Tom Sawyer, and more. The EP is expected to be released at the end of April. To hear some samples, please visit Sonic Element's Soundcloud or visit their Facebook Page . Thanks to Eric from Power Windows for passing along the news. Related News Stories [ Triumph's Rik Emmett Covers Red Barchetta - November 25th, 2011]

MIDIpedals.Com Interview With Rush Roadie Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret)

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MIDIpedals.com has posted the first part of an extensive interview that they conducted with long-time Rush roadie Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret). From Midipedals: Jack Secret Interview, Part 1 MIDIpedals.com interview with longtime Rush keyboard tech, Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret) from March 2012. He talks about the early days with Rush, connecting the non-MIDI Taurus Pedals to Geddy’s Oberheim synths, and about the redundant MIDI and sampling setup when they are touring. Tony has also worked with Blue Oyster Cult and Bob Seeger in the past as well. Part 2 is coming soon, which will include info on what role he has played in setting up the gear when Rush is in the studio, as well as tour rehearsals. You can listen to the interview at this LINK . Thanks to Terry Goyette of MIDIpedals for letting us know about the interview.

Rush Ranks #32 on Billboard's "Top 40 Money Makers of 2012"

Billboard Magazine has posted a list of the Top 40 Money Makers of 2012 noting the net revenue from album/video sales and concert tours from 2011 (Not really sure why they're calling it the 2012 list). Coming in at the #32 spot was Rush's, led by the 2011 leg of their Time Machine Tour: Rush $5,819,304 The Canadian prog-rock power trio remains a mighty draw on the road, thanks to the band's deep catalog of anthems like "Tom Sawyer," "Closer to the Heart" and "The Spirit of Radio," and the chops of bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart. The band's Time Machine tour continued through the first half of 2011, grossing $14.1 million in the United States and netting $4.8 million. Rush also made noise at retail, generating U.S. album sales of 431,000 units. Adding to the revenue mix: a concert recording titled "Time Machine: Live in Cleveland 2011" debuted and peaked at No. 54 on the Billboar

Another Rush Reference on FX's Archer

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On last night's episode of FX's animated series Archer , Rush was referenced once again. In the opening scene of the episode, which is, titled Skin Game , the character Krieger says "How dare you fail to recognize my greatest accomplishment to date?", to which the character Pam replies "What, you finally nailed YYZ?" Krieger shouts back "It's Zed , and...no, Neil Peart (pronounced Pert ) stands alone...". Later, the main character Archer enters Krieger's lab which has a large Neil Peart-style drumkit in it and the words "Thunder Dome" written in the classic Rush font on the double-bass drums. Archer says "Wow, amazing, you can play 'YYZ'", to which Krieger replies "First of all, it's YY-zed. And second of all, no I can't get it, it's impossible." This marks the third such Rush reference on the series. Back in January , a van appeared in the show with a Hemispheres -style painted mo

Rush Issue Cease & Desist Letter to Rush Limbaugh

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Rush's management and legal teams have formally issued a Cease & Desist letter to Rush Limbaugh, the American radio talk show host and conservative political commentator, demanding that he stop using snippets of the band's music during his radio show. Here's the actual letter: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 RushLimbaugh.com Premiere Radio Networks. Ladies & Gentlemen: I am the attorney for Rush, their management company, S.R.O. Management Inc., their music publishing company, Core Music Publishing and their record company, The Anthem Entertainment Group Inc. According to media reports, Rush Limbaugh, Premiere Radio Networks and The Rush Limbaugh Show have been using Rush's recorded music as part of what is essentially a political broadcast. The use of Rush's music in this way is an infringement of Rush's copyrights and trademarks. The public performance of Rush's music is not licensed for political pur

