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Showing posts from January, 2015

Rush Manager Ray Danniels Will Receive the 2015 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award

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The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) today announced Ray Danniels as the recipient of the 2015 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, that recognizes individuals who have made an impact on the Canadian music industry. Danniels will be honoured at the 2015 JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards on Saturday, March 14 in Hamilton, Ontario as part of JUNO Week festivities. Danniels had this to say about the recognition: “I am grateful to be recognized by my peers for doing something I’ve loved and been passionate about since I was a teenager,” said Ray Danniels. “I share this honour with those that have been with me since the beginning – the members of Rush – Geddy, Alex and Neil.” You can read more about the announcement at this LINK . Congratulations Ray! Thanks to reader Scott Simpson for passing along the news.

Neil Peart to be Interviewed by Jim Ladd on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks

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SiriusXM has just announced that legendary DJ Jim Ladd will be interviewing Neil Peart on that satellite radio provider's Deep Tracks station (Channel #27). The interview will take place on Tuesday, February 3rd at 9pm EST. According to the announcement, which are taking place on-air, the topic of conversation will center around Neil's new book Far and Near: On Days Like These as well as the upcoming R40 Live: 40th Anniversary tour. Update: The Deep Tracks Facebook Page just posted this about the interview: Motorcycle enthusiast... author... drummer... lyricist... NEIL PEART of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee RUSH joins Jim Ladd, high in the Hollywood Hills, for an exclusive one-on-one discussion. Topics will range from Neil's latest book: 'Far and Near: On Days Like These' to the music that influences him to the recently-announced Rush R40 tour celebrating 40 years! ‪#‎R40Tour‬ This not-to-be-missed interview happens this Tuesday February 3 at 9pm E

Geddy Lee Featured in the Premiere Episode of VH1 Classic's ‘Rock Icons’

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Update (02/22/2015): You can now watch the entire episode via this LINK . Geddy Lee will be featured in the premiere episode of VH1 Classic's new series Rock Icons . From the announcement : From Banger Films, the people that brought you the Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary and the TV show Metal Evolutions, comes an all-new docu-series profiling the biggest icons in hard rock, heavy metal and classic rock. Rock Icons premieres Saturday February 21st at 10/9C, immediately following the That Metal Show‘s season 14 kick-off, and takes you backstage with in-depth, intimate portraits revealing who these rock stars really are. Each 30-minute episode is jam-packed with exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage with featured artists and the key people who helped shape their careers. The series premiere goes beyond the limelight with Geddy Lee , lead singer and bassist extraordinaire of Canadian progressive hard rock legends Rush. Find out how his remarkable musical ta

Neil Peart Discusses the R40 Drum Kit in a New Video

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After Rush announced their R40 tour last week, news and pictures of Neil Peart's new custom kit for the tour began to surface. In fact on the same day that Rush announced the tour, the new R40 kit was on display at the 2015 NAMM Show (National Association of Music Merchants) in Los Angeles. Today DW Drums, whom manufactured the R40 kit for Neil, released a video of the Professor discussing the kit in detail. One incredibly interesting note is that the entire kit was made from a single salvaged log. The log was obtained from Romania near the Carpathian Mountains . The log is estimated to have been submerged in a river near the mountains for 500 years and the total age of the log is 1,500 years. Neil is clearly excited regarding the original of the wood used for his new kit. He also discusses the intricate manufacturing process behind each shell and how each individual Rush logo that appears on each piece was created. While the R40 kit is visually similar in style to the R3

Alex Lifeson Stops By Q107 To Talk About The New R40 Tour - Cleveland Stop Still Possible

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Alex Lifeson stopped by Toronto's Q107 this morning to chat with Derringer about all things rock n’ roll, including the upcoming R40 LIVE tour kicking off this May. During the 20-minute conversation, Alex discussed a lot of his personal early family history, the beginnings of Rush and more. When it came time to chat about the upcoming R40 tour, the topic of this possibly being Rush's final tour came up. Alex indicated that, after the last tour, the band was exhausted and they wanted to reconnect with their family. Since that time, they've really enjoyed being home and doing things they haven't been able to do for 'decades'. He stated that Geddy is ready to tour now while Alex and obviously Neil are slowly coming around. Ultimately, however, Alex didn't confirm or deny that this was, in fact, Rush's final tour. Regarding Rush skipping by Cleveland this time around, Alex indicated that the band is still trying to 'massage' a couple of thing

Rush Announce R40 Live 40th Anniversary Tour - Band to Perform in 34 Cities Across North America

