Yesterday, Rush and their beer-making partner Henderson Brewing in Toronto announced the launch of a new, non-alcoholic pale ale called It's My Turn to Drive with a hilarious new video starring Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson sampling the new brew.

Listen, we get it. Sometimes you want to enjoy the taste of a cold brew-while spinning your favourite Rush album on a hot summer day-without compromising your active lifestyle. We couldn't be more proud to introduce "It's My Turn to Drive", a new Non-Alcoholic Pale Ale from us with Henderson Brewing Co. Styled after the timeless classic West Coast Pale Ale, this smooth-drinkinglow alcohol (0.5% ABV) release brings a malty sweetness and balanced bitterness that's guaranteed to hit all the right notes. "It's My Turn to Drive"-it's the perfect encore after a few stronger brews, as a mid-day set break, or for those evenings when it really is YOUR turn to drive! Give it a taste today! ...

You can order the beer via ShopHendersonBrewing.com, and watch the video on Instagram. Henderson will be hosting their annual Rush Day event on Saturday, August 23rd.

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Alex Lifeson was a recent guest on the 80's Central podcast to talk Rush, his Envy of None project and the band's new Stygian Wavz album. Alex discusses how the project came together, Maiah Wynne's involvement, his approach to guitar sols on the album, and more. Stygian Wavz released back in late March and is now available for purchase. You can listen to the entire interview on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Envy of None's Maiah Wynne and Andy Curran were also interviewed in the latest edition of Distorted Sound Magazine, with portions teased in this online article:

...Stygian Wavz is the outcome of an extreme amount of hard work, and it's paid off to be something that ENVY OF NONE are really proud of. Andy says, "we just say, get your headphones on and listen because there's so much time and love and care spent on every single overdub that we did, there are some songs that are more immediate, but it's a creeper. Give it a couple of listens before you decide whether you love it, hate it, or you're indifferent. There are so many layers." Maiah finishes with, "I think it's something we've put a lot of work into and a lot of love and passion. I hope people hear that each song is made with love." ...

The inaugural RUSHfest Canada event will be taking place on August 1-2 in Toronto's in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Rush's final show. The Friday night showcase event takes place at Massey Hall, the legendary venue where Rush recorded their first live album All The World's A Stage in 1975. Special guests include former Rush producer Terry Brown and album artist Hugh Syme, along with Jonathan Dinklage, Jacob Moon, Nina DiGregorio & Brody Dolynuik (from Femmes of Rock, endorsed by Alex Lifeson himself), Chris Herin (Tiles), David Barrett, Adi Berk, Moving Pictures (UK tribute band), and author Kevin J. Anderson. The Saturday event takes place at TD Music Hall and will include performances from Rush tribute bands 2112 and Permanent Waves, along with The RUSHfest Canada Allstars Band (international lineup of handpicked musicians), Jacob Moon, David Barrett, and DiGregorio & Dolynuik. You can all the details in this article.

Rush historian and super-fan Ray Wawrzyniak was recently interviewed for Jeff Miers' Why Music Matters podcast to talk about Rush and his long relationship with the band. Wawrzyniak and his extensive collection of Rush memorabilia was famously featured in the Time Stand Still documentary. He's also written the liner notes for several Rush releases over the years, and is involved in the aforementioned Rushfest Canada event that will be taking place in Toronto this August. You can watch the entire interview on YouTube.

A new and unique Rush book titled Finding My Way from author/musician Andy Faulkner released back in December. Instead of telling the story of the band, analyzing lyrics, or reviewing Rush's music, the book traces Faulkner's personal story of his interactions as a fan of the band, from his live Rush introduction at the Hammersith Odeon in 1980, right up through to their final show at the LA Forum in 2015. Faulkner was a recent guest on the Something for Nothing podcast to talk about the book and his Rush fandom. You can listen to the discussion below or wherever you get your podcasts:

In the 2010 Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson famously make a pilgrimage back to Fisherville Junior High School in Toronto's North York neighborhood where the pair first met. A group of Fisherville students recently created an art piece and video celebrating the legacy of their famous alumni, with the art piece consisting of painted CDs forming the word RUSH. From the video description:

Did you know Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of the legendary Canadian rock band RUSH went to Fisherville in the 1960s? To honor their musical legacy and connection to our school, students created a unique art installation made of painted CDs, forming the iconic word "RUSH." Watch as our students explain the inspiration, process, and pride behind this vibrant tribute to two music legends who started their journey right here at Fisherville Middle School.