Rush Wins Governor General's Performing Arts Award

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Update (03/07/2012): On news of the award, Neil Peart had this to say: “We are especially appreciative for the presentation of this lifetime achievement award now — while we are still active (Too active, our families might say!)” said Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart in an emailed statement, noting that the band was putting the finishing touches on its 20th studio album, “Clockwork Angels,” with a fall tour planned . “Since our performance ’lifetimes’ aren’t quite over yet, this high honour is not just a reward; it is an inspiration. We will continue to try to earn it.” Source: Cape Breton Post . The CBC has just announced that Rush are among several recipients of the prestigious Governor General's Performing Arts Award . From the news story: Rush may be perennially overlooked by the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the band is getting an award for lifetime achievement at home. The rock power trio has won a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. The band members

Neil Peart Inducted Into the 2011 Classic Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame

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In celebration of their tenth anniversary, Classic Drummer Magazine created a Hall of Fame where the the selection process was opened up to the magazine's readers. The actual voting process took place in 2011 and the magazine has revealed the twelve winners via their latest issue. Classic Drummer also revealed four of the winners on their website - one of which was Neil Peart. From the magazine: As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary, Classic Drummer Magazine is honored to announce the establishment of its Classic Drummer Hall of Fame. While drumming has had an impact on cultures since prehistory, not until the 20th century was the power and versatility of a complete set of drums put in the hands of a single player. Of the millions who’ve sat behind a kit with the intent of expressing themselves musically, a few have actually helped create new musical forms, energized a generation, elevated their art, and perhaps even become household names in the process. Click HERE for a l

Clockwork Angels Release Date: May 23rd, 2012

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Update (03/07/2012): Both the US and Canadian version of Amazon.Com now have Clockwork Angels available for PRE-ORDER . Based on the listing, it appears that the North American release date has been set at Tuesday, May 29th. Last month, we reported that, according to an article from PROG magazine, Rush's forthcoming album Clockwork Angels would be released this May. Now, according to two separate postings at Amazon Japan and HMV Japan , it appears that the album will be released on May 23rd -- in Japan, anyway. HMV is also reflecting a cover image that I actually mocked up some time ago. :-) Given that new albums in North America usually drop on Tuesdays, it's likley that Clockwork Angels will be released on May 22nd or even perhaps the 15th. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before the album pre-order information appears on Amazon US and Canada. Thanks to RushFanForever for passing along the links. Related News Stories [ Clockwork Angels Due Out in

Neil Peart To Appear In New Ginger Baker Documentary

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Update (03/08/2012): Another clip from the documentary is now available - this time featuring segments with Neil Peart. See below ( Thanks RushFanForever ). According to a posting at Rolling Stone , Neil Peart will be among numerous musicians appearing in the new documentary Beware of Mr. Baker . The documentary is about Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker, the English drummer best known for his work with Cream and Blind Faith. From the article: If you've got a problem with Ginger Baker, go ahead and hit him in the nose. He'd welcome it. "I ain't gonna sue you. I'm gonna hit you back," the crazy drummer tells the camera in this trailer for the new documentary Beware of Mr. Baker, which screens multiple times at SXSW in Austin beginning March 10th. Eric Clapton, Johnny Rotten, Carlos Santana, Charlie Watts and Neil Peart are just a few of the legendary musicians who attest to the musical gift of the drummer, best known for playing in Cream and Blind Fa

Rush Featured in New Yorker Satire Piece: The Newer, Sexier Constitutions

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Rush's Limelight was featured in a satirical piece from The New Yorker about how “The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for constitutional drafters elsewhere”. From the article: Canada has ratified the first update to its Charter of Freedoms and Rights since its adoption in 1982. Based on the song "Limelight" by its most famous native sons, the prog-rock band Rush, it protects Canadians' pursuit of "the universal dream" - provided that, as the song says, citizens "put aside the alienation, get on with the fascination, the real relation, the underlying theme." Ratification was briefly in jeopardy due to a heated debate in Ottawa's House of Commons over whether singer Geddy Lee in fact sings "theme" or "spleen," but Prime Minister Stephen Harper saved the day; he cast the deciding vote after checking the correct lyrics on the Internet. Afterward Harper told a relatively (for Canada at least)

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