The Spring 2013 issue of Goldmine: The Music Collector's Magazine is a special Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction issue which features a new interview with Geddy Lee. In addition to the Geddy Lee interview, which can be read in its entirety at this LINK , there is also a lengthy interview with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart where the topic of Rush comes up in several questions. From the Heart article: Goldmine, Do you think Heart deserves the Hall of Fame? Ann Wilson: Oh, absolutely. I think it is really about the music, but it is also about your influence on rock culture. I think we deserve to be there and I know that Rush deserves to be there. Rush being inducted is a fine moment in rock justice, if there ever was one. I mean that. Those guys are so beloved, and so true to themselves and they are such an amazing band. It has always been a question mark to me sometimes when it comes to people who have been inducted vs. others who have not been inducted. It is sometimes

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that Geddy Lee will have the honors of throwing out the first pitch at their home opener against the Cleveland Indians on April 2nd. From the announcement: Rush frontman Geddy Lee will be throwing out the Ceremonial First Pitch. The vocalist, bassist and keyboardist of the Toronto rock band has been a longtime Blue Jays season ticket holder and baseball fan. Lee and his Rush band mates Neil Peart & Alex Lifeson will be the first Canadian band to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles on April 18th followed by their North American Clockwork Angels tour. In related MLB news, a new extended interview with Geddy Lee at the MLB studios has just been posted. In the interview, Geddy Lee "discusses how he became a fan of baseball, and looks at the upcoming season for his beloved Toronto Blue Jays". To view the complete interview, click HERE Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand and Eric from Power Windows for the new

The Rush Backstage Club has just announced a new "Meet & Greet" contest for the upcoming 2013 leg of Rush's Clockwork Angels tour. From the announcement: The contest you have all been waiting for: Win a Meet and Greet with members of RUSH! We will draw one lucky winner for every city on the upcoming RUSH North American and UK Tour to win a pair of meet and greet passes to meet members of RUSH. IMPORTANT: You MUST have tickets to the show already in order to be eligible to win the meet and greet passes. Tickets to the concert are not included with the meet and greet passes prize. NOTE: When filling out the contest form, please fill in the "City" field with the city where you have tickets for a RUSH Clockwork Angels tour concert. Do not enter the city where you are from unless RUSH is playing a concert in that city and you have tickets to that concert. If you are going to see RUSH on this tour in several cities, you may enter ONCE for each show y

Update (03/23/2013): The transcription of the article that appears in the March 2013 issue of Metal Hammer is now online. The article/interview with Geddy Lee is called Rush and the Weird Rise of Prog Metal . Enjoy. After Clockwork Angels was released last year, there was an explosion of articles posted about Rush and their new album. Since then, the media blitz has slowed down some, but there have been some notable articles published recently. The April 2013 issue of Guitar World Magazine includes a great interview with Alex Lifeson titled Big Time Rush . Lifeson chats Rush's upcoming Hall of Fame induction as well as the deluxe reissue of their 1976 prog-rock classic, 2112. From the article: Do you feel that in general the songs on the second side of 2112 get overlooked? Absolutely. And I think we in the band are guilty of that as well. We always think of that one song. But we loved the ones on the other side as well. "A Passage to Bangkok," "Something

Rush has just announced another tour date on their upcoming Clockwork Angels 2013 tour. The new date, July 10th, will take place at the Festival d’été de Québec in Québec City on the Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham. From the announcement: Quebec City, March 15, 2013 – With a new critically-acclaimed album out, Rush is bringing their epic Clockwork Angels Tour to the Festival on July 10. They’ll be playing the Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham in what will be their only show in Québec. And what a show ─ this will be a huge production with projections, special effects and even the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble to add a complex layer of sound to both their new work and their rich repertoire. Remembering the enthusiastic Festival crowds in 2010, Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson are excited to be back. “We know that Rush will blow our many rock fans away. And because this is their only stop in the province, we expect people to be coming in from all over to see these t