In celebration of Canada Day, the Toronto Globe and Mail recently asked several prominent Canadians to share their desert island albums - Canadian albums they can not live without. One of the participants was Rush's Alex Lifeson, who shared the following 3 albums:

Gord's Gold, Gordon Lightfoot (1975): Best Canadian songwriter ever.

High Class in Borrowed Shoes, Max Webster (1977): Best Canadian band ever until the Tragically Hip.

Fully Completely, the Tragically Hip (1992): Best Canadian band ever.

Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker also participated and chose Rush's All the World's a Stage as one of his choices. They also created a playlist of the top 101 Canadian albums, and Rush's Moving Pictures is on the list.

Martin Popoff wrote a piece for Goldmine magazine this past week where he lists off the Top 20 Progressive Rock album pairings (thanks RushFanForever). Rush's Power Windows/Hold Your Fire pairing made the cut at #16, as did Presto/Roll the Bones at #14. But topping the list at #1 was the combination of Rush's A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres albums:

I stuck this first, because I love the way these two classic records stacked up as a pairing without resorting to the obvious. So this is Rush voyaging over to the storied Rockfield Studios in Wales in creation, with stalwart knob-twiddler Terry Brown, of their two most obsessively progressive metal albums. The production on each of them is vibrant, sparkly, visceral and exciting, and the playing finds Geddy, Alex and Neil being more Rush-like than ever before or ever after.

Loudwire posted their list of The 5 Best 1980s Rush Songs this past week, with the 5 songs being Natural Science, Marathon, The Spirit of Radio, Subdivisions, and Tom Sawyer:

... It joins classics such as Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" and Yes' "Roundabout" as a quintessential example of the relatively niche genre producing something that becomes a huge part of the culture. In other words, even people who've never heard of progressive rock (or Rush) know "Tom Sawyer," and you can't say that it doesn't deserve the love.

Blogger and Rush fan Jay Roberts recounts a fun little story about Rush and black holes in a blog post this past week. Back in September, 2008, he was listening to the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU, Washington's NPR station where they had on astrophysicist and author Brian Greene discussing his new book Icarus at the Edge of Time, which is about a 14-year old boy who takes a spaceship to the edge of a black hole:

... The subject of the hour long show was, of course, black holes. I called in. At the 13:29 mark, Kojo took my call.

"On to Jay in Alexandria, Virginia, go ahead Jay, you're on the air."

"Yes, Kojo, I wanted to ask the author if he's aware of a song, it was written in the late 70s by the rock group RUSH, it's called Cygnus X-1, and it talks about a spaceship and an encounter with a black hole."

Greene said he wasn't aware of the song, but added that "Cygnus was certainly the place where a black hole was really first identified and convincingly shown to be a black hole." With time short, I figured that would be the end of our conversation. Greene and Kojo, however, floored me by asking me "to sing a few bars of the song." I declined, a smart move because there is only one person on the planet who can sing that song with the proper emotion and that is, of course, Geddy Lee. I was obviously thrilled about the show, but the best part was yet to come. At around the 34:08 mark, before they went to a small break, they played part of the song (I owe someone a beer...) ...

Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band played a show at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida this past week. The band consists of Ringo along with Steve Lukather (Toto), Colin Hay (Men at Work), Hamish Stuart (Average White Band and Paul McCartney), Gregg Bissonette, Warren Ham (Bloodrock Kansas,Toto and AD) and Buck Johnson (Hollywood Vampires, Aerosmith). At one point in the show drummer Gregg Bissonette (a good friend of the late Neil Peart) played a series of famous drum licks, one of which was Rush's YYZ, as seen below or in this video.

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend everybody, and an early Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers.