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, Michigan. More from Fender: MEAN, MEAN STRIDE Bassists have loved the signature Geddy Lee Jazz Bass for years. The new U.S.A. Geddy Lee Jazz Bass is a new 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 Rush’s revered bassist/vocalist has riffed away on in front of millions of devoted fans worldwide and on many a mega-selling album. The neck has a thicker custom profile, topped by a maple fingerboard with elegant white binding and white pe...

Fantoons , which was created by David Calcano and launched in 2012, is an on-going comic strip that brings you comedy and art based on the greatest rock bands on the planet. Recently Fantoons announced an exciting new book project centered around Rush with a Kickstarter Program to help fund it. From the announcement: We’ve released two books so far, and for this book, we’re exclusively going to cover the mighty RUSH! We’ve created comics, art, and parodies with their rich history, covers, and of course ourselves…the obsessive fans. You know… the guys that crashed their site when the R40 tour was announced; if you clicked & refreshed the page more than 4 times you are one of us. Our book is ready to print! We are working on the cover to create something incredible for you. The purpose of this Kickstarter is to help us fund the printing process for the book... entitled: “Comicspheres: A retrospective of Rush Toons by Fantoons” This book is made for Rush fans by Rush fans, to cel...

Even though Clockwork Lives , the follow-up to Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart's best-selling novel Clockwork Angels won't be released until September, a teaser e-book sample has just been made available by Anderson. Titled Clockwork Lives: The Bookseller's Tale , the e-book is currently available at Amazon for $2.99 as well as other online retailers . From the release notes: Anderson and Peart have returned to their colorful creation to explore the places and the characters that still have a hold on their imagination. Clockwork Lives is a steampunk Canterbury Tales, and much more. “The Bookseller’s Tale” is the first excerpt to be released. The e-book also includes an afterword on the writing of the novel with Neil Peart, and also a cameo from Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell. Back in March, Anderson posted a podcast where he discussed the making of Clockwork Lives , as well as other Rush-related writing projects he's completed - and is still working on. ...

In commemoration of Rush's upcoming 40th Anniversary tour, Promark has just announced the release of Limited Edition Neil Peart R40 Drumsticks. From the announcement: The 747 was designed by Neil Peart of Rush. It features a classic 5A diameter but is longer and features a thicker taper. The large oval bead provides a dark, warm tone. The 747 is the perfect stick when more volume is required. Commemorative stick artwork for Rush 40th Anniversary Tour Shira Kashi™ Oak is a dense and heavy wood providing a sturdy feel in your hand and excellent ride cymbal articulation. Sticks made of this Japanese Oak are exceptionally durable and usually last longer than other types of wood. Diameter: .551" Length: 16 1/4" Oval wood tip provides a dark, warm tone suited for multiple applications Medium taper for balanced response and rebound All ProMark drumsticks are designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA at our Texas facility to the most stringent quality controls in...

Alex Lifeson was featured in a new interview published by the Canadian Press today. The article/interview, which is titled Lifeson on Rush's last big tour: Never wants to be 'old and barely able to move' touches not only on the upcoming R40 40th Anniversary tour, but the future of Rush as well. From the interview: Ahead of rehearsals, a candid Alex Lifeson talked to The Canadian Press about Rush slowing down. CP: How are you feeling about this? Lifeson: I have such mixed feelings about it. In one way, I feel relief. I think that 40 years is a long time to be touring the way we tour. I really like being home with my grandkids. At 61, I don't feel there's anything we need to prove. I still love playing. But in (drummer) Neil (Peart)'s case, for example, his job is really tough. Playing the way he does is very, very difficult on his body. He has chronic tendonitis in his arms and he's had problems with his shoulders. It's just getting to the po...

Alex Lifeson will be appearing on Steve Rennie's web show Renman Live this Wednesday, April 22nd at 5:00pm PST. Rennie, who has worked in the music business for over 30 years, is currently the president REN Management, the former personal manager of INCUBUS, and is the Founder Renman Music & Business. From the announcement: Legendary Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson joins Renman Live! to talk about his career and the bands upcoming 40th anniversay tour! Let us know if you want to ask Alex a question by posting it below and we will set you up to call in and speak to the legend yourself! To read more and to post your own question to Alex, please click HERE . Thanks to RushFanForever for the news.

