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Showing posts from July, 2018

Geddy Lee Celebrates His 65th Birthday Today!

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Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib) is celebrating his 65th birthday today! Happy Birthday, Geddy -- and many happy returns! "Gary" was born in the small Toronto village of Willowdale. As many fans know, his given first name "Gary" transformed into "Geddy" during his high school days thanks to his mother's heavily-accented pronunciation of his name. In addition to his musical aspirations, some of Geddy's other interests include collecting fine wines and, of course, baseball. His wine collection is rumored to include some 5,000 bottles and his love of baseball is well documented. In fact back in 2013, Geddy threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener for the Toronto Blue Jays - something he admittedly dreamed of doing for years. Geddy has recently been working on his upcoming book - Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass - which is expected out later this year. In addition to today being Geddy's birthday, it is also ...

Neil Peart's R40 Drum Kit on Display at the Rhythm! Discovery Center

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Neil Peart's long-time drum technician Lorne "Gump" Wheaton recently spent some time at the Rhythm! Discovery Center in Indianapolis where he set up Neil's drum kit from Rush recent R40 40th Anniversary tour. According to tweets from Lorne, the drum kit will be on display at the Rhythm! Discovery Center for the next two years starting on August 6th. About the Discovery center: The Rhythm! Discovery Center is the world’s foremost drum and percussion museum; founded by the Percussive Arts Society in 2009. Rhythm! features unique, interactive exhibits highlighting a rich collection of historic artifacts and hands-on percussion instruments. Drawing upon cultures from around the world, Rhythm! offers an incomparable experience in exploring the universality of rhythm and percussion, and its role in shaping communication, music, art, performance and society. For more information about the center, including directions, exhibit hours, ticket pricess, and more, please visi...

Alex Lifeson Reveals the Acoustic's Vital Role in Rush's History in New Guitar Player Magazine Interview

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The September 2018 issue of Guitar Player magazine includes a lengthy interview with Alex Lifeson in the magazine's special acoustics section called Frets . The interview, titled Progression: Alex Lifeson's Acoustic Chronicles , has Alex discussing the many roles acoustic guitars have played on numerous Rush albums throughout the years. From the interview: What did you use to cut the acoustic tracks "Making Memories," "Rivendell," and "In the End"? We were really broke back then. I had two electric guitars, and I'd borrow acoustic guitars from friends when we went into the studio. Oscar Peterson Jr. [son of the legendary Canadian jazz pianist] lent me a Gibson J-45 for the Fly by Night sessions. When did you got your first good steel-string? That wasn't until 1976 when I went to Gibson and did some shopping. I got my white ES-335 and a double-neck electric, but I also got a beautiful Gibson Dove, which I used for years. I still have...

Fantoons Brings New Rush Merchandise to ComicCon

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Fantoons , the creators of numerous, official Rush books, artwork, apparel, and other merchandise, have descended on San Diego's ComicCon this week, bringing with them a plethora of Rush merchandise, including some new album prints and an exclusive ComicCon shirt. An exciting new addition to their ever-growing collection of merchandise are some very unique album cover "blueprint" prints, including versions of A Farewell to Kings (Sold Out!), Signals , and Moving Pictures . These 12" x 12" prints, available in very limited quantities, are sure to sell out in short order. As mentioned above, Fantoons are offering up a ComicCon exclusive Rush Starman 'Arcade' t-shirt at their booth. The 8-bit pixelated Starman image is certain to turn heads! Again, this shirt is currently only available at Fantoon's ComicCon booth during this weekend (Booth 0-07). Fantoons have also released another new Rush logo shirt with a very cool maze design. And for...

Rush: A Brief History of Time - The Ohio Files Now Online

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The fifteenth installment of the ongoing series Rush: A Brief History of Time , an ever-growing archive of articles, interviews, reviews, and advertisements about Rush that span every decade from the 70's onward, and collected from the world over, is now online . This fifteenth installment, dubbed The Ohio Files , is unique in that the entire collection of articles and advertisements came from newspapers situated in the Ohio Valley of the United States. As most fans know, Rush's early rise to fame in the United States began in the Cleveland, Ohio area where then-DJ Donna Halper first starting spinning the band's debut album on Cleveland's WMMS radio station. Since that time, and throughout their career, the Ohio area remained an important part of Rush's history. So much so that the band recorded their 2010-11 Time Machine Live Album in Cleveland, Ohio. Not only does this installment focus on articles from the Ohio area, but nearly half of the 69 totals entri...

The 2019 Rush Grace Under Pressure 35th Anniversary Wall Calendar Now Available

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Ever since their 30th anniversary in 2004, Rush has officially released at least one wall calendar each year; many of which celebrated a milestone anniversary of one of their albums. For 2019, Rush decided to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their 10th studio album Grace Under Pressure . The 16-month calendar, which is now available at Amazon.Com for $14.99, includes 13 images from the p/g era, many of which are from live performances. Interested in Rush's older wall calendars? They may be difficult to locate these days, however high-resolution scans of each can be found on the main site HERE . To order your copy of the Rush 2019 Grace Under Pressure 35th Anniversary Wall Calendar, please click HERE . Thanks to Ed from RushIsABand for passing along the news.

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