Congratulations to Rush's frontman Geddy Lee who is celebrating his milestone 70th birthday today! Geddy (born Gary Lee (Gershon Eliezer) Weinrib) was born in the North York neighbourhood of Willowdale, Toronto. 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. Geddy began playing music in school when he was 10 or 11 and got his first acoustic guitar at 14. In school, he first played drums, trumpet and clarinet. However, learning to play instruments in school wasn't satisfying to Lee, and he took basic piano lessons independently. His interest increased dramatically after listening to some of the popular rock groups at the time. His early influences included Jack Bruce of Cream, John Entwistle of The Who, Jeff Beck, and Procol Harum. "I was mainly interested in early British progressive rock", said Lee. "

It's been nearly two years since Rush and the Henderson Brewing Company announced their collaboration to bring a Rush-branded beer to the market. The success of their first offering, a Rush Canadian Golden Ale, was followed up by several new brews including a Moving Pictures Ale, a special Belgian Ale to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Signals and, most recently, Xanabrew . The collaboration didn't end there. Henderson also has an extensive online Rush store filled with various Rush/Henderson themed merchandise. They've also annouced the opening of a Rush-themed Henderson brewery at the Toronto airport later this year. Now, Henderson is hosting a Rush Day event on Saturday, August 26th. From the announcement: Rush Day has something for everyone - Rush trivia, limited edition items, Rush memorabilia, a screening of Time Stand Still - but especially Rush Golden Ale and everything that tastes great with Rush mustard! Tickets are FREE but required so we

Foo Fighter's guitarist Chris Shiflett has just launched a new YouTube based podcast called Shred With Shifty . In the debut episode, Chris welcomes Alex Lifeson to the show. From the release: On the first episode of the new podcast series Shred With Shifty, which features host and Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett getting a front-row lesson from our favorite guitar heroes, Shiflett learns the solo from Rush’s “Limelight” with a little help from the man who wrote it, Alex Lifeson. According to Shiflett, Lifeson’s lead on the song “does exactly what a great solo should do. It’s a scene change, it’s kind of emotional, it builds, and yes, it shreds.” Shiflett recalls that in context, both “Limelight” and Moving Pictures, the 1981 Rush record that featured the track, were stylistic and structural departures from the rock ‘n’ roll fare of the day. Compared to Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and KISS, the Canadian prog-rock trio was practically avant-garde. Lifeson joins Shifl

Alex Lifeson and Gibson have just announced the availability of a new "Ruby" Epiphone Alex Lifeson Les Paul™ Custom Axcess. The guitar, which retails for $1,299 USD, redefines the boundaries of the classic Les Paul in an accessible, versatile package. This guitar carries all of the traditional tones that have made the Les Paul legendary, along with unprecedented levels of sonic and performance agility. The Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess carries powerful Epiphone Ceramic Pro™ neck and ProBucker™ 3 bridge pickups with push/pull coil splitting on the volume controls, along with a Floyd Rose® 1000 Series tremolo—the world's most efficient vibrato. Along with all this, the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Custom Axcess still presents that timeless Les Paul look that has remained a classic for more than 60 years. A hardshell case is included. For more information and ordering links, please visit the official Epiphone website HERE . Comments