It's quiet in Rush-land this Christmas Eve as many of us settle in and wait for Santa to arrive late this evening with sacks full of Rush swag for all of us good little Rush fans (the naughty ones will receive lumps of coal and Justin Bieber CDs). This past Tuesday we celebrated International Rush Day - the 21st day of the 12th month or 21/12 as written in many parts of the world. The occasion has become an unofficial Rush holiday in recent years. Thanks to everybody who helped celebrate and attended the Facebook event I'd created. Also thanks to Ray M for creating that cool logo.
The Drum Channel recently revamped their website and are offering up a free video lesson from their Neil Peart Master Class series. The free lesson offered is lesson #9 from the 10-lesson instructional series Frontiers of Composition and Articulation. In this 11-minute lesson Neil performs his warm-up routine. You can watch the video and get all the details at the Drum Channel website.
Rush's 1981 classic Moving Pictures album will be the subject of an hour-long In The Studio with Redbeard rockumentary radio show which will air the week of January 3rd and also be available for listening online. The show will feature interview segments with all 3 members of Rush presumably from past In The Studio interviews where they discuss the album. Moving Pictures is the centerpiece of Rush's Time Machine Tour where they play the entire album front to back. The album will celebrate its 30th anniversary on February 12th of next year. Judging by past In The Studio album anniversary shows, it's not expected that any new interview segments will be included in the program but it should be a good listen nonetheless. You can listen to a short preview segment at the In The Studio website.
Alex Lifeson participated in the 6th annual Andy Kim Christmas Show last week at The Mod Club in Toronto, ON. All proceeds went to the Regent Park School of Music. Several other prominent Canadian bands/musicians performed including Ron Sexsmith, Divine Brown and Platinum Blonde. Readers State of Grace and rear view mirror were lucky enough to attend the show and took several photos and uploaded a couple of videos to YouTube. If you're on Facebook you can see the photos at this link, and check out the videos in this post. Reader Andrew W also attended the show and reports that the songs Alex performed on were (in order) Shoot Em Up Baby, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Sugar Sugar and Rock Me Gently. He posted some photos online which you can check out at this link and also posted videos of Alex's performances on Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Sugar Sugar.
Virtuoso guitarist Eric Johnson recently conducted a reader Q&A at MusicRadar.com and was asked about his memories of opening for Rush during the 1991 Roll The Bones tour:
It was great being on tour with Rush. I really loved hanging with those guys and getting to know Alex Lifeson a bit. They're such pros, man. I learned a lot about touring and how to put on a show from watching them and their whole crew. They're seasoned veterans. Watching their entire operation was pretty eye-opening.
Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
Reader/blogger Jaybird of Jaybird's Jottings has graciously named yours truly the Blogger of the Decade! I'm not sure that I necessarily deserve that honor, but it's very flattering nonetheless. Thanks Jay! :)
RushFanForever let me know that Crawdaddy Magazine's Max Mobley has posted his year-end list of the most noteworthy items in music, gear, and technology from the past year. It's called The Year in Riot Gear! and includes Rush at the top of the list:
1. Prog goes Mainstream Not just prog, Canadian power-trio prog. The band Rush suddenly became cool in 2010. And it only took 42 years. Their amazingly successful (and, don’t forget, pricey) summer tour bucked the 2010 Music Industry trend of a dismal summer touring season. That is so Rush—the ying to the music industry’s smelly yang. The interesting thing is, Rush did not change their music or style in order to find a larger audience. A larger audience discovered the merits of progressive music as delivered by three Canadians who don’t take themselves too seriously. They still make the music they want to make, and it still totally sounds like Rush. Don’t ask me to explain it, though the lack of modern big name rock bands of serious integrity and quality plays a role. And though they are on a big label, their ethics are indie all the way. Rush’s success—derived from intense, active musicianship, lyrics that are not about pussy or drugs or guns, and songs that take several listens to find the hook—gives hope to those of us worried that rock ‘n’ roll had become a digital parlor trick that only required three fingers and one thumb to master. That’s a good sign for all you musicians out there. And a serious backlash against the formulaic drivel that the industry mistook as art instead of commerce.
A couple of weeks ago the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its slate of inductees for 2011 which of course excluded Rush. Rush also didn't make the cut on the first ballot for the website The People's Hall - which aims to create a fan-based alternative to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. However, they are up for selection on the second ballot which is now open for voting. Thanks to George for the heads up. And while on the subject of the Rock Hall, DJ and Rush fan Eddie Trunk has a poll up on his website which asks the question Now that Alice Cooper is finally going in the Rock Hall, what overlooked artist should be next? Rush is one of the options and is currently trailing behind KISS. So go vote for Rush! Thanks to zapfan for the heads up.
Reader Todd R pointed me to a Rush mention on the December 16th episode of The Colbert Report. It occurs during a segment with Amy Sedaris at the 2-minute mark of this video. Rush were guests on the Colbert Report back in July of 2008.
RushFanForever let me know about a motorcycling book that was released this past summer by Lee Klancher called The Devil Can Ride: The World's Best Motorcycle Writing. It includes a story from Motorcylist Magazine's editor-in-chief Brian Catterson called Rockin' and Rollin'... Rollin'... Rollin', where Catterson shares his story of riding with Neil Peart from concert to concert during the Vapor Trails tour.
Reader rb2112 alerted me to a Rush discussion on The Brewing Network's Sunday Session podcast with The Schmaltz Brewing Company (makers of He'brew beer) from about the 2:31:30 mark to the 2:34:30 mark.
A friend of mine pointed me to this online interactive Map of Metal which diagrams the genealogy of heavy metal music in the form of a map. If you click on Progressive Metal Rush's Bastille Day is featured as one of the early examples of the genre. You can check out the map at this link.
Dean and Ashley Bobisud, the owners of Neil Peart's first Slingerland drum kit which he used from Fly By Night through 2112 have sent out their 2nd annual Chromey Christmas Card. This year's card shows a drumming-themed Christmas tree posed behind the kit along with a Christmas tree decoration parts list. You can check out the card at Andrew Olson's site at this link and I've also included it below.
A 2010 Chromey Christmas Greeting
We'd like to thank all the fans and drumming community for your help and support during the past year. We may have provided the opportunity to see and play this historical drum kit, but this kit really belongs to you, the fans. You're the ones who have made this a success.
Wishing all of you Happy Holidays and prosperous New Year,
- Dean & Ashley Bobisud
This vintage Chromey Christmas tree consists of the following parts...
(1) 7' Douglas Fir Christmas Tree (Sorry, they sold out of Willow trees!)
(1) 20" Green 8 Lug Tree Stand Base
(12) KSA Style 2 1/2" Copper Wrap Ornaments
(12) KSA Style 2 1/2" Chrome Ornaments
(6) Regency Style 3 1/2" Chrome Ornaments
(30') Blue & Silver Chrome Garland
(100) Traditions Vintage C9 Lights with Multi Color Ceramic Bulbs
(24) Promark 747 NP Drumsticks
(12) LP Brass Bar Chimes
(1) 7" Starman Tree TopperAnd Last But Not Least - Complimented By...
(1) 1974 Chrome Slingerland Drum Kit Once Owned and Used by Neil Peart of Rush
I leave you this Christmas Eve with Alex Lifeson's rendition of the Little Drummer Boy from the Merry Axemas Christmas compilation:
Happy Holidays everybody!
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