Update: The complete video interview is now available via YouTube at this LINK . Update: Eddie Trunk just posted a tweet clarifying that his show will air tonight between 11pm and 2am EST. The interview segment with Geddy and Alex will air around midnight. When Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson visited New York City last month, one of the many interviews they participated in was a sit-down with radio-personality Eddie Trunk; a long-time fan and supporter of the band. According to an announcement from Trunk, yhe interview is now set to air on his radio special That Metal Show tonight. From the announcement: ...This Friday on Q104.3 show will be an all new interview with Geddy & Alex of Rush! I recorded it a week and a half ago and we talk about the new album, tour, old albums, baseball, and the bands future. Don't miss this all new exclusive interview this Friday. Show starts at 11PM ET. You can listen in the NYC area over 104.3 FM or anywhere in the US via the free stream at www.

VH1 Classic's new syndicated radio show On Tap , which is hosted by Nik Carter, just announced that both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson would be featured on tonight's episode. From the announcement: You are NOT going to want to miss On Tap tonight because we have a SUPER EXCLUSIVE show for your auditory pleasure! Nik Carter sits down with soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of RUSH at the On Tap Rock Bar! Nik, Geddy and Alex talk about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the diversity of their audiences, when political figures use their songs without their permission and SO much more! There is a three-minute preview clip of the interview available on the On Tap Facebook Page . For a complete list of stations where the show will be aired, click HERE . The list also indicates whether or not the stations will be streaming the interview. For additional information about the On Tap radio show, click HERE . Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for the n

The winners of the 2013 Sennheiser Music Express Awards were recently announced, netting Rush three of the top awards in the categories of Top Group, Top Live Act and Top CD. From the announcement: RUSH STILL RULES – TORONTO ROCKERS DOMINATE 2013 MUSIC EXPRESS AWARDS Rush may be entering the Rock Hall Of Fame this April but they’ll need to find even more room in their trophy showcase. The legendary rock trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart scored three major awards in the 2013 Sennheiser Music Express Awards announced today, claiming the Top Group. Top Live Act Arena and Top CD release for their ‘Clockwork Angels’ record. Sponsored by Sennheiser Canada , the inaugural awards reflect achievements by Canadian artists whose music falls into Music Express' Album-Oriented-Rock genre. For more information about the awards and winners in the other categories, click HERE . Thanks to RushFanForever for the news.

It's been over two decades since Rush performed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. So when the band first announced that they would be returning to the overlooked Canadian location during their Clockwork Angels tour, it was no surprise that tickets sold out in minutes . Due to that overwhelming response, Rush have just announced that a second Halifax show at the Halifax Metro Centre will now be added on July 14th. From Rush.com: After the first show on July 12 sold out in minutes, Rush changed their schedule to accommodate a second show for the city they haven’t been to in over 2 decades and announces a second show in Halifax on July 14 at the Metro Centre. “We are thrilled that the good folks of Halifax have forgiven our long absence from their beautiful city and have decided to come out and celebrate with us!!” said Geddy Lee. Come rock with Rush in Halifax on July 14! Tickets for the second Halifax show go on sale this coming Saturday, March 16th at 10AM. There will also be a VIP pr

Tandem Digital Entertainment, the award-winning visual and sound design company that created many of Rush's concert videos as well as some of the visuals on Neil Peart's website, has just launched a stunning new website that includes several video examples of their work. The website, which is located at www.tandemdigital.com , currently has the introduction video to 2112 online as well as the three-camera video of Red Barchetta , both taken from the Snakes & Arrows tour. From the website: Over the last few RUSH tours we've had the opportunity to create animations for a few songs, including the opening to 2112 and the driving segment in Red Barchetta. Fun Fact: For the Red Barchetta video we mounted three cameras in the back of a pickup truck and drove around California for a couple of days, driving down the center line of the road to get nicely framed shots. Once the material was in the computer we reversed the action so it looked like we were shooting forwards