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Update: Ticket pre-sales begin today, January 23rd, at 10:00am local venue time. For VIP ticket packages, please click HERE and use the password RUSH2015 . For Rush Fan Pre-sale, click HERE - no password required. Good luck, all! Update: VIP Pricing, password and info has now been released. Please see the bottom of this post for all the details. Update: Neil Peart's new R40 Drum Kit is now on display at NAMM. Check out a photo of it HERE and another one HERE . Update: Pre-sale in many locations begins tomorrow , January 23rd. For more information, please check Ticketmaster . The announcement every Rush fan has been waiting for has just been released. Rush is officially going back on tour in celebration of their 40th Anniversary! The tour will span 34 dates across North America. From the Rush.com announcement : RUSH TO VISIT 34 CITIES THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA IN 2015 Celebrating 40 years, Rush and Live Nation confirmed that the R40 LIVE Tour will visit 34 cities thro

Clockwork Lives Novel by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart Now Available for Pre-Order

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Back in August , during RushCon 14 , Kevin J. Anderson, the author behind the novelization of Clockwork Angels , announced two new Rush related writing projects that he was involved with. The first centered around an anthology of Rush-based stories written by "a gang of award-winning and bestselling authors" where Anderson announced he would be penning a novella called "2113". The second writing project would have him joining forces once again with Neil Peart in the creation of somewhat of a sequel to the Clockwork Angels novel titled Clockwork Lives . Clockwork Lives is now scheduled for release on September 8th, 2015 and can pre-ordered via Amazon . From the Amazon listing: Some lives can be summed up in a sentence or two. Other lives are epics. 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 albu

Rush to be Honoured with the 2015 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award

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According to a press release from Bell Media, Rush are to be the recipients of the 2015 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award which recognizes outstanding Canadian artists whose contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada. Named after CHUM Ltd. founder Allan Waters, the award is made possible by funding from BCE-Bell Media Benefits. From the press release : "We are sincerely grateful to be recognized as this year's recipients of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award. We are proud, honoured and humbled to be in the company of all Canadians who find it within their hearts to help those in need." - Rush "We are proud to be recognizing Rush’s noble legacy with this award," said Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. "The group’s dedication to countless charities and organizations over the course of their career is truly remarkable. Their tenacity and spirit serves as an inspiration to all of us, and we salut

Mystic Rhythms: Rush's Neil Peart On The First Rock Drummer

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Throughout this week, NPR Music "Morning Edition" is talking about drums and drummers. Today, their focus is Neil Peart and his "...early fascination with Gene Krupa and the demanding requirements of his playing..." From the interview : When Rush's Neil Peart listens to "My Generation" by The Who, he doesn't hear the lyric or the harmony. His mind is focused on a single thing: the drums. "I was driving down the length of California the other day with classic rock on and they played 'My Generation,'" Peart says. "I just kind of tuned into the Keith Moon snare sound and his figures and all that. Of course, I know every beat of it." At 62, Peart has lived through and listened to a substantial slice of the history of modern drumming. He says he first wanted to become a drummer when he saw The Gene Krupa Story. You can check out the entire interview at this LINK . Thanks to reader Donovan Duguay for the link.

Geddy Lee Interview on PBS's 'Speakeasy' to Air January 29th

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Update (02/13/2015): The SpeakEasy website has now listed airing dates/times and stations for the Geddy Lee interview. Click HERE to view them. Back in November we reported that Geddy Lee visited New York City where he taped a special episode of Speakeasy with his friend and author, Michael Chabon. ‘Speakeasy,’ is a new weekly series featuring in-depth interviews with musicians. The series debuted on public television stations earlier this month. Its fifth episode, which will premiere on January 29th, will include the November-taped interview with Geddy Lee. A trailer of the episode is available at this LINK or can be viewed via the embedded player below. Of the interview, Geddy Lee had this to say: "75 minutes flew by talking to one of my favorite writers and a truly awesome person" Please check your local listings for the exact time and PBS channel that will air Speakeasy or click HERE for a listing of stations carrying the show. Thanks to RushFanForever for

PROG Magazine: R40: Celebrating 40 Years of Rush

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Update: All three articles which appeared in this issue are now ONLINE for your reading pleasure. Enjoy- The January 2015 issue of Classic Rock Presents: PROG Magazine , which is on sale now in the UK, includes numerous features and articles on Rush including a Rush-themed cover. Look for a complete transcription of the magazine to be included in the Articles section of the main site soon. In connection with the release of the issue, PROG has just released a lengthy article titled R40: Celebrating 40 Years of Rush . The article talks with 40 famous Rush fans who discuss the band and pick their favourite Rush songs. From the article: TERRY BROWN, PRODUCER “The Twilight Zone is a little gem with a very strong lead guitar motif from Alex, Ged’s verse vocals up in the stratosphere and then the chorus slipping into an eerie flanged vocal that is in the ‘zone’. This is all held together by Neil’s very concise, driving percussion closing with the airy guitar solo which makes this one

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