The Rush Backstage Club has just announced a new contest where they are giving away a Meet & Greet opportunity with "Members of Rush" for each of the thirty-five concert shows during the R40 tour. From the announcement: The contest you have all been waiting for is here: Win a Meet and Greet with members of RUSH! We 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. IMPORTANT: You must have tickets to the concert in the city you are entering to win in to be eligible to win the meet and greet passes. Tickets to the concert are not included with the meet and greet passes prize. Also included is a very important note about the entry form: NOTE: When filling out the contest form, please fill in the "City" field with the city where you have tickets for a RUSH R40 tour concert. Do not enter the city where you are from unless RUSH is playing a concert in that city and you hav...

As most fans know, author Kevin J. Anderson, along with Neil Peart, penned the novelization of Clockwork Angels back in 2012. What some fans may not know is that this was not the first collaboration between Anderson and Peart. Back in 1994, the two worked on Drumbeats , a chilling short story about a rock drummer bicycling through the African wilderness who encounters a village that makes very special drums. Drumbeats is now being offered in a special " Pay What You Want " book bundle from Anderson's own publishing company WordFire Press. From the announcement: This book bundle is on FIRE! WordFire, that is. Kevin J. Anderson's publishing company is bringing the sci-fi with some help from a talented roster of best-selling authors. Name your price for The Dark Lady: A Romance of the Far Future, The Golden Queen, The Ferryman & the Flame 1: Surrender, Lifeline, Ocean , and Second Paradigm. If you pay more than the average price, you'll also get Assemble...

With little over a month to go before the launch of Rush's R40 40th Anniversary tour, which begins on May 8th in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Tulsa Bok Center, both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson appear to be in Los Angeles rehearsing for the tour. Back on March 30th, the pair were spotted on a flight leaving Toronto (YYZ) and headed for Los Angeles. Today, two photos showing Geddy Lee playing on a new, seafoam green bass appeared. Note the reappearance of a Clockwork Angels symbol on the bass, similar to the bass guitar he used during the Clockwork Angels tour of 2012-13. Click the thumbnail images to the right for a larger version of each. The rehearsals taking place in Los Angeles makes sense, of course. Neil Peart currently lives in the greater Los Angeles area, and he has been rehearsing there since early March, as indicated by a tweet from Lorne Wheaton, Neil's drum tech, back on March 1st. We'll have more news on the upcoming tour as it becomes available. To view...

In the late 1980's, photographer Glen Wexler often collaborated with long-ime Rush album artist Hugh Syme. One of those projects was the photo shoot of the now infamous 'fire juggler' image that is the primary interior artwork for Rush's 1987 album Hold Your Fire . Last year, Wexler sat down with Travellersintime.com to discuss his lengthy career shooting album covers as well as the work he did for Hold Your Fire . From the interview : You did the photography for Rush's "Hold Your Fire" album. How did you come to work on that project and who's idea was the inside photo [flame juggler]? Can you give me some insight as to how that all went? And did you work on any other Rush covers or projects? “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 ...

Update: As many - but not all - of you have surmised, this was in fact an April Fool's joke. I want to thank my partners in crime Eric Hansen from Power Windows and Ed Stenger from RushIsABand for their help in pulling this off. And special thanks to Kevin J. Anderson who also participated in the fun. To view a full-resolution version of the movie poster, which yours truly created, simply click on the image to the right. Thanks for playing along, everyone! Update: Kevin J. Anderson has posted a larger version of the movie poster on his Facebook Page . More to come! For some time now Kevin J. Anderson, the author of Clockwork Angels , has been hinting at something "big" on the horizon for the world he created with Neil Peart. After the novelization of Peart's lyrics, a graphic novel series was created to further capture the adventures of Owen Hardy in the world of Albion. Later, Anderson announced the follow-up novel titled Clockwork Lives , which is due out ...