Gibson Guitar posted their list of the Top 10 Rock Drummers of All Time where, coming in behind Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Neil Peart was ranked #2. From the list: What good is jamming on guitar if your rhythm section isn't tight, in the pocket, and simply a hearty backdrop on which you can slap melodies and riffs? The drums are the essential backbone of a band. A bad drummer loses the listener. A good drummer keeps the audience engaged and bobbing their heads along to the beat. Gibson.com is pleased to pay homage to such drums stars with our Top 10 Rock Drummers of All Time. 2. Neal Peart (Rush) Drummer and lyricist for Rush, Neal [sic] Peart is hailed in many circles as the quintessential rock drummer. He’s known for his ingenious drum parts and intense solos with lead passages that rock hard and prove the drums, indeed, can be a lead instrument. No Rush concert is complete without Peart’s sparking, obligatory drum solo, and his syncopated drumming style certainly has

Last night's episode of Conan O'Brien included a Rush reference during Conan's monologue. During the monologue, Conan was discussing the topic of the selection process for the new Pope that Cardinals in Rome were undertaking. He then went on to say: ... The top choice for the new Pope could be a Canadian. Isn't that amazing? If elected Pope his first act would be to grant sainthood to Wayne Gretsky, Celine Dion and Geddy Lee from Rush ... A section of the audience apparently cheered after the Rush remark to which Conan remarked "What's this, a little Rush section over here? I just outed you as Rush fans..." . Later in the episode, Conan revisited the group of fans, commenting "...that did well with the Rush fans..." after he told another joke. You can watch the entire monologue at this LINK or via the viewer below. Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for the news.

The latest update from Neil Peart and his "News, Weather, and Sports" website blog is now online . His March 2013 entry is titled Winter Latitudes and, appropriately so, he talks about a two-week long vacation he spent in the Southern Laurentians mountains where the Rush drummer spent most of his time skiing and hiking in the snow. Neil reflects on his appreciation of being 'along' when skiing which, of course, suits him just fine: "Yet of course that very solitude is part of what I like about cross-country skiing, so it can’t be avoided. Just as I face up to the risks of motorcycling while trying to minimize them, I try to be prudent in the winter woods, too. On colder days, or on weekends when more people visit the ski trails, I’ll go out on snowshoes instead. You don’t need a trail with those — you can walk anywhere you want, just head out the door and into the woods, following old logging roads or survey lines. And there’s little danger of a bad fall.&qu

Last week, we reported that Geddy Lee, while visiting New York City, stopped by the Q104.3 studios to chat with DJ Jim Kerr. A video of Geddy's visit and chat with Kerr was released as well. Click HERE to view it. Today, Q104.3 have released a follow-up video called Four Questions With Geddy Lee : RUSH's Geddy Lee stopped by Q104.3 last week and we had to get his take on a few topics. Check out what's the most surprising thing he has on his iPod, who will win the World Series, the role that Canada had in Argo, and just what makes the perfect Poutine? You can check out this video via the player below or directly at this LINK . Not surprisingly, Geddy would like to see the Bluejays win Baseball's World Series this year. Be sure to check out the Q104.3 Photo Gallery which has several pictures of Geddy's visit to the radio station. Thanks to Alexis Greenan From Q104.3 for the news.

Tonight's episode of Jeopardy! (Episode #6555) included a Rush / Neil Peart sighting within one of the questions. As the screen shot to the right reflects, the 'answer' was "Neil Peart of this band gets his sound with ProMark NP Signature 747 Drumsticks". According to reader Cheryl Collins Arndts , Alex Trebek did not pronounce Neil's last name correctly. One of the contestants did end with the proper response of "Who is Rush?" and that the question was valued at $1,600 in the category of Drummer For the Band . If anyone has additional information on tonight's sighting, or perhaps a video of the segment, please let us know. This isn't the first Rush reference on Jeopardy! Another Rush-related question also appeared back in 2011. Click HERE for a video of that sighting. Many thanks to Sheri Geddygirl Beri for the news and Angelo Franco for the screen